'Pehla Nasha'-Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander

This song is definitely one of the best romantic ballads of all time. It caters to every pianist's delight and I being a pianist myself love to play this song time and again on the instrument.The grandeur of the piano and the strings combination is marvellous and is put to great effect in this song. With very few instruments and more concentration on vocals, Udit Narayan and Sadhana Sargam have shiown us their vocal prowess and their ability to carry a song forward just with their voices. This song is another example where its brilliance is depicted by the sheer simplicity contained within.This song is as conventional a piece as one can hear because it caters to the protocols that Indian film music used to follow exceedingly well...First, there is a verse..then there is an interlude using one instrument...then one paragraph...then an interlude using another instrument....then another paragraph and then end the song with the first verse...There is no modification whatsoever and thus it caters to every listener because of the absence of a surprise element thus makign it a very predictable structure and a very easily hummable composition. This is definitely one of the best romantic pieces made and thus would be an apt song that could be sung for one's special ones...Musically it is a delight and gives a very soothing feel to the ear because of the use of piano and strings...

'Dil tho Bachcha hai'-Ishqiya

This is by far one of the best songs I've heard in recent times. It truly speaks of genius in Vishal Bharadwaj for having created such a beautiful melody with the least number of instruments.The characteristic Accordion in the beginning gives a very vintage feel to the song. This song is definitely an embodiment of how effective the 7ths and the 9ths chords can be used instead of the conventional full major and minor chords. 7ths and 9ths chords are basically derivatives of full chords with an addition or deletion of particular notes thus giving a very incomplete effect to the sound which sometimes adds to the beauty as in this case. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's voice almost acts like a filler to the lack of instruments used in this song because he drags every line in the song to such an apt time-line and with a very vibrato effect thus almost acting like another instrument. Another point to note in this song is the change of chords for almost every line which with basis to tune sounds absolutely similar. In the first verse ,'Aisi uljhi nazar unse...'....every third line which when just sung sounds exactly similar is given a very different feel because of the change in the chord in every third line. The use of Indian percussion in the song and that too very sparingly is also a thing to note in this song because it elevates the mood at very odd times in coherence with the lyrics. Another very uncharacteristic part of the song is that someone who knows the style of Rahat's singing would agree when I say that his high notes are usually chiseled to the extreme extent and is always sung with so much perfection. Such a singer has actually underplayed his voice to a very mellowed down range and sung in a very comfortable pitch so beautifully which is a definite characteristic in this song. All in all, this song being very vintage in its sound has grabbed the attention of every listener and it only proves the beauty in the composition.

'Naav'-Udaan

I heard this song from Udaan very recently and am writing on it because a friend of mine requested me to. First of all, kudos! to Amit Trivedi for having grabbed the national award for music this year. He definitely deserved it. If one observes Amit Trivedi's style, he would realise when I say that Amit may use 'n' number of instruments in a song but his magic in bringing an Indian touch in every work of his because of the choice of vocalists. His vocalists are almost like they are picked from a flok group and thus he maintains what one calls the 'Indianness' in a song. 'Naav' is a very beautiful song which starts off in a very strange manner i.e, with a Harmonica( Mouth Organ). Then there's a very rhythmic groove that goes on upon which the lyrics are put. Hats off to the lyricist for having written such impeccable lyrics. One definitely sinks into this song primarily because of the lyrics. I consider myself nobody to be saying this but since it is my blog and it is an analysis, I want to play the role of a critic here. The aalaps that are sung in this song I feel have not been upto the mark. I think they can be sung much more melodiously. An example of an actual flaw in the aalaap is before the song pumps up i.e, during the groove, after the line 'Behti behti'...the aalaap doesnt even sound complete and its almost like its been fitted there with a great deal of difficulty. That aalaap was a major turn-off for me in this song. Otherwise, this song caters to the minds of the common multitude, in the sense, when it picks up tempo, there is still a very simple groove to it and there is not much complications in this song thus allowing everybody to appreciate it. The drumming is also very simple and this is probably the beauty of this song,SIMPLICITY'.Another turn off that I experienced in the song is the use of random piano notes in between lines which dont even fall in scale. I think it kills the beauty of the song to an extent. The intelligence of this man is proven at the end of the song. Naav, because of its very simple tune can have a lot of harmonics and seconds and fifths added to it in the vocals and one would expect to hear it at some point or the other in the song. But Amit keeps the audience waiting and introduces the harmonics at the absolute last line of the song and ends it there leaving the audience asking for more. That I felt was extremely innovative on his part. All in all, I love listening to this song because of the very groovy touch it has and the beautiful lyrics i get to listen to. Not to forget, the folk like voice which I totally adore.

'Aye Bachchu'- Ghajini

Why I picked this song as the first one is because in the recent times this song I feel has incorporated a lot of genres into it and has a very 'uncharacteristic' Rehman touch to it if I may say. Since this is an analysis, I would want to start off with something technical and then move on to the general aspect of the song. The song starts off with a strum on the Distortion guitar which has a minor sound. When one hears a song start with a minor chord, the general feel that the listener gets is that either it is going to fall in the rock genre or it is not going to be a very happy song. Rehman breaks this myth and starts off with a minor chord and moves on to a very peppy chorus which goes on a major scale. Asin's character is very similar to Madhubala's character in Roja i.e, very bubbly,vivacious and sprightly. But look at the contrast in the music when we compare Aye Bachchu and Choti si Asha!! It is quite unimaginable how Rehman has evolved with times. One would never in the past have associated distortion guitar and heavy beats to go with the picturisation of a lively girl character. I have always associated this character with a great deal of grand piano and cello in between with a very sweet base line. But I was taken aback when I heard this song for the first time. Another evolution that one can observe in rehman's music nowadays is the way he blends female chorus into a lot of his songs. Earlier, he used to have a bunch of verry talented male singers for chorus in his arsenal but now, he incorporates female chorus and this gives a very different feel to this song in the chorus. Almost like a school choir...Another observation that I made is the use of the megaphone in this song..(Another example is the start of the title song in Delhi 6). 'Aye Bachchu...Tu Sunle...Mere Dilka...' and then there is a sudden pause in all the instruments and its the vocals in the megaphone which sings..'yeh order'....Its always like that line is heard only on the rear speakers. It definitely takes the listener by surprise. Thus I feel this song is a wonderful mix of lot of exotic elements in music and makes for good listening in the recent times as far as bollywood music is concerned.

Introduction

As someone who has been an avid music lover since childhood, someone who has learnt classical music for 10 years, someone who has picked up the keyboard and guitar on his own and attained reasonable proficiency at it and someone who is willing to share his thoughts on music to the world, I thought I am suitable enough to analyse music and put my thoughts across in hope of igniting a discussion. I will be taking a particular song and analyze it as to why the music director and the lyricist worked together in that fashion to produce the desired output. I hope this will be useful for all of you to understand music better as Music is definitely a beautiful flavour in life and a better flavour gives you a better life. I will also try and upload links of some vidoes on youtube of songs which have been improvised or free jammed upon thus giving a new touch to it. Without any further delay, let me start off with the analysis of my first song.