Shankar Elements WL Flashcards
Structure
“Shunya by Indian Ocean – ‘Alap’-like section played by sax. Bass entry gives a pulse mirroring the ‘Jor’ section;
Within You Without You – Starts with slow sitar melody with a sense of free time (Alap);
Rag Desh by Anoushka Shankar – Traditional North Indian classical style – Alap followed by dominant tabla section no fusion;
Magnetic by Tabla Beat Science – Build-up in texture instead of verse-chorus form;
Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones – Verse–chorus–bridge form similar to “Easy””
Sonority / Instrumentation
“Within You Without You by The Beatles – Features tambura drone، sitar، dilruba (bowed sitar) strict tabla rhythm and sustained strings;
Across the Universe by The Beatles – Western harmony/structure combined with Indian instruments (tambura sitar) and strings collaboration with Ravi Shankar;
Magnetic by Tabla Beat Science – Fusion with electronic tabla and synth bass;
Come Away With Me by Norah Jones – Piano upright bass and sparse percussion support a warm vocal line;
Together by Singh and Kumar – Homophonic pop string accompaniment under sitar and tabla includes manjira;
Traveller by Talvin Singh – Combines tabla and Indian instruments with synths and strings like BUW”
Tonality
“Within You Without You – Written in a modal scale (Mixolydian);
Nadia by Nitin Sawhney – Blends Indian modes with Western harmony uses D minor loop and modal melody layering like “Burn”;
Tides by Nitin Sawhney – Modal tonality with underlying drone allowing melodic freedom like Shankar;
Voiles by Debussy – Whole-tone/modal ambiguity creates drifting tonality like “Easy””
Texture
“Within You Without You – Uses a tambura drone with free vocals over a strict tabla rhythm;
Together by Singh and Kumar – Homophonic chordal pop string accompaniment under sitar and tabla”
Melody
“Norwegian Wood – Features ornate sitar part;
Magnetic by Tabla Beat Science – Use of microtonal slides (meend);
Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones – Jazz-influenced lyric-driven with gentle bends like Norah’s phrasing in “Easy”;
Together by Singh and Kumar – Conjunct sitar melody with ornamentation (meends mordents oscillations)”
Harmony
“Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones – Rich jazz-colour chords (7ths 9ths) under floating vocal line like “Easy”;
Together by Singh and Kumar – Slow harmonic rhythm highlights sitar solo;
Nadia by Nitin Sawhney – Static harmony with Indian modal melodies like Shankar’s “Burn”;
Joy by Shakti – Indian melodic ideas fused with Western jazz harmonies including extended and altered chords;
Symphony by Ravi Shankar – Frequent chromatic inflections reflecting unconventional Western harmonic use”
TMR
Within You Without You – Features tabla rhythms though less complex interaction than Shankar;
Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones – Steady 4/4 swing at relaxed tempo like “Easy”;
Meetings Along the Edge – Explores complex tala cycles with syncopation and cross-rhythms like “Burn”
