Pitch, Please
Melody: Part 29
The Third Pass
In this part of the Melody series, we’ll be decoding the pitches of our 5 melodies.
If you’d like a refresher on pitch, take a look at the Melodic Pitch Primer.
Solutions to the Previous Part
Before we jump into pitch, here are the loudness contours of the 5 melodies as promised in the previous part:
Melody No. 1: Netru Illaatha Maatram
TaKaDiMi iKaMi, Ta TaDi, TaDiMi-i-i-i,
TaKaDiMi iKaMi, Ta TaDi, TaDiMi-i-i-iT.
Melody No. 2: Jab Se Tumi San Laagali
TaDi TaDi TaDi TaDi, iDi iDi Ta-a,
Ta TaDi TaDi TaDi, TaDi TaDi,
TaKaDi, TaKaDiMi TaT.
Melody No. 3: Symphony No. 25
TaDiMi TaDiMi TaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
TaDiMi TaDiMi TaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
TaKaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
TaKaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
TaKaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
TaKaDiMi TaT.
Melody No. 4: Pehla Nasha
TaMi Ta, aKaDiMi iKaMi,
TaMi Ta, aKaDiMi iKaMi,
TaMi Ta, aMi TaKaDiMi,
TaKaMi Ta,
aKaDiMi TaKaDiMi TaT.
Melody No. 5: Mamma Mia
Ta, Di iKaDiMi, iKaMi iKa,
Ta, Di iKaDiMi, iKaMi iKa,
Ta, Di Ta, Mi iKaDiMi TaKaDiMi,
iDiMi TaKa, DiMi Ta,
DiMi TaKaDiMi,
Ta, Di Ta, Mi iKaDiMi, TaKaDiMi.
The Gear You’ll Need
Here are 12 pitches we’ll be needing in this part in order of increasing pitch: Ma_, Pa_, Dha_, Ni_, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni and Sa'.
Each of the 5 melodies uses only a subset of the above pitches.
Since having a single pitch dictionary with all 12 required pitches might be confusing for a lot of people, each melody will use its own separate, focused pitch dictionary.
To make it easier to recognise each melody’s pitches, we’ll add a Sa (an octave below, so technically Sa_) simultaneously with every pitch of every melody , matching the loudness of each original pitch.
We’ll also use a slower tempo and use the same Sa for all melodies (even though the original melodies do not share the same Sa).
Coupled with the modified version of each melody, this will be all you’ll need to name each pitch.
Make sure to also listen to the simplified melodies by heading over to Part 26. This will help you in contextualising the modified versions that you’ll find below.
Let’s begin!
High, Low and In Between
Here are the 5 melodies we’ll be decoding (note: to avoid confusing blanks in the hints with the underscores of lower pitches like Ni_ and Dha_, all pitches lower than Sa will be enclosed in square brackets):
Melody No. 1: Netru Illaatha Maatram (approximately 0:28-0:40 of the linked video), A.R. Rahman
Pitch dictionary (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Sa'):
Modified melody:
Hint:
Ga Ma _ _ _ Dha, Ma _ _, _ Ga _,
_ _ _ Pa _ _, _ _ _, Re _ _.
Melody No. 2: Jab Se Tumi San Laagali (approx. 1:25-1:36 of linked video), traditional Khayaal composition
Pitch Dictionary (Sa, Re, Ga, Pa, Dha, Sa'):
Modified melody:
Hint:
Ga Re _ _ Sa _ _ Dha, _ _ _,
Pa _ _ _ _ Pa Ga, Ga _ _ _,
_ _ _, _ _ _ Re _.
Melody No. 3: Symphony No. 25 (approx. 1:34-1:46 of linked video), W.A. Mozart
Pitch dictionary (Ni_, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa'):
Modified melody:
Hint:
Sa [Ni_] Sa, _ Sa _, _ Re _, Pa Ma _ Re,
_ _ _, _ _ _, Ga _ _, _ _ _ _,
Sa Sa' _ _, Sa' _ _ _,
Ma _ _ _, _ Pa _ _,
_ Ma Ma Ma, _ _ Pa _,
_ _ _ _ Sa.
Melody No. 4: Pehla Nasha (approx. 0:47-1:00 of linked video), Jatin-Lalit
Pitch dictionary (Pa_, Dha_, Ni_, Sa, Re, Ga, Pa):
Modified melody:
Hint:
_ _ _, [Ni_] Sa Pa Sa [Ni_],
Sa Sa Sa, _ _ _ _ _,
[Dha_] _ _, [Dha_] _ _ _ _,
Sa _ _ _,
_ _ _ _ _ Sa _ Sa.
Melody No. 5: Mamma Mia (approx. 1:03-1:20 of linked video), ABBA
Pitch dictionary (Ma_, Dha_, Ni_, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa'):
Modified melody:
Hint:
Sa, Pa _ _ _, _ _ Ma,
_, Ga Ga Ga Ga, _ _ _,
[Ma_], _ _, _ _ _ Sa Re _ _ _,
_ Sa _ _, Sa' _ _,
_ _ _ _ _ Sa,
_, Re Sa, Ma Ma _ _, _ _ Re Sa.
Moving Forward
In the next part, we’ll use our loudness, time and pitch transcriptions of each melody to create an integrated visual representation for each.
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