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How Music Works
From Bach to Ed Sheeran: Decoding Contemporary Music
Facilitators
In this lec-dem, we will break down the underlying logic and theory of Western music in a simple way. What is common between the music of Bach, Ellington, The Beatles and Ed Sheeran? How do chords work? Why does a melody ‘stick’ in your head? Can anyone write a hit tune?
With the help of examples, simple sing-alongs and demonstrations, this session will break down some of these mysteries and hopefully entice you to explore this more. Both children and adults will learn something new.
The session will be hosted by Abhijit Nath, a jazz composer and alumnus of the Berklee College of Music. He will be accompanied by Ria Bhatnagar, a second year student from Brown University, studying Music.
Facilitators
Abhijit Nath
Abhijit Nath (guitar, electronics) is a guitarist, sarod player, composer and arranger. His primary interests are modal forms of music, and how they can interact in unusual harmonic contexts. He has been a musician for most of his life, starting with the guitar and moving on to the sarod. Middle class realities intervened, however, and he went on to study economics in Delhi and management at IIM Ahmedabad. He spent most of his career in PE and VC, before going back to his true love, studying jazz composition at the Berklee College of Music.
He is currently building out the future of music as the founder of a Web-3 enabled “metaverse for music” app. He is currently working on a few projects that meld Carnatic music with jazz, baroque & 20th century classical, and minimalism. His influences include Steve Reich, John McLaughlin, the ECM Records roster, Tigran Hamasyan, Bill Evans, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Ustad Amir Khan, and JS Bach.
Ria Bhatnagar
Ria Bhatnagar is a singer interested in Pop, Blues, Musical Theatre, Jazz and Choral music. She placed second in the American Protégé International Music Vocal Competition 2021 and performed at Carnegie Hall, NYC in Spring 2022 as part of the Winner’s Recital. In high school, she was a member of the ‘The Harmony Chorus’, and performed on national and international stages, including in Russia, England, Scotland and across India as part of their concert tours. She is deeply passionate about using her art to challenge societal norms and inspire change. Ria is a rising sophomore at Brown University, studying Music and Economics. At Brown, she is part of The Chattertocks, an all female a cappella group founded in 1952.
