Breathing under water -A Shankar

• Wider vocal range and modified chord progression
• Instrumental introduction

  • Verse 1 ('It's only love...')
  • Verse 2 ('When I was young...')
  • Instrumental Middle 8
  • Verse 3 ('It's only love...')
  • Coda
• Four vocal phrases (to bar 17), overlapping with sitar fill (from bar 18²)
• Verse followed by linking passage featuring backing vocals ('l know')
• Backing vocals span a 9th, from F below middle C to Gb above (see bars 29-32)
• Melody is notated throughout in treble, with a range of just over two octaves, from Eb below middle C to F an octave and a 4th above middle C
• Vocal lines are frequently conjunct, with leaps for the most part restricted to 3rds and 4ths; there is an octave at bar 44
• The limited chord choice and its treatment results in a more obvious 'Western' pop sound
• It is notated throughout in Gb without chromaticism
• Tempo is 84 crotchets a minute, without variation. Metre is simple quadruple (2) throughout except for bar 31 which is in 2
• The result, once the number is under way, is a stepwise rising bass (B-C₂-D₂)
• Texture is varied by addition and subtraction of coloristic elements and percussion
• Closes on Db(sus4)
• Characteristics devices used are ornamentation and glissandi
• George Harrison, 'Within You Without You' (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
• The range of the lead vocal is relatively narrow, spanning a 6th (Db to Bb) in the first verse, though in the second verse a melisma extends down to a lower Ab (bar 13), and in the middle 8 rises to a Cb (bar 46)
• Solo sitar with M
• The tonality has an ambiguous floating quality, and though could be regarded as Db mixolydian, it is as likely that it is as much in Gb with a strong pull to the dominant (Db)
• Harmony based on three sus chords

  • Dsus4
  • G₂ (sus2)/B₂
  • C(sus2)
• The underlay is a mixture of syllabic, slurred pairs of notes and melismas
• Texture: Melody-dominated homophony, first with sitar as the main melody instrument. Subsequently vocals take the melody line with fills on sitar
• Variations in chord order occur in bars 29-33 and in the middle 8 (bars 42-49)
• Dynamics: Levels are relatively low with few indications: pat start, cresc. at bar 21, mp at bar 25. Accent marks are used in bar 43
• Melody


  The melody is characterised by conjunct descending lines and microtonal slides
• The chord in bar 60 would seem to be best described as a first inversion D major chord, rather than Fm
• Four-bar phrasing


  Continues in the accompanying parts, but the sitar has four-bar phrases out of synch with the accompaniment, being one bar later
• 'Easy' - Music and lyrics by Norah Jones. Lyrics convey a slightly world-weary message about love and feeling
• Tonality

  The number is in Db, but starts obliquely in B minor. D tonality is veiled at bar 16 by the Dsus4 chord and the Fbs in the sitar, giving a minor mode inflection at bar 17
• Dynamics

  1. Levels are relatively low with few indications

  2. Accent marks are used in bar 43
• Rhythm

  • Sitar rhythms are similar to those of the other numbers, but notice the septuplet in bar 20
  • Accompaniment is marked by syncopation and a rhythmic ostinato in Bar 2
• Variation and elaboration


  1. A variation of the opening section coordinated with voice

  2. Further elaboration of the sitar's earlier material, combined with vocals and a slow-moving melody in strings
• In the Anthology recording, the bass movement from G down to F occurs in bar 60, not in bar 59 as shown in the Anthology
• There is a distinct feeling of balanced four-bar phrases in the first main section
• Tempo, metre and rhythm


  • Tempo is 84 crotchets a minute, without variation
  • Metre is simple quadruple (2) throughout except for bar 31 which is in 2
• Sonorities

  • This number is scored for Sitar, Vocals, Synth, and Percussion
• New motif and line

  New motif enters at bar 27 in sitar, and a further new line enters in voice at bar 35, overlapping with a return of the opening material
• Harmony


  • Slow harmonic rhythm
  • Absence of cadential harmony except for the final plagal cadence
  • Root position chords, Sus4 chord, Added note chords, and some parallelism
• Coda: Notice the chromatic line in the cello solo at bar 75 and the plagal cadence (Gbm5-Db)
• Tempo is 120 crotchets a minute
• Overall sitar range is two octaves and a third: Db below middle C to F an octave and a half above middle C