The Fusion of Indian Music and American Pop

The purpose of this project was to research different areas of Indian music - from the instrumentation and music theory to the cultural significance - and fuse it with American popular music, creating a modern and unique song appealing to various listeners.

Being open to education and collaboration with other cultures encourages growth as a musician and presents the opportunity to explore new musical frontiers in the modern world. By studying the three main genres in Indian music: Hindustani classical, Rajhastani folk, and modern Bollywood, the various styles of Indian music were understood and interpreted in a unique way. Researching different types of Indian instruments allowed the instruments to be replicated or a similar sound to be recreated in the fusion piece. The cultural significance of specific types of Indian music were also taken into consideration and provided context for the song. For example, themes in folk music are often related to love so this theme was used as the main inspiration of the fusion piece. The form of Indian songs was also important. Depending on the genre, the song was structured in a specific way. For example, classical Hindustani music is broken into three sections: an introduction, the addition of percussion, and harmonic and rhythmic acceleration. This three-layer form was combined with the ABABCB song form (verse, chorus, bridge) to create the structure of the fusion piece. The process of creating the song strengthened technical skills while the research expanded appreciation of Indian culture. Furthermore, collaboration with Indian musicians and native-Hindi speakers provided authenticity and accuracy within the piece, especially in terms of foreign language pronunciation. The expected result of combining these areas of research with current skills in music production was the creation of an Indian-American pop song easily digestible for all types of listeners.