What are the key features of the tracks from Anoushka Shankar's Breathing Under Water?
Anoushka Shankar: two tracks from Breathing Under Water (Burn, Breathing Under Water). Indian classical music (sitar, raga, tala, tabla) fused with electronica, programming and flamenco, using drones, layered textures and looping.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, two tracks from Anoushka Shankar's Breathing Under Water. Covers Indian classical music (sitar, raga, tala, tabla) fused with electronica, programming and flamenco, drones, layered textures, looping and the features the appraising exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
This is the third Fusions set work: two tracks from Anoushka Shankar's album Breathing Under Water (2007): Burn and Breathing Under Water. Shankar, daughter of the sitar master Ravi Shankar, fuses Indian classical music with electronica and flamenco. You must know the Indian elements (sitar, tabla, raga, tala, drone), the electronic elements (programming, looping, synthesisers), and the layered, drone-based textures.
Context and the artists
Indian classical elements
Electronic and Western elements
Texture and rhythm
How Edexcel examines this
This set work is examined with describe/comment questions on the fusion of Indian classical and electronic/Western elements, the sitar and tabla, raga and tala, the drone, and the layered texture, supported by the anthology. It may anchor the single set-work essay or feature in the links essay (paired with another fusion, electronic or world-music extract). It compares with Kate Bush (studio layering) and with Cuban son and Debussy as fusions. The mark scheme rewards the terms sitar, tabla, raga, tala, drone, programming, looping, layered/stratified texture, located and attributed.
Try this
Q1. Name two Indian classical and two electronic elements in these tracks. [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Indian: sitar, tabla, raga, tala, drone. Electronic: programmed beats, sampling, looping, synthesisers.
Q2. What role does the drone play, and which traditions does it suit? [Short explanation]
- Cue. A sustained drone provides a static tonal centre, characteristic of Indian classical music and shared with much electronica.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20198 marksDescribe how Anoushka Shankar fuses Indian classical music with other styles in these tracks. (Component 3, Section A, with anthology)Show worked answer →
A Section A question on the fusion in Breathing Under Water.
Indian classical elements. The sitar and tabla, raga-based melody (a melodic framework), tala (cyclic rhythm), drones (tanpura), and improvisatory melodic decoration.
Other styles. Electronica and programmed beats, sampling and looping, synthesisers, Western harmony and structures, and flamenco/Western vocals on some tracks.
Effect. The blend creates a contemporary East-meets-West fusion. Locate the sitar melody, the drone and the programmed beat.
Markers reward named Indian (sitar, tabla, raga, tala, drone) and Western/electronic (programming, looping, synth) features with located examples, not "it mixes Indian and modern music".
Edexcel 20228 marksComment on the use of texture, drone and rhythm in these tracks. (Component 3, Section A)Show worked answer →
An 8-mark question on texture, drone and rhythm.
Drone. A sustained drone (tanpura or synthesised) underpins the harmony, typical of Indian classical music, giving a static tonal centre.
Texture. Layered and stratified: drone, programmed beat, sitar melody, tabla and electronic sounds built up in strata, with looping.
Rhythm. Tala-based cyclic rhythms and tabla patterns combine with programmed electronic beats; syncopation and groove.
A strong answer names the drone, describes the stratified layered texture and the tala/programmed rhythm, rather than asserting "atmospheric Indian music".
Related dot points
- Area of Study 5 Fusions: the three set works (Debussy's Estampes, Familia Valera Miranda's Cana Quema, Anoushka Shankar's Breathing Under Water), and the concept of fusion, blending Western, Asian, African and Latin American musical traditions.
An overview of Area of Study 5 (Fusions) for Edexcel A-Level Music. Introduces the three set works by Debussy, Familia Valera Miranda and Anoushka Shankar, and the concept of fusion that blends Western, Asian, African and Latin American traditions, with the features the appraising exam rewards.
- Claude Debussy: Estampes, Nos. 1 (Pagodes) and 2 (La soiree dans Grenade). Impressionist piano music fusing Western harmony with Javanese gamelan and Spanish influences, using pentatonic and whole-tone scales, modality and habanera rhythm.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, Debussy's Estampes Nos. 1 (Pagodes) and 2 (La soiree dans Grenade). Covers impressionist piano music fusing Western harmony with Javanese gamelan and Spanish influences, pentatonic and whole-tone scales, modality and the habanera rhythm the appraising exam rewards.
- Familia Valera Miranda: two songs from Cana Quema (Alla va candela, Se quema la chumbambla). Cuban son fusing Spanish melody, guitar and vocal harmony with African rhythm, call and response, and percussion.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, two songs from Familia Valera Miranda's Cana Quema. Covers Cuban son as a fusion of Spanish melody, guitar and vocal harmony with African rhythm, percussion, call and response, and the features the appraising exam rewards.
- Texture, structure (form) and rhythm as analytical tools: textural types, the standard forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre across the six areas of study.
A focused answer on texture, structure and rhythm for Edexcel A-Level Music appraising. Covers textural types, binary, ternary, rondo, sonata, ritornello and verse-chorus forms, metre, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm and additive metre, with the vocabulary and bar-referencing Component 3 rewards.
- Kate Bush: three tracks from Hounds of Love (Cloudbusting, And Dream of Sheep, Under Ice). Art-pop using the Fairlight sampler, drum machines, layered production, word-painting and atmospheric texture.
A focused answer on the Edexcel A-Level Music set work, three tracks from Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. Covers art-pop, the Fairlight CMI sampler, drum machines, layered production, word-painting and the atmospheric textures the appraising exam rewards.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Music (9MU0) specification (Issue 7) — Pearson Edexcel (2016)
- Pearson set work support guide: Anoushka Shankar, Breathing Under Water — Pearson Edexcel (2016)