ILAIYARAGAM

ILAIYARAGAM Research Posts

Research Post 1 - Raja's 9th Chords

The 9th chords in Rajas music Raja is among those extremely gifted souls who can play with weirdest
combination of swaras and yet comes out phenomenally successful in his novel attempts! One wonders while
composing is there anyone else out there who can visualize at a meta-level how does a Dm 9 th would sound instead
of a D Minor.
Well, in any 9th chords (Both major ninth and minor ninth) when one adds a periya Ri to the root chord, it gives
that respective 9th. When we try to realize what an added feel can this big Ri introduces when its used Raja bowls
us out for a duck, not letting us to conclude that a 9 th chord can be used only on Such and such situations. Because
he has used it for almost all possible situations in Cine-Music. But when we try to give it a closer look, May be we
get off the mark with the inference that, a 9 th Chord certainly gives a Reengaaram idum effect in your ears
(Cant find a good English word for the Difficult Tamil word Reengaaram. May be Reverberating or Resounding or
Resonating or Rich????) Because in a major or a minor chord the gap between Sa and Ga is actually large. Hence
this big Ri comes in between like a Norwegian peace delegation on Sri Lanka-LTTE peace process So when one
plays it Sa + Ri + Ga + Pa, It gives this resonating effect
If Nobel consortium ever introduces a Prize for innovation in Music, Raja would have bagged it for the way he has
handled the 9th chords. He has exploited the reverberating nature of this 9 th chords by playing it in a Guitar thro
phaser!!! This can be evidently noticed in Songs like Uravenum pudiya vanil. When Janaki sings the pallavi of this

song, a guitar (with phaser) simply gives the root minor 9 th chord in an arpeggio style. Ada Ada.. The fear which
one would have when he/she falls in love for the first time is beautiful expressed by the 9 th
The song Hey I love you!! I Love you!! is another example. The way the song starts in Cm9th with the phased
output of the guitar simply mesmerizes the listener. Raja dedicates the prelude of this song for 9 th chords like
Cm9th, Fm9th, A#M9th, D#M9th from his fleet Amazing!!! (For those who dont understand what a phaser is, its a
electronic gadget which distorts the output of music by sending sound signals again and again with a phase lag.
Often its connected with a Guitar Our traditional instruments like Thambura and Moresingh have an inbuilt Phaser
in them. A matter of real pride for us over the sound engineering done by our ancestors, one should say!!!)
Raja mostly deletes the 5th note (or the Pa) from the 9 th chord. Guess he always prefers a 9 th chord to sound like
that But if one lends ear to the end result it produces, its worth giving a second Nobel Prize!! All of us only
remember the prelude of Illamai Idho Idho Idho, to Kamalhassan slowly walking to a bike, starting it. As the tempo
of the prelude increases, He revs up his bike and when it reaches a peak he yells Hi Every body. Wish you a Happy
new year But did anyone realize that its nothing but Cm9th played without G (Or Pa).
Raja repeats this trick in lots of other occasions During the second interlude starting of the song Ooru sanam
Thoongiruchu. In the song Sem poovae. Poovae during the words Padai kondu nadakkum manmadha silaiyo a
beautiful backing of FM9th (Again without Pa). In the second interlude of the song in the Telugu chiranjeevi movie,
which is the original tune of Dhak Dhak karnae laga, Raaja does it again There are whole lots of songs that one
can think off. He seem to have mastered the art of beautifying Sivaranjani with minor 9th
The third innovation in 9th chords is using them consecutively in a higher and a lower octave For example Vaa vaa
Anbae Anbae from Agni Nakshathram When the second interlude starts, a Piano simply plays Cm9th (in half
timings) in a higher octave. then lower octave For two bars Then the violin takes overNext in the movie
Guru.. Between the lines of the song Perai chollava and Adhu Gnyamaguma one hears a chord.,.. Its nothing
but minor 9th played consecutively on a higher octave and then on a lower octave. In the song Valiyosai in
Satya in the second BGM before the humming of Lata and SPB begins, the BGM starts with an E minor 9 th chord
followed by a half bass guitar piece. In the second bar the same E m9th is played in an octave higher Aha!! The
effect that it creates is heavenly!!!! Same thing he does it again in the interludes of the song Naan Thedum
Sevvandhi poovidhu Koodu vittu Koodu payura madhiri, Octave vittu octave thavuraru !!!
BTW did you guys know that the all time favorite song of Eagles, Hotel California starts with Bm9th? Surely not
a co-incidence!!!!!!!!! Great people think alike eh??

Research Post 2 - Usage of Major & Minor 9th Chords - Examples

One of the very interesting things in songs by maestro ilaiyaraja is the usage of minor chords.
The minor and minor ninth have a drastic change in effect although they are cousins of each other. 9th chord is an
addition of note to the root chord. If one takes Amaj, the addition of B in A C# and E creates a totally new effect.
Take the example of the song "vellai pura ondru" (Fmaj) in which the second interlude the chords go to Dm during
the santoor piece ... and the chords, which come during the humming, are Dm9 and Am9. These 9th chords create
that "effect" which is really haunting.
Try playing that piece with a proper chord eliminating the 9th the "effect" will be missing.
Coming to some more examples... the song "megam kottatum" the root chord of the song in Em9th with a
phaser guitar creates that "mood" for the song.
"Roja poonthottam" Em in root... and these min9th chords create a gloomy effect.
Considering Maj9th, it adds brightness to the root chord. The chords in the first interlude of konji konji
(Emin) start with an Amaj9th, which really gives that "brightness" to the interlude.

There are lots of 9th usage by raja which can be listed downhere are some of the examples
"Poonthalir aada" prelude 9th without Pa
"Nee partha The prelude chord after the first piano piece is a Fm9th7th which is Fm (F G# C) with G and
D# without C which essentially is F G G# D#.
"Konji Konji" in stanza when the mood changes from minor to major. The stanza just plays around with Em
and slightly adds a 6th in the line "allam vizhuthu aada" (E G B C#) then "vanagalil" its Emaj9th and Amaj
ninth... wow what a transition!
"Kannan vanthu" in stanza ... the stanza starts with a Dm and in "malai nilaa..." 'Slow strings' add up a ninth
note to the existing Dm.
"Butterfly of course in "arugil nee"... an excellent Dm9th.
"En iniyapon nilave" -- prelude guitar piece... its a 'suthammana' Cm9th.

- click here for Research Post 3

- click here for Research Post HOME

Article Courtesy - Vicky (Vignesh Subramanian - vignesh_s@mail.com), ilaiyaraaja yahoo

groups.
A_Z Listing of IR's Ragam

Thanking the Maestro

Maestro Speak

Talk & Discuss IR's Ragam

ilaiyaraja - the tao personified

Ramana Maharshi & ilaiyaraja

ilaiyaragam Research Post

Raga Universe

ilaiyaragam Ringtone Corner

What They Said About ilaiyaraja

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook
Home

ThisPageisanoutdated,usergeneratedwebsitebroughtto
youbyanarchive.ItwasmirroredfromGeocitiesattheendofOctober,2009.
Foranyquestionsconcerningthispagetrytocontacttherespectiveauthor.(Toreportanymalicious
contentsendtheURLtooocities(atgmaildotcom).Forquestionaboutthearchivevisit:OoCities.org.