The term Alap comes from North Indian Classical music, and refers to an introductory passage that is slow, semi-improvised and underscored by a drone.

Now, I’m no expert on Indian Classical music, so I’m not going to talk about that specifically. But Indian music has had an influence on Western pop since the Beatles and several very famous and effective songs have had introductions that have shared musical elements that make them Westernised alaps in all but name.

The characteristics of an alap are:

• No clear meter or pulse
  Drone backing
  Improvised or semi-improvised melodic elements
  Slow movement

Why might you use one?

Because it lacks a clear pulse, and alap has an almost static feel to it, which can contrast very effectively with the main beat of a song. Because of this they make very effective introductions, allowing you to introduce harmonic and melodic elements of your song and build a real sense of anticipation before the beat and main part of the song begins.

One word of  warning – an alap takes time so you’ll need an equally long song following it to justify the length of the introduction.

What do you need to create one?
A drone, perhaps from a keyboard or string instrument.
Atmospheric melodic and percussive instruments – but remember only to hint at rhythm, you don’t want a pulse until you move into the song proper.

Here are two other Westernised alaps, the former I think very much an influence on the latter:

For the comments

Can you think of any other alaps in Western pop music?

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