This year, four musicology students will be graduating from the National College of Arts. Even though the number seems small, there is great diversity of subjects chosen as thesis projects -- Compositions based on the Ragas created by Amir Khusro, Ghazal Gaiki of Farida Khanum, The Effect of Social Media on Contemporary Music Production in Pakistan, and Historical and Stylistic Overview of Rabab Playing in Pakistan.

The degree show at NCA is one of the most talked about and anxiously awaited events of the year. With respect to musicology in particular, the work of those who have had the commitment, talent and discipline to complete the programme is showcased. The Department of Musicology at NCA was established in 2002 and the first batch graduated in 2005. Since then though the strength of outgoing batches has been less; in many ways the research can be classified as pioneering work in the field in Pakistan.

‘Ghazal Gaiki of Farida Khanum (An Analytical Study)’ by Anoshay Ali is an ambitious project that has for the first time brought a 100 ghazals of the legendary singer together. The student was motivated by the simple fact that thus far there had been no effort to preserve the work of the maestro.

"I have done a basic analysis of 100 ghazals and deep analysis of 15 ghazals as part of my thesis project. I was quite surprised that no one had actually made an effort to collect and talk about the work of Farida Khanum prior to this," she says.

She is taken by Khanum’s unique ability of setting the mizaaj of the ghazal -- "the musicians follow her".

Farida Khanum herself came to see the work and said she had been transported back into the era when she was the reigning queen of ghazal in Pakistan. It was a trip down the memory lane for her as she listened to a number of her own tracks and shared the stories behind those.

As one stands there and marvels at how this is the first time that Farida Khanum’s work has actually been academically analysed and preserved for future generations, one is swept by a wave of optimism as to the future of music in Pakistan. Serious students of musicology may just be a handful at present, yet the work they are currently doing is shaping the future of the field.

Qumrosh A Khan’s ‘Historical and Stylistic Overview of Rabab Playing in Pakistan’ is an effort to highlight the lag in the evolution of the instrument. He says that what inspired him to choose this as a topic for research was the fact that the rabab is one of the instruments that is still surviving in its original form. This, he says, is anything but good news.

"You have to be very careful while handling the rabab. It can go out of tune quite easily. In fact, you will find yourself re-tuning it several times because temperature changes, humidity, the way it is handled and a lot of other factors affect the instrument. Nothing has been done to help improve the quality of the instrument by minimising the impact of these factors," he laments.

He argues that professional players, even though there are a few of them, struggle with the instrument adding that they often end up picking songs within the same scale to play because the tuning process is quite laborious.

The indifference towards the evolution of musical instruments that are not originally from Pakistan but have over time become associated with the region is an issue that merits attention, he believes.

Ali Rao’s work is an endeavour to take people back to the days of yore -- ‘Compositions based on the Ragas created by Amir Khusro’ focuses on the 9 ragas of Amir Khusro that are not sung anymore. The student has recorded these in his own voice and emphasises the power of music as a medium to convey a message.

"Khusro was way ahead of his time. The fact that he used music to put his thoughts across must be appreciated: what you say has a greater impact when you use music to say it," says Rao.

He underlines the need to revisit the past for inspiration and learning and the importance of keeping it alive for the present to be rich with understanding and insight.

The changing times is precisely what made Muhmmad Iqbal focus his research on ‘The Effects of Social Media on Contemporary Music Production in Pakistan’. He has looked at the work of musicians who became sensations for a variety of reasons on social media.

The Justin Girls, Tahir Shah, the One Pound Fish Man (Muhammad Shahid Nazir), Qandeel Baloch and Mathira are among a few of these. He argues that social media has really changed the way music is produced. "It has brought down the quality in terms of the essence of music while it has made it very easy for anyone and everyone to record a song and become an overnight celebrity," he says.

He does think, however, that social media by way of increasing connectivity has allowed talented people sitting in faraway rural areas to become visible on the national and even international radar but this, he notes, must be seen with caution. The fact that there is a huge influx of new entrants most of whom lack the talent and become famous just for being ridiculous or having a provocative demeanour harms the cause of music in Pakistan.

"Everyone knows why these videos are shared and liked on social media," he says. This kind of encouragement needs to be analysed in relation to the hurdles that the talented ones who lack resources face. He talks about Maria Meer who was initially turned down by Pakistan Idol but later went on to record a song with Amanat Ali.

Iqbal’s work is aimed at driving home the idea that while the advent of social media has opened up possibilities and provided opportunities, it also comes without a filter and people on this platform are often celebrated for a variety of reasons that do not always include talent.

The degree show infuses a new optimism about the steady progress that is being made towards addressing questions that need deep introspection. Where would nations be without art and music? And where would music be without the necessary scholarship and academic backing. While the music in this country remains focused on performance, the NCA degree show provides it the necessary theoretical underpinning, year after year.