My 9 year old boy has been consumed by the world of video games these days. Nothing new, right? Most 9 year olds in the world must be in the same boat. But in this case, his obsession has taken me to a new genre of music - Video Game Music. Interesting, right?

My son loves music and we share a unique bond over it. I have always passed on whatever I know or love in music and of late, he has started doing the same. That's how I got exposed to the vast world of ‘video game music’. And frankly, some of the stuff is nice even for a non-gamer like me. So, I decided to write an article on this unique genre with inputs from my son.

Let me start with the characteristics of this genre. It's almost always a high energy, fast paced electronica kind of music and the beats are in-sync with the speed of the game (obviously). To give a break and add drama to the narrative, some calm music also comes in between usually on keyboards, before breaking into high energy again and the loop continues. Avid gamers claim that they cannot really play the game without the music as it adds to the thrill and completes the storytelling. And music loving obsessed gamers (like my son) can just listen to the music for hours, even when they aren't playing the game.

So, what are the games having iconic and most popular music scores? According to my son, these are the three names - Geometry Dash, Minecraft and Sonic. In fact, Sonic has sampled some Michael Jackson’s music and MJ himself composed some of the music for this popular game. Did you know that? I didn't!

My son’s favourite composers are Waterflame, Hinkik, Switchstep GD, MDK and C418. I was surprised to learn that some of these are trained classical musicians who chose to turn into video game composers because of their passion for it. And perhaps that’s the reason why the music is fundamentally good. But to understand that, one needs to listen to the piano versions of the popular scores (that are easily available on YouTube) as they focus purely on the melodies. What are some of the video game pieces to listen to?

Below is the list and mind you, start with the piano version. These are some of our personal favourites. 

-        Geometry Dash: a) Explorers by Hinkik & b) Dash Destroyer by Switchstep GD

-        Minecraft: a) Mice on Venus & b) Wet Hands by C418

-        Sonic: a) Stardust Speedway & b) Studiopolis Zone Act 1 by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata

This unique and niche genre is here to stay and evolve further as the world of gaming is here to stay and evolve further. And as my son puts it, ‘Video games won't exist without music’.

By Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Dubai based marketing consultant, a best-selling author, a music journalist and a successful podcaster with a passion for listening to music, the vinyl way. His 35 years old Technics (SL Q3) along with an humble collection of vinyl across genres like blues, jazz, rock, classical, Indian classical, old Hindi film songs are his prized possessions. Currently he is working on his second book - a bi-lingual collection of poems in Hindustani and English.

He can be reached on +971 582929908, +91 9833410792 and meraj.hasan@gmail.com.