The song employs the Andalusian cadence or diatonic phrygian tetrachord. Each tetrachord consists of two whole tones followed by a semitone (i.e. whole, whole, half). It is the division of the tetrachord from which the modern diatonic scale evolved. The Antara part uses the middle octave's second tetrachord and the higher octave notes. The left hand has the same tetrachord transposed down a tritone (G, A, C). The bass line is a descending tetrachord. Ahir Bhairav is a typical "uttarang" raga, which means emphasis is on the upper tetrachord. It is otherwise known as the minor descending tetrachord. Koizumi Fumio analyzed Japanese musical scales with the so-called tetrachord theory. Most movements are in the upper tetrachord, around high Sa. They correspond to the English terms trichord, tetrachord, and pentachord. The trichord is three notes, the tetrachord four, and the pentachord five. The term is derived by analogy from the 20th-century use of the word "tetrachord". In practice, a jins (pl. ajnas) is either a trichord, a tetrachord, or a pentachord. The unique qualities of the all-interval tetrachord have made it very popular in 20th-century music.