Assam ASSEB Higher Secondary Skill Subject Hindustani Vocal cheat sheet

Swar (notes) are seven shuddha (natural) notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni; Sa and Pa have no komal forms.

Komal (flattened) notes are Re, Ga, Dha, Ni; tivra (sharpened) Ma is the only altered Ma - total twelve swaras in an octave (saptak).

Sthana/saptak: mandra (lower), madhya (middle), tar (upper); notation adds dots - a dot below = mandra, a dot above = tar.

Swaralipi symbols: komal is written with a small horizontal stroke below the letter; tivra Ma with a vertical stroke above.

Alankar (palta) patterns: e.g., Sa Re Ga Ma / Re Ga Ma Pa, and vakra (zig-zag) forms like Sa Ga Re Ma - used to fix swar-sthana.

Aroha (ascending) and avaroha (descending) lines define a raga's swara set; avaroha often includes vakra (non-linear) movement.

Vadi (sonant), samvadi (consonant), anuvadi (assonant) and vivadi (dissonant) classify each note's role within a raga.

Notation order in a bandish line: sthayi (first line, middle register) then antara (second line, upper register); antara usually touches tar saptak.

Raga = a melodic framework defined by swara set, vadi/samvadi, aroha-avaroha, pakad (catch-phrase) and time (samay).

Thaat (Bhatkhande, 10): Bilawal, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi, Todi - classification by shuddha/komal/tivra swara set.

Raga classification systems: thaat (Bhatkhande), mela (Venkatamakhin, 72 melakartas - Carnatic), and raga-ragini (old, now historical).

Jati (raga type) by note count: audav (5), shadav (6), sampoorna (7); jati is stated separately for aroha and avaroha.

Ragas are grouped by time: e.g., Bhairav and Todi in the morning; Bilawal, Khamaj, Kafi in the afternoon; Kalyan, Poorvi in the evening.

Purva raga (evening) vs uttar raga (morning) is an old classification; modern practice uses prahar (3-hour time slots).

Raga types: sampurna-sampurna (Bilawal), shadav-sampurna (Khamaj), audav-sampurna (Asavari), and vakra ragas (e.g., Kafi with zig-zag movement).

Raga-ragini classification (Mallah, Hanuman, Bhairav, Shri, Megh, Deepak) is historical; the modern system uses thaat and prahar.

Tala = rhythmic cycle; components: matra (beat), vibhag (division), tali (clap), khali (wave), sam (first beat), and theka (mnemonic syllables).

Laya = tempo: vilambit (slow), madhya (medium), drut (fast); laya is measured in matras per minute.

Laya ratios: barabar (1:1), dugun (2:1), tigun (3:1), chaugun (4:1) - laya changes must preserve the tala cycle.

Sam is the first matra of the cycle and the point of resolution; khali is marked with a wave of the hand and a hollow theka syllable.

Theka syllables (Teental): dha dhin dhin dha / dha dhin dhin dha / dha tin tin ta / ta dhin dhin dha.

Notation of tala uses tali marked with numbers (1,2,3...) and khali with 0; each vibhag begins on a tali or khali.

Kriya (hand gestures): tali (clap), khali (wave), sam (clap on first beat); these are the physical markers of the tala.

Laya is independent of tala: a 16-matra cycle can be sung in vilambit, madhya or drut while the theka stays constant.

Bhairav: sampoorna-sampoorna, komal Re and Dha, vadi Ma, samvadi Sa, morning raga; andolan (slow oscillation) on komal Re and Dha.

Bhairavi: sampoorna-sampoorna, all komal (Re, Ga, Dha, Ni) plus shuddha Ma, vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; traditionally the concluding raga of a concert.

Khamaj: shadav-sampoorna (Ga and Ni omitted in aroha), shuddha Ni in aroha, komal Ni in avaroha; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening.

Kafi: shadav-sampoorna with komal Ga and Ni, vadi Pa, samvadi Re; afternoon; vakra movement in avaroha.

Asavari: audav-sampoorna, komal Ga, Dha, Ni; vadi Dha, samvadi Ga; morning; komal Dha is the raga's signature.

Bilawal: sampoorna-sampoorna, all shuddha swaras, vadi Dha, samvadi Ga; afternoon; the base of the Bilawal thaat.

Kalyan: sampoorna-sampoorna with tivra Ma, vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening; tivra Ma is the defining swara.

Performance rules: alaap (unmetered) precedes bandish (metered); vistar (elaboration) follows the raga's aroha-avaroha and pakad, not a fixed scale.

Teental: 16 matras, 4 vibhags (4+4+4+4), tali on 1,5,13, khali on 9; theka starts dha dhin dhin dha.

Jhaptal: 10 matras, 4 vibhags (2+3+2+3), tali on 1,3,8, khali on 6; theka dhi na / dhi dhi na / ti na / dhi dhi na.

Ektaal: 12 matras, 6 vibhags (2+2+2+2+2+2), tali on 1,5,9,11, khali on 3 and 7.

Rupak: 7 matras, 3 vibhags (3+2+2), khali on the first matra (sam is khali); theka tin tin na / dhin na / dhin na.

Keherwa: 8 matras, 2 vibhags (4+4), tali on 1, khali on 5; theka dha ge na ti / na ka dhi na.

Dadra: 6 matras, 2 vibhags (3+3), tali on 1, khali on 4; theka dha dhi na / dha tu na.

Practical rule: at sam the composition and the theka coincide; khali sections are lighter in timbre and marked by a wave, not a clap.

Laya doubling in a tala: dugun means two theka-cycles of the tala fit in the time of one - total matras double, sam stays fixed.

Bandish = metered composition in a raga and tala; parts: sthayi (first line, madhya saptak) and antara (second line, tar saptak).

Types: dhrupad (with pakhavaj, in Chautal/Sultaal), khayal (with tabla, vilambit and drut), tarana (syllables like nom, tom, dere, na), and thumri (lighter, romantic).

Lakshana of a bandish: the raga's pakad, vadi swara, and aroha-avaroha must be visible in the composition's own lines.

Sthayi usually returns to sam; antara expands into the upper register and often highlights the raga's upper-register phrases.

Sargam-geet uses swara names as lyrics; lakshan-geet literally states the raga's lakshana (vadi, samvadi, time, swaras).

Dhrupad's four vanis (Gauri, Nauhar, Khandar, Dagar) and its four parts (sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog) are standard lakshana.

Khayal types: vilambit (bada khayal, with vistaar and taan) and drut (chhota khayal, compact with fast taan).

Notation of a bandish marks tala matras above the line and swaras below, with sam and khali positions aligned to the theka.

Natyashastra (Bharata, c. 200 BCE-200 CE) treats swara, tala, and the grama-murchhana system - the earliest Indian music treatise.

Brihaddeshi (Matanga, c. 8th-9th century) is the first text to define 'raga' as a distinct melodic concept.

Sangita Ratnakara (Sarangadeva, 13th century) systematizes raga, tala, and prabandha; it is the bridge between ancient and medieval music.

The 14th-16th century split into Hindustani (north) and Carnatic (south) styles is attributed to political and regional divergence after the Delhi Sultanate.

Bhatkhande's Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati (early 20th century) introduced the 10-thaat system and a standard notation (swaralipi).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (Lahore, 1901) and standardized notation and public music education.

The gharana system (Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala) emerged in the 19th-20th centuries as lineages of stylistic transmission.

All India Radio (from 1936) and music conferences (e.g., Tansen Samaroh, Gwalior) shaped the modern public concert tradition.

Tansen (c. 1500-1586), court musician of Akbar; credited with Miyan ki Todi, Miyan ki Malhar, Darbari Kanada; associated with the Senia gharana.

Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) is traditionally credited with the sitar/tabla origins and with qawwali - claims are traditional, not documented.

Bhatkhande (1860-1936) authored Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati (4 vols), created the 10-thaat system, and founded the Marris College (Lucknow).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1931) founded Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and wrote the first widely used swaralipi notation books.

Allauddin Khan (c. 1862-1972), sarod player of Maihar, trained Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Ravi Shankar (sitar).

Onkar Nath Thakur (1897-1967) promoted the thaat system and wrote Sangeetanjali; he was a key Bhatkhande-school theorist.

Kumar Gandharva (1924-1992) is known for his unconventional, highly individual khayal style and for singing with a short, intense elaboration.

Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011), Kirana gharana, known for khayal and for the devotional abhang tradition of Karnataka.

Nada (sound) is of two kinds: ahata (struck, produced) and anahata (unstruck, internal) - the classical distinction.

Pitch depends on frequency (Hz); the octave ratio is 2:1, the perfect fifth 3:2, and the perfect fourth 4:3.

Shruti = the smallest perceptible pitch interval; 22 shrutis are traditionally assigned to the octave, though their exact ratios are debated.

The 12-swar octave uses these intervals from Sa: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 semitones (equal temperament, 100 cents each).

Harmonics (overtones) of a string follow the harmonic series: f, 2f, 3f, 4f... - this underlies the concept of swara and timbre.

Resonance: a body vibrates strongly when driven at its natural frequency; the tanpura's jawari shapes its harmonic-rich drone.

Swar-sthana is fixed by the tanpura drone: Sa and Pa are the reference points against which komal/tivra notes are tuned.

Aroha and avaroha are perceptual, not just acoustic: the same 12 swaras yield different ragas through order, emphasis and ornament (gamak, andolan).