CHSE Odisha Elective Indian Music flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Nada (sound)

The fundamental acoustic phenomenon in Indian music. Ahata nada is struck or produced sound; Anahata is unstruck cosmic sound. Musical nada is Ahata, divided into vocal (Sariraja) and instrumental (Vainava).

Svara types

Svara is a musical note. Shuddha are natural notes; Vikrita are altered, split into Komal (flattened) and Tivra (raised). Only Ma has a Tivra form in Hindustani practice.

Vadi and Samvadi

Vadi is the sonant or king note of a raga, most frequently emphasized. Samvadi is the consonant or minister note, usually a fourth or fifth from Vadi. Anuvadi are attendant notes; Vivadi are dissonant.

Alankara (ornamentation)

Ornamental devices shaping raga phrases: Meend (glide), Kan (grace note), Khatka (cluster), Murki (fast turn), and Gamak (oscillation). They distinguish ragas sharing the same scale.

Sangeet (tripartite)

Traditional definition of Sangeet as threefold: Gita (vocal music), Vadya (instrumental music), and Nritya (dance). The term unites these performing arts under one concept.

Raga definition

A melodic framework with fixed aroha (ascent) and avaroha (descent), a vadi/samvadi hierarchy, and characteristic phrases called pakar. Raga is melodic, not a fixed scale alone.

Thata and Melakarta

Thata is the North Indian parent-scale system of ten thatas, systematized by Bhatkhande. Melakarta is the South Indian scheme of 72 parent ragas, attributed to Venkatamakhin.

Jati (note count)

Classification by number of notes: Audava (5), Shadava (6), Sampurna (7). A raga is described by its ascending and descending jati pair, e.g., Audava-Sampurna.

Tala components

Tala is a rhythmic cycle defined by matra (beats), vibhaga (bars), tali (claps), and khali (wave). Sam is the first beat and point of resolution.

Common talas

Teental has 16 matras in four vibhagas. Jhaptal has 10 (2+3+2+5). Rupak has 7 with khali on sam. Dhamar has 14. Ektal has 12.

Laya and Layakari

Laya is tempo: Vilambit (slow), Madhya (medium), Drut (fast). Layakari is proportional rhythmic play such as dugun, tigun, and cross-rhythmic patterns like three against four.

Samay (time theory)

Ragas are assigned to prahar, three-hour periods of the day. Bhairav is morning, Yaman evening, Malkauns late night, and Todi morning. Time theory guides performance scheduling.

Raga identification rules

Identify a raga by its aroha, avaroha, vadi, and pakar, not scale alone. Yaman uses tivra Ma; Bihag uses shuddha Ma. Bhoopali and Deshkar share a scale but differ in vadi.

Tala analysis steps

Count matras, identify vibhaga pattern, locate sam, tali, and khali, determine the theka, and note where the composition starts. Teental's 16 matras support dugun, tigun, and chaugun.

Bandish structure

A bandish has two sections: sthayi in the lower register covering the first half of the tala, and antara in the upper register covering the second half.

Natya Shastra

Foundational treatise on music, dance, and drama attributed to Bharata, dated roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE. It introduces sruti and jati and remains a core musicological source.

Brihaddeshi

A ninth-century treatise attributed to Matanga, notable for first defining raga as a distinct concept in Indian music theory.

Sangeeta Ratnakara

Thirteenth-century musicological text by Sarangadeva. It systematizes svara, sruti, grama, and raga and is a landmark of medieval Indian music theory.

North-South divergence

Hindustani and Carnatic traditions diverged after the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, shaped by Persian influence in the north while the south preserved older Sanskritic forms.

Samagana

Recitation of Sama Veda, the earliest documented melodic practice in India, using three-note and later seven-note scales. It is the historical root of Indian melodic music.

Bhatkhande

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) systematized the ten-thata theory and published Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, standardizing notation and comparative raga analysis.

Paluskar

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1931) founded Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901 and standardized notation for mass teaching of Hindustani music.

Tansen

Sixteenth-century musician of Akbar's court, credited with creating ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi, and Darbari Kanada.

Carnatic Trinity

Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Syama Sastri, composers of kritis who form the foundation of the Carnatic repertoire.

Bhatkhande notation

Svaras written S R G M P D N. Komal marked with a dot below, tivra with a line, upper octave with a dot above. Tala marked with X for sam, 0 for khali.

Tala notation marks

Matras numbered sequentially. Sam marked X, khali marked 0, tali marked by numbers. Vertical lines separate vibhaga groups in written compositions.

Notation symbols for ornament

Meend shown by a curved line, kan by a small superscript note, and gamak by a wavy line above the svara. These convey raga phrasing in written notation.

Fourfold instrument classification

Natyashastra classification: Tata (stringed), Sushira (wind), Avanaddha (membrane percussion), Ghana (solid idiophone). This scheme remains the core taxonomy.

Tata and Sushira

Tata vadya are stringed instruments such as sitar, sarod, veena, and violin. Sushira vadya are wind instruments such as bansuri, shehnai, and nagaswaram.

Avanaddha and Ghana

Avanaddha vadya use stretched membranes: tabla, mridangam, pakhawaj, dhol. Ghana vadya use the solid body: jaltarang, manjira, ghatam, morsing.

Drone instruments

Tanpura and surpeti provide the tonic reference for performance, tuned to Sa-Pa or Sa-Ma. Electronic tanpura is a modern substitute widely used in practice.

Performance structure

Alap (unmetered exposition) leads to jod/jhala (rhythmic), then the composition (bandish or gat) with tala and vistar, resolving on sam.