Kerala Plus Two Music flashcards

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

Sruti

A microtonal interval of pitch in Indian music. The octave is theoretically divided into 22 srutis, and svarasthanas are placed on selected srutis rather than at equal distances.

Achala and Chala Svara

Achala svaras are fixed in position - Shadja and Panchama. Chala svaras are movable - Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Dhaivata and Nishada - each taking different svarasthanas.

Melakarta Scheme

Venkatamakhin's system of 72 parent ragas in 12 chakras of six, from Kanakangi to Rasikapriya. Each has all seven svaras ascending and descending, and janya ragas derive from them.

Sapta Tala

The seven Carnatic talas: Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata and Eka. Combining them with five laghu jatis yields the 35-talas, extended to 175 with gatis.

Natyasastra

Bharata's foundational treatise, roughly 2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE. It covers sruti, svara, grama, murcchana, jati, tala, rasa and the 22-sruti division of the octave.

Sangita Ratnakara

Sarangadeva's 13th-century treatise from the Yadava court. It systematises svara, raga, tala and prabandha and is the key bridge between ancient and medieval music theory.

Chaturdandi Prakasika

Venkatamakhin's 17th-century work setting out the 72-melakarta principle and the four dandis: alapa, thaya, gita and prabandha. A landmark of medieval southern theory.

Brihaddesi

Matanga's treatise, around the 9th century, which first treats 'raga' as a technical category and describes desi or regional melodies alongside the older jati system.

Purandara Dasa

16th-century composer called the Sangita Pitamaha. He codified graded exercises such as sarali and alankara and composed thousands of devaranamas, shaping Carnatic pedagogy.

Carnatic Trinity

Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri. Tyagaraja is known for Pancharatna kritis, Dikshitar for navavarana and nottusvara sahityas, Sastri for swarajatis.

Varnam

A Carnatic etude form in two types: tana varnam, teaching raga grammar through purvangam and uttarangam, and pada varnam, which is dance-oriented with sahitya throughout.

Ragamalika

A composition whose successive sections are set in different ragas, creating contrast within one piece. It appears in kirtanas and in raga-tala malika works.

Gharana

A Hindustani lineage of style passed through guru–shishya parampara, identified by distinctive treatment of raga, laya and vocal or instrumental technique, such as Gwalior or Kirana.

Khayal

The dominant Hindustani vocal form, with sthayi and antara sections, sung in vilambit (bada) and drut (chhota) speeds around a fixed bandish, elaborated with alap and taans.

Dhrupad

An older, austere Hindustani vocal form in chautal and dhamar, with alap in nom-tom syllables and dagarbani and nauharbani stylistic branches. Accompanied by pakhawaj.

Maihar Gharana

An instrumental gharana founded by Allauddin Khan, known for sarod and sitar and for blending vocal-style elaboration with instrumental technique. Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar belong to it.

Kathakali Sangeetham

The sopana-style vocal music of Kathakali, sung by two singers behind the actors in ragas drawn from Carnatic music but rendered slowly and elongated, with chengila and elathalam.

Sopana Sangeetham

Kerala temple music sung in a slow, stepwise ascent in ragas such as Bhairavi and Kalyani, accompanied by edakka and elathalam. It strongly influences Kathakali singing.

Panchavadyam

A Kerala temple ensemble of five instruments, including chenda, maddalam, kombu, kuzhal and elathalam, performed in a layered, gradually accelerating rhythmic structure.

Theyyam

A ritual dance form of north Malabar in Kerala, performed with elaborate costume and thottam songs, associated with local deity worship and folk religious practice.

Tata Vadya

The stringed class in Bharata's fourfold instrument classification. Members include veena, violin, sitar, sarod and sarangi, where sound is produced by vibrating strings.

Avanaddha Vadya

The covered percussion class in the fourfold classification, where a stretched membrane is struck. Examples are mridangam, tabla, pakhawaj, chenda, maddalam and idakka.

Sushira Vadya

The wind class of instruments in Bharata's classification, sounded by breath through a tube. Examples include bansuri, nagaswaram, shehnai, kuzhal and harmonium.

Ghana Vadya

The solid idiophone class in the fourfold classification, made of resonant solid material struck directly. Examples are jal tarang, ghatam, morsing, chengila and elathalam.

Niraval

Carnatic manodharma improvisation on a chosen line of sahitya from a kriti, exploring the raga's phrases within the tala cycle before returning to the composition.

Kalpanasvara

Improvised svara passagework in the raga of the composition, structured around the tala's aksharas and cadencing on the sam, often building in speed and complexity.

Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi

The most elaborate Carnatic manodharma form: alapana, then tanam, then a composed pallavi line improvised with niraval and svara in varied gatis and eduppu placements.

Eduppu

The offset at which a composition begins relative to the tala's sam. It may be samam (on the beat), atita (before) or anagata (after), affecting rhythmic placement.

Navarasa

The nine rasas of Indian aesthetics: sringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta and shanta. Bharata listed eight; shanta was added later.

Rasa Theory

Aesthetic relish arising when vibhava (cause), anubhava (response) and vyabhichari bhava (transient states) combine. Elaborated by Abhinavagupta in his Natyasastra commentary.

Gamaka

Microtonal ornaments such as kampita, jaru, sphurita, nokku and orika that shape a raga's identity and distinguish ragas sharing the same scale degrees.

Raga Samay

The Hindustani practice of associating ragas with times of day, such as Todi with morning and Yaman with evening. Carnatic music generally does not enforce such time rules.