KSEAB SSLC Carnatic Music flashcards
KSEAB SSLC Carnatic Music · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Arohana
- The ascending sequence of swaras that defines how a raga rises from Sa toward the upper octave. It may differ from the avarohana in janya ragas.
- Avarohana
- The descending sequence of swaras of a raga, from the upper Sa back to the lower Sa. It can be vakra or omit notes relative to the arohana.
- Jeeva Swara
- The life-giving swara of a raga, emphasized with characteristic gamaka. Removing or misplacing it destroys the raga's identity even if the scale is unchanged.
- Vakra Raga
- A raga whose arohana or avarohana uses non-linear, zig-zag swara sequences rather than a plain ascending or descending order.
- Adi Tala
- Chaturasra Triputa tala of eight aksharas: a four-count laghu followed by two two-count drutas. It is the most common tala in Carnatic compositions.
- Laghu Jati
- The five jatis of laghu are Tisra (3), Chaturasra (4), Khanda (5), Misra (7), and Sankeerna (9) aksharas. Jati sets the laghu length.
- Sapta Talas
- The seven basic talas: Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata, and Eka. Each combines laghu, druta, and anudruta angas in a fixed order.
- Saman
- Saman is the first akshara of a tala cycle, where the composition or improvised phrase resolves. Korvais and pallavi endings typically land on saman.
- Purandara Dasa
- 16th-century Haridasa saint called the father of Carnatic music. He systematized sarali and alankara exercises and composed thousands of Kannada devaranamas.
- Varnam
- A fixed composition with swara and sahitya in purvanga and uttaranga sections. It teaches raga phraseology and tala and opens most Carnatic concerts.
- Kriti Structure
- A kriti has pallavi, anupallavi, and charanam sections. The charanam may contain madhyamakala sahitya and chittaswara passages that return to the pallavi.
- Muthuswami Dikshitar
- Trinity composer known for Sanskrit kritis in slow tempo with raga mudra. He composed the Navavarana and Kamalamba group kritis.
- Swarasthana
- One of the twelve semitone positions in an octave, named Sa, Ri1-3, Ga1-3, Ma1-2, Pa, Da1-3, Ni1-3. These positions build all melakarta scales.
- Swaralipi
- Written notation of swaras showing pitch sequence, octave marks, and elongation. It records pitch order but not the exact shape of gamakas.
- Raga Mudra
- A composer's practice of embedding the raga's name in the sahitya of a composition, common in Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis.
- Vaggeyakara Mudra
- A signature phrase or name the composer inserts into the lyric to identify authorship, such as Tyagaraja's reference to Rama or himself.
- Alapana
- Unmetered improvisation that unfolds a raga from slow to fast phrases, exploring each swarasthana and its gamaka without tala accompaniment.
- Niraval
- Improvised melodic variation on a chosen line of sahitya, keeping the same lyric and tala. It usually follows alapana in a main composition.
- Kalpana Swara
- Improvised swara singing within tala, building from simple to complex patterns and ending in a korvai that resolves on saman.
- Korvai
- A pre-set rhythmic cadential swara pattern that resolves on saman, often repeated three times. It concludes kalpana swara and pallavi.
- Melakarta
- One of the 72 parent scales with all seven swaras ascending and descending. Janya ragas derive from them by omitting or reordering notes.
- Katapayadi Sankhya
- A numerical code mapping the first syllables of a melakarta raga name to its number, such as Maya encoding 15 for Mayamalavagowla.
- Mayamalavagowla
- Melakarta 15, using Ri1, Ga3, Ma1, Da1, and Ni3. It is the standard first scale for beginners and the base for sarali and alankara exercises.
- Graha Swara
- The swara on which a raga's phrases typically begin. It is one of the lakshana markers alongside amsa and nyasa swaras.
- Mridangam
- The principal Carnatic percussion instrument, a double-headed barrel drum. Its heads are tuned to specific pitches and it produces tonic and dominant harmonics.
- Nadaswaram
- A double-reed aerophone with a loud, reedy tone, played with the tavil in temple and festival ensembles. It is a major Carnatic melodic instrument.
- Harmonic Series
- The sequence of overtones above a fundamental at integer multiples of its frequency. It shapes timbre and underlies just-intonation intervals.
- Sangita Ratnakara
- A 13th-century treatise by Sarangadeva that systematized raga and tala. It is a key medieval source for Indian music theory.
- Natyasastra
- Bharata's ancient treatise on music and dance, dated roughly 200 BCE to 200 CE. It is the earliest surviving Indian performing-arts text.
- Chaturdandi Prakasika
- Venkatamakhin's 17th-century treatise proposing the melakarta scheme that was later refined into the 72-melakarta system.
- Sarali Varisai
- The first graded exercise, sung in Mayamalavagowla, taking the seven swaras up and down in order. It builds swara accuracy and tala coordination.
- Devaranama
- A Kannada devotional song of the Haridasa tradition, often simple in raga and tala. Purandara Dasa's devaranamas anchor Carnatic teaching repertoire.