KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music cheat sheet

Svar (notes) in Hindustani music: Shadja (Sa), Rishabh (Re), Gandhar (Ga), Madhyam (Ma), Pancham (Pa), Dhaivat (Dha), Nishad (Ni); Sa and Pa are achala (immovable), the rest are vikari (alterable).

Vikrit svar: komal (lowered) Re, Ga, Dha, Ni; tivra (raised) Ma only. Ma has no komal form and Sa/Pa have no vikrit forms.

Saptak: mandra (lower), madhya (middle), tar (upper). Sa of madhya saptak is written as plain S; mandra uses a dot below, tar a dot above.

That (thaat) system of V. N. Bhatkhande has 10 thats: Bilaval, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi, Todi. Each that is a seven-note (sampoorna) parent scale.

Raga lakshana: raga must have at least five svar, an aroha and avaroha, a vadi (most prominent) and samvadi (second prominent) svar, and a defined time or season in many traditions.

Jati by note count: audav (5), shadav (6), sampoorna (7). A raga's jati is stated separately for aroha and avaroha, e.g. audav-sampoorna.

Vadi–samvadi relationship: samvadi is usually a fourth or fifth (ma or pa) from the vadi; the pair defines the raga's gravitational centre.

Anuvadi are the remaining supporting svar; vivadi are notes foreign to or avoided in the raga. Aroha–avaroha order, not just note set, distinguishes ragas with identical scales.

Bhatkhande svaralipi conventions: svar written in Devanagari or Roman capitals; komal marked with a horizontal line below, tivra Ma with a vertical line above; mandra svar dotted below, tar svar dotted above.

In Bhatkhande notation, a horizontal curved line (meend/legato mark) joins svar sung with a glide; a small arrow or slash indicates kan svar (grace note).

Bar divisions in svaralipi are marked by vertical lines (khand/khanda lines); the sam is marked with an 'x' or the symbol for sam, tali with numbered marks, khali with '0'.

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar notation uses similar komal/tivra marks but a different layout; Paluskar's system spread through Gandharva Mahavidyalaya publications.

Svarasthana (absolute pitch) is not fixed in Hindustani notation; svaralipi records relative scale degree, so Sa may be set to any convenient tonic for the performer.

A bandish is notated with sthayi (first section), antara (second section), and where present sanchari and abhog; the notation aligns syllables (bol) under the corresponding svar.

Tala notation uses symbols: x for sam, numbers (2, 3, 4) for tali, 0 for khali, placed at the start of each vibhag; matra counts run continuously.

Sargam notation writes svar names as sung (Sa Re Ga Ma...); tarana notation writes the rhythmic bol (nom, tom, diri, tana) rather than meaningful text.

Tala components: matra (beat), vibhag (bar/group of matras), tali (clap), khali (empty/wave), sam (first matra, point of resolution), and avartan (one full cycle).

Teental: 16 matras, 4 vibhag of 4; tali on matras 1, 5, 13; khali on matra 9; sam on matra 1.

Jhaptal: 10 matras, vibhag 2+3+2+3; tali on 1, 3, 8; khali on 6.

Ektaal: 12 matras, 6 vibhag of 2; tali on 1, 5, 9, 11; khali on 3 and 7.

Rupak: 7 matras, vibhag 3+2+2; khali falls on the sam (matra 1), tali on 4 and 6 - the only common tala with khali at sam.

Keherwa: 8 matras, 2 vibhag of 4; sam on 1, khali on 5. Dadra: 6 matras, 3+3; khali on 4.

Laya (tempo) types: vilambit (slow), madhya (medium), drut (fast); layakari is rhythmic play such as barabar, dugun (double), tigun (triple), chaugun (quadruple).

Theka is the standard bol pattern of a tala played on tabla; the bayan (bass drum) sounds on tali positions and is muted or struck lightly at khali.

Yaman (Kalyan that): tivra Ma; aroha S R G M(tivra) P D N S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening raga; often begins with Ni in mandra saptak.

Bhairav (Bhairav that): komal Re and komal Dha; aroha S r G M P d N S; vadi Dha, samvadi Re; morning raga; oscillating (andolan) komal Re and Dha.

Bhairavi (Bhairavi that): all four komal - Re, Ga, Dha, Ni; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; traditionally sung at the close of a concert; often rendered with komal Ni in aroha.

Bhoopali (Kalyan that, audav): S R G P D S, omits Ma and Ni; vadi Ga, samvadi Dha; evening; a pentatonic raga with no vikrit svar.

Malkauns (Bhairavi that, audav): S g M d n S, omits Re and Pa; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; late night; mandra-heavy, slow development.

Todi (Todi that): komal Re, Ga, Dha; tivra Ma; aroha S r g M(tivra) P d N S; vadi Dha, samvadi Ga; late morning; the phrase r g M(tivra) is characteristic.

Khamaj (Khamaj that): komal Ni in aroha; aroha S G M P D N S, avaroha S n D P M G R S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening; often light-classical thumri association.

Desh (Khamaj that): aroha S R M P N S, avaroha S n D P M G R G S; vadi Re, samvadi Pa; night raga; Ma and Ni rendered shuddha in aroha.

Bandish (chiz) sections: sthayi (opens on or near sam, stays in lower/middle register), antara (upper register, often touches tar saptak), and in larger compositions sanchari and abhog.

Bandish types: vilambit khayal bandish (slow, elaborate) and drut bandish (fast, compact); dhrupad bandish is set in a tala such as Chautal (12 matras) or Dhamar (14 matras).

Bandish bol are the text syllables aligned to svar; the pada (verse) is set so that the sthayi's first line resolves on sam.

Tarana uses rhythmic syllables (nom, tom, diri, tana, nana, re) instead of poetic text; often in drut laya, frequently in Teental or Ektaal, and closes with a tihai.

Tihai: a phrase repeated three times so that the final note lands on sam; a chakradar tihai repeats a tihai three times within the cycle.

Dhrupad four-part form: sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog; sung with rudra veena or pakhawaj; slower, austere, with nom-tom alap.

Thumri: light-classical form in Khamaj, Pilu, Bhairavi, or Tilang; text is romantic; bol-banao and bol-bant are its stylistic devices.

Ghazal and bhajan use Hindustani raga and tala but follow poetic rather than khayal structure; the composition's metre (beher) must agree with the tala cycle.

Khayal performance order: alap (unaccompanied, unmetered, expands raga), then bandish with laya and tabla; bol-alap, bol-taan, and taan patterns follow.

Alap stages in dhrupad: alap (unmetered), jod (pulse enters, no pakhawaj), jhala (fast, rhythmic); nom-tom is the syllabic alap of dhrupad.

Vocal registers: mandra, madhya, tar saptak; khayal antara is expected to reach tar saptak; voice culture uses svar sadhana and palte (sequential exercises).

Taan types: sapat taan (straight/scale-wise), vakra taan (zigzag), gamak taan, halak taan (syllabic), and gitkari (instrumental-style taan).

Instrumental forms: gat in sitar/sarod (masitkhani gat in vilambit, razakhani gat in drut), with alap-jod-jhala before the gat; tabla solo uses peshkar, kaida, rela, tukda, paran.

Swaramalika and tillana are concert-closing pieces; bhajan or a light thumri is commonly the final item, often in Bhairavi.

Tanpura tuning: Pa–Sa–Sa–Sa (or Ma–Sa–Sa–Sa for ragas omitting Pa); the repeated Sa provides the drone reference for intonation.

Accompaniment rules: tabla player follows the vocalist's laya and sam; sarangi or harmonium shadows the svar; the artist signals tala changes by a head/hand gesture on sam.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khyal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise covering svar, grama, and jati; it predates the split into Hindustani and Carnatic systems.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga and tala and is a shared source for both Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar's ancestor and with introducing Persian elements; many attributions are legendary rather than documented.

Tansen (Mian Tansen), court musician of Akbar, is linked by tradition to ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his tomb is in Gwalior.

Gwalior gharana (founded around Naththan Pir Bakhsh and Haddu-Hassu Khan) is the oldest khayal gharana; other khayal gharanas include Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, and Bhendi Bazar.

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) created the 10-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference (1916).

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and developed a notation system and printed music textbooks.

Allauddin Khan, Baba (c. 1862–1972) founded the Maihar gharana and taught Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan; his sarod and violin contributions reshaped instrumental music.