KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music flashcards

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Achala svar

The two immovable notes of the Hindustani scale, Shadja (Sa) and Pancham (Pa). They have no komal or tivra forms; all other five svar are vikari and can be altered.

Tivra Ma

The raised form of Madhyam, a semitone above shuddha Ma. It is the only svar with a tivra (raised) version; Re, Ga, Dha and Ni have only komal forms.

Vadi and samvadi

Vadi is the raga's most prominent svar, the note around which phrases settle. Samvadi is the second most prominent, usually a fourth or fifth from the vadi; together they fix the raga's identity.

Jati of a raga

The note count of a raga's aroha and avaroha: audav (five), shadav (six), sampoorna (seven). Jati is stated separately for each direction, such as audav-sampoorna for a raga ascending in five notes.

Bhatkhande's ten thats

Bhatkhande grouped ragas under ten sampoorna parent scales: Bilaval, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi and Todi. Each that is a full seven-note scale, and ragas are classified by which that they resemble.

Komal svar marks

In Bhatkhande svaralipi, komal Re, Ga, Dha and Ni carry a short horizontal line below the letter. Tivra Ma carries a vertical line above; mandra saptak notes are dotted below and tar saptak notes dotted above.

Sam mark in svaralipi

In tala notation the first matra, sam, is marked with the symbol x. Other tali are numbered 2, 3, 4 and khali is marked 0, each placed at the start of its vibhag.

Svarasthana in notation

Hindustani notation records relative pitch, not absolute pitch. Sa is a movable tonic chosen to suit the performer, so the same svaralipi can be sung at any convenient key.

Bandish notation layout

A bandish is written with sthayi first and antara second, each line's text syllables placed under the matching svar. Vertical lines mark vibhag, and the opening phrase is aligned to resolve on sam.

Tarana notation

Tarana is notated with rhythmic syllables such as nom, tom, diri, tana and nana in place of poetic text. The svar line still shows pitch, but the sung bol are percussion-like rather than meaningful words.

Teental structure

Teental has sixteen matras in four vibhag of four. Tali fall on matras 1, 5 and 13, khali on matra 9, and sam is matra 1; it is the most common tala for khayal and tarana.

Jhaptal structure

Jhaptal has ten matras divided 2+3+2+3. Tali fall on matras 1, 3 and 8, khali on matra 6, and sam on matra 1; its asymmetric grouping gives a characteristic lilting theka.

Rupak tala

Rupak has seven matras in vibhag of 3+2+2. Unusually, khali falls on the sam itself (matra 1), with tali on matras 4 and 6; performers must therefore show a wave at the cycle's start.

Khali in tabla

Khali is the empty division of a tala, marked 0 in notation. On tabla the bayan is not sounded or is muted at khali, giving a lighter timbre that contrasts with the resonant tali positions.

Layakari

Layakari is rhythmic variation against the tala's base tempo: barabar (same speed), dugun (double), tigun (triple) and chaugun (quadruple). The artist returns to sam at the end of each calculated cycle.

Theka

Theka is the standard tabla bol pattern that identifies a tala, such as dha dhin dhin dha for Teental. It is repeated each avartan and lets listeners and performers track vibhag, tali, khali and sam.

Yaman characteristics

Yaman belongs to Kalyan that and uses tivra Ma. Its vadi is Ga and samvadi Ni, it is an evening raga, and phrases commonly begin on mandra Ni before reaching Sa.

Bhairav characteristics

Bhairav uses komal Re and komal Dha with andolan (slow oscillation) on both. Vadi is Dha, samvadi Re, and it is a morning raga; the swaying komal Re is its signature phrase.

Bhairavi characteristics

Bhairavi uses all four komal svar: Re, Ga, Dha and Ni. Vadi is Ma and samvadi Sa; it is traditionally performed last in a concert, and its scale underlies many light-classical pieces.

Bhoopali characteristics

Bhoopali is audav (pentatonic), using S R G P D and omitting Ma and Ni. It belongs to Kalyan that but has no tivra Ma; vadi is Ga, samvadi Dha, and it is an evening raga.

Malkauns characteristics

Malkauns is audav, using S g M d n and omitting Re and Pa. Vadi is Ma, samvadi Sa, and it is a late-night raga developed slowly in the lower and middle registers with a grave character.

Todi characteristics

Todi uses komal Re, Ga and Dha with tivra Ma. Vadi is Dha, samvadi Ga, and it is a late-morning raga; the phrase komal Re–komal Ga–tivra Ma is its identifying movement.

Khamaj characteristics

Khamaj uses shuddha svar but komal Ni in descent, giving aroha S G M P D N S and avaroha S n D P M G R S. Vadi is Ga, samvadi Ni; it is an evening raga linked to thumri.

Sthayi and antara

Sthayi is a bandish's first section, set in the lower and middle register and resolving on sam. Antara is the second, moving into the upper register and often touching tar Sa.

Tarana

Tarana sets rhythmic syllables such as nom, tom, diri and tana in place of poetic text, usually in fast tempo and often in Teental or Ektaal. It displays rhythmic skill and typically closes with a tihai.

Tihai

A tihai is a phrase performed three times so that its final note falls exactly on sam. A chakradar tihai repeats a complete tihai three times, filling one or more tala cycles.

Dhrupad four sections

Dhrupad compositions have four sections: sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhog. Dhrupad is austere and metrical, accompanied by pakhawaj, and commonly set in Chautal or Dhamar tala.

Khayal performance order

Khayal opens with unmetered alap that unfolds the raga, then the bandish enters with tabla. Bol-alap, bol-taan and various taan patterns follow, and the piece ends on sam.

Alap, jod, jhala

In dhrupad and instrumental music, alap is unmetered and free, jod introduces a steady pulse without drums, and jhala is the fast rhythmic climax. Nom-tom is dhrupad's syllabic alap.

Taan types

Sapat taan runs straight through the scale, vakra taan zigzags, gamak taan uses heavy oscillation, halak taan is syllabic and detached, and gitkari taan imitates instrumental phrasing.

Bhatkhande's contribution

V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936) devised the ten-that classification, wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, and organized the first All India Music Conference in 1916, standardizing raga classification and notation.

Paluskar's contribution

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901, developed a notation system, and published printed music textbooks that spread formal music education.