Maharashtra SSC Indian Music Vocal & Instrumental Divyang cheat sheet

The seven shuddha swar in ascending order are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni; Sa and Pa are achala (immovable), the rest are chala (movable) and admit komal or tivra forms.

Twelve swar-sthan per saptak arise as: Sa, Re komal, Re shuddha, Ga komal, Ga shuddha, Ma shuddha, Ma tivra, Pa, Dha komal, Dha shuddha, Ni komal, Ni shuddha.

Komal forms exist for Re, Ga, Dha, Ni; tivra exists only for Ma; hence 7 shuddha + 4 komal + 1 tivra = 12 positions.

Three saptak: mandra (lower), madhya (middle, the working register), and tar (upper); ati-mandra and ati-tar are extensions used for range tests, not for ordinary compositions.

Sa of the madhya saptak is the tonic (adharshabda); every raga's komal/tivra decisions are judged relative to this Sa, so a change of Sa renames all swar.

Vadi (sonant), samvadi (consonant), anuvadi (assonant) and vivadi (dissonant) classify each swar's role inside a raga; vadi and samvadi are usually a fourth or fifth apart.

Aroha (ascending) and avaroha (descending) may differ in swar content - e.g. a raga may omit a note rising and include it falling; such ragas are called vakra (crooked) when the order also zigzags.

Swar are written with abbreviations S R G M P D N; komal marked by a line below, tivra Ma by a vertical line above, and octave by dots below (mandra) or above (tar).

A raga requires at least five swar; jati names follow the count - audav (5), shadav (6), sampurna (7) - and aroha/avaroha counts may differ (e.g. audav-sampurna).

Ten that (parent scales) under Bhatkhande's system: Bilaval (all shuddha), Khamaj (Ni komal), Kafi (Ga, Ni komal), Asavari (Ga, Dha, Ni komal), Bhairavi (Re, Ga, Dha, Ni komal), Bhairav (Re, Dha komal), Kalyan (Ma tivra), Marwa (Re komal, Ma tivra), Purvi (Re, Dha komal, Ma tivra), Todi (Re, Ga, Dha komal, Ma tivra).

Raga time theory (samay chakra): morning ragas such as Bhairav and Todi, evening ragas such as Yaman and Bhimpalasi, night ragas such as Bihag and Malkauns; purva ragas (2nd to 4th prahar) and uttar ragas (5th to 1st) form the standard cycle.

Thaat is a scale (no vadi, no time, no mood); raga is a melodic entity with vadi, samvadi, pakad, time and rasa - a thaat may generate many ragas.

Ragas are grouped by season and rasa too: Malhar family for monsoon, Basant and Bahar for spring; rasa categories include shringar, karuna, veer, shant.

Melakarta system (Carnatic) uses 72 parent scales derived by permutation of lower and upper tetrachord; Hindustani equivalents are approximate, not one-to-one.

Janya ragas derive from a melakarta by dropping or altering notes; the Hindustani analogue is a ragini/putra raga derived from a thaat.

Pakad (catch-phrase) is a short swar phrase that identifies a raga unambiguously; e.g. for Bhairav the phrase Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Dha-Pa identifies the komal Re and Dha treatment.

Tala is a fixed cycle (avartan) of matra; vibhag are bars, tali are clapped (sam is tali 1), khali is the empty wave, and sam is the first matra where avartan restarts.

Common cycles: Teental 16 (4+4+4+4), Jhoomra 14 (3+4+3+4), Rupak 7 (3+2+2, khali on sam), Tilwada 16, Dhamar 14, Jhaptal 10 (2+3+2+3), Ektal 12, Chautal 12, Adachautal 14, Keherwa 8 (4+4), Dadra 6 (3+3), Deepchandi 14.

Laya is tempo: vilambit (slow, 40-60 bpm), madhya (60-120), drut (120-240) and ati-drut; laya is expressed as a ratio to the basic beat - barabar (1x), dugun (2x), tigun (3x), chaugun (4x).

Layakari is the art of dividing the matra into equal or unequal parts while keeping sam intact; kuadi (uneven) layakari must return to sam at the end of the cycle.

Theka is the mnemonic bol pattern played on tabla that names the tala; the theka of Teental is Dha Dhin Dhin Dha / Dha Dhin Dhin Dha / Dha Tin Tin Ta / Ta Dhin Dhin Dha.

Kriya are the hand movements marking tali (clap) and khali (wave); in Rupak the sam itself is khali, so the wave falls on matra 1.

Notation of a tala uses a vertical bar for vibhag, an X for sam, and numerals 2, 3, 4 for subsequent tali; a 0 marks khali.

Performance sequence in khayal: vilambit bandish with vistaar and taan, then drut composition in the same or a lighter tala; instrumental gat uses the same tala logic with different theka treatment.

Bhatkhande swaralipi writes swar in Devanagari or Roman letters; a horizontal line under a swar = komal, a vertical line above = tivra, a dot above = tar saptak, a dot below = mandra saptak.

In Bhatkhande notation the tala is marked by vertical bars (khand) between vibhag, with X for sam, 0 for khali and numerals for other tali; matra numbers are written above the line.

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar notation uses similar swar symbols but different conventions for duration and grouping; both systems are taught in Maharashtra and the choice is exam-board dependent.

Duration marks: a plain swar = one matra, a horizontal line after a swar lengthens it, and two or more swar joined by a curved bracket share one matra (sangati).

Meend (glide), kan (grace note), gamak and murki are shown by curved lines, small superscript swar, or wavy lines; the exact symbol set varies by publisher, so the legend must be read first.

Staff notation uses five lines and four spaces; treble clef is standard for voice and most melody instruments, bass clef for lower instruments.

Western note names map to swar by movable Sa: if Sa = C, then Re = D, Ga = E, Ma = F, Pa = G, Dha = A, Ni = B; komal Re = D-flat, tivra Ma = F-sharp.

Indian music has no fixed pitch standard for Sa, so staff notation must state the chosen tonic; a raga written with Sa = C sounds a whole tone lower if the performer sets Sa = B-flat.

Khayal is the dominant Hindustani vocal form: a bandish (composition) in a raga and tala, expanded by alap, vistaar, bol-alap, taan and bol-taan, in vilambit and drut tempos.

Dhrupad is older and more austere: alap in four parts (alap, jod, jhala, nom-tom), a pada in Chautal or Dhamar, with pakhawaj accompaniment; Dagar and Mallik families are the principal lineages.

Thumri, dadra, tappa and ghazal are lighter forms where the text and bhava dominate; thumri uses the bol-banao and bol-bant techniques and permits raga flexibility.

Instrumental forms: alap-jod-jhala in dhrupad style (sitar, sarod, rudra veena), gat in khayal style (sitar, sarod, santoor), and the Carnatic-influenced tillana; the tabla or pakhawaj provides the tala.

A concert sequence typically moves from alap (unmetered) to jod/jhala (pulsed) to a metered gat or bandish; sam is the point of arrival and is emphasised by both soloist and percussionist.

Taan types: sapat taan (straight scale run), zamzama (zigzag), halak taan (throat), gitkari (tabla-like bols), and chhut taan (short, fast); each is notated as a group of swar within one or two matra.

Instrumental technique differs by instrument: sitar uses mezrab and meend across frets, sarod uses a steel fingerboard and gamak, flute uses breath and finger articulation, violin uses bow and glide.

Accompaniment etiquette: the tabla player follows the soloist's laya and tala, marks sam clearly, and answers in sawal-jawab (question-answer) passages; the tanpura provides an unchanging Sa-Pa or Sa-Ma drone.

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE-200 CE) is the earliest surviving treatise on Indian music, describing seven notes and jati-based melodic structures.

Matanga's Brihaddeshi (c. 8th-9th century) first uses the word 'raga' as a technical term and distinguishes marga (classical) from desi (regional) music.

Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) codified raga, tala and prabandha forms; it is the bridge between ancient and medieval theory.

The 16th-century Ain-i-Akbari records the musicians of Akbar's court, including Tansen; the syncretic Mughal court is central to the dhrupad tradition.

Bhatkhande (1860-1936) collected and published ragas in his Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati and introduced the ten-thaat system; Paluskar (1872-1931) founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and a rival notation.

Gharanas are lineage schools defined by repertoire, technique and teacher-disciple transmission: Gwalior, Kirana, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Patiala, Bhendibazar and Rampur-Sahaswan for khayal; Dagar and Mallik for dhrupad.

Gwalior gharana is the oldest khayal gharana and emphasises clear swar and bandish; Kirana emphasises slow alap and meend; Agra emphasises bol-banao and powerful taan.

Maharashtra's contribution includes Paluskar's Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (Lahore 1901, later Bombay), the Atrauli-Jaipur lineage of Alladiya Khan, and the Marathi natya-sangeet tradition that fed light classical music.

Classical Indian classification is fourfold (Bharata's Natyashastra): tata (string), sushira (wind), avanaddha (membrane/percussion), ghana (solid/idiophone).

Tata vadya: sitar, sarod, tanpura, rudra veena, sarangi, violin, santoor (struck strings, technically ghana-like in playing but classified as tata by construction).

Sushira vadya: bansuri (flute), shehnai, nagaswaram, harmonium (reed, often treated separately as it is Western-derived).

Avanaddha vadya: tabla, dagga, pakhawaj, dholak, mridangam, khol; ghana vadya: jaltarang, manjira, ghatam, kartal.

Tanpura is a drone instrument, not a solo instrument; it is tuned to Sa and Pa (or Sa and Ma) and is plucked in a repeating pattern to sustain the tonic.

Sitar has movable frets and sympathetic strings (tarab); sarod has a fretless steel fingerboard and a chikari drone string; rudra veena is a large fretted stick zither associated with dhrupad.

Pakhawaj accompanies dhrupad and is tuned lower and played with a heavier hand than tabla; tabla has two drums (dayan and bayan) and a repertoire of bol that mirrors spoken syllables.

In Maharashtra, the dholki, tasha and lezim appear in folk and processional music; the harmonium is widely used for vocal accompaniment despite periodic debate over its suitability.

Amir Khusrau (13th century) is traditionally credited with the sitar and tabla and with the qawwali form; the attributions are legendary and should be stated as tradition, not verified fact.

Tansen (c. 1500-1586), court musician of Akbar, is associated with Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi and Darbari Kanada; his descendants founded the Senia gharana.

Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri form the Carnatic trinity; their kritis are the core Carnatic repertoire.

Bhatkhande (1860-1936) wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati and created the ten-thaat classification; Paluskar (1872-1931) founded Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and popularised a national notation.

Alladiya Khan (1855-1946) founded the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, known for complex ragas such as Khat, and for a deep, slow laya.

Onkar Nath Thakur (1897-1967) was a dhrupad singer, musicologist and Vice-Chancellor of Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh; he wrote Sangeetanjali.

Kumar Gandharva (1924-1992) revolutionised khayal with bold use of rare ragas and a distinctive voice; Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011) of the Kirana gharana popularised the abhang and the santvani.

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) and Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009) brought Hindustani music to international audiences; Shivkumar Sharma adapted the santoor to classical music.

Low-vision and blind students can learn by ear with the guru's voice as the notation; tactile swar markers, raised dots on frets, and verbal tala counting replace visual charts.

For hearing-impaired students, tactile rhythm (feeling the tabla's vibration through the floor or a resonant board) and visual metronome lights substitute for auditory tala cues.

For students with locomotor disability, the tanpura can be replaced by an electronic drone app, and the harmonium by a lighter keyboard; tabla can be played seated with adapted stands.

For students with intellectual disability, raga learning is broken into short pakad phrases and one avartan at a time; the exam may allow oral answers in place of written notation.

Notation can be provided in large print, Braille, or audio recording; the board permits a scribe or extra time for Divyang candidates under its inclusive examination provisions.

Adaptive instruments exist: one-handed flutes, lightweight sitars, electronic tanpura and tabla machines, and keyboards with transposition to avoid difficult keys.

Teaching should keep the acoustic core (swar, tala, sam) intact while changing only the delivery channel; adaptation of the medium is not a reduction of the syllabus.

Peer support and accessible seating in the performance space, plus clear verbal cues from the accompanist before sam, are standard inclusive-concert practices.