PSEB SS Music Instrumental key terms

The ascending order in which a raga's notes are arranged, from the lowest to the highest. It may omit notes, and its exact shape is part of the raga's identity.

The descending order of a raga's notes, from the highest pitch down to the lowest. Its pattern often differs from the aroha and helps distinguish ragas that share the same ascending scale.

A short, recognisable phrase that captures the essential melodic character of a raga. Examiners ask candidates to play or identify the pakad accurately in practical tests and viva voce.

The most important note of a raga, the one most often emphasised and rested upon. Its position strongly shapes the raga's mood and its traditional time of performance.

The second most important note of a raga, usually located a fourth or fifth away from the vadi. It supports the vadi and completes the raga's tonal framework.

The traditional time of day or night prescribed for a raga, based on the eight-prahar cycle. Morning, evening and late-night ragas are believed to express different moods.

One beat or count in a rhythmic cycle, the basic unit against which every phrase is measured. Matras are grouped into vibhags and marked by claps, waves or silent counting.

A section of a tala made up of a fixed number of matras, written in notation between vertical lines. Each vibhag begins with either a tali (clap) or a khali (wave).

A clapped and stressed position in a tala that marks the beginning of a vibhag. Talis are numbered in notation and provide the main rhythmic landmarks of the cycle.

The unstressed, empty section of a tala, shown by a wave of the hand instead of a clap and written as 0. It balances the clapped talis within the cycle.

The first matra of a tala cycle, where the rhythm resolves and compositions normally begin. Reaching sam together with the tabla is a key test of a performer's control.

The set of mnemonic syllables (bols) by which a tabla player recites and plays a particular tala. Knowing the theka helps instrumentalists recognise the cycle and its stresses.

A sixteen-matra cycle divided into four vibhags of four, with tali on 1, 5 and 13 and khali on 9. It is the most frequently used tala for instrumental gats.

Notation that writes a composition using swara abbreviations together with signs for matra, vibhag, tali, khali and ornaments. It lets a gat or sargam be preserved and taught accurately.

A passage or composition performed with swara syllables such as sa, re, ga, ma instead of words. Instrumental sargam shows the player's grasp of raga phrases and tala.

A fixed instrumental composition set to a tala, normally built from a sthai and an antara. Gats are expanded with alap, improvisation, tihais and jhala in performance.

The opening section of a composition, presenting its main melodic idea in the lower and middle register and returning to sam. It usually serves as the refrain of the piece.

A long-necked drone instrument whose strings are tuned to the raga's sa and pa or ma and plucked continuously. Its steady overtones give the performer a reference pitch throughout.

A small plectrum worn on the fingers and used to pluck instruments such as the sitar and sarod. Its material and shape influence tone quality and speed of playing.

The buzzing, resonant quality of instruments like the sitar and tanpura, created by the curved bridge and the way the strings rest on it. Good jawaari depends on careful setup and maintenance.

A pair of drums, the right-hand dayan and left-hand bayan, used for accompaniment and solo performance. Tuning involves adjusting the lacing and the black paste to fix pitch and tone.

Sound itself, understood in Indian music as the raw material of music. Texts distinguish ahata nada, produced by voices and instruments, from anahata nada, the unstruck inner sound.

The smallest interval of pitch the ear can distinguish, traditionally reckoned as twenty-two to an octave. The idea underpins discussions of tuning and intonation in ragas.

The oldest surviving major vocal form of Hindustani music, austere and metrical, with a four-part composition accompanied by pakhawaj. Its slow alap and strict rhythm influenced instrumental playing.

The dominant vocal form of Hindustani music, setting a short sthai and antara to a tala and expanding them with improvised vistar. Its lyrical phrasing inspired the gayaki approach on instruments.

A thirteenth-century Sanskrit treatise by Sarngadeva covering ragas, talas, instruments and performance. It systematised earlier theory and dates from before the split into Hindustani and Carnatic traditions.

A famous musician of Emperor Akbar's court, traditionally linked with the Senia lineage and with ragas such as Miyan ki Malhar. Later instrumental gharanas trace their teaching back to him.

A musicologist who compared ragas and compositions across traditions, proposed the ten-that system and published a notation widely used in teaching. His works include Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati.

A singer and educationist who founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901 and adapted staff notation for Hindustani music. He campaigned to bring music teaching to ordinary people.

A sarod and violin master and legendary teacher who founded the Maihar gharana. His students included Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi.

A sitar virtuoso trained by Allauddin Khan who brought Hindustani music to international audiences through concerts, recordings and collaborations, and who also composed film music.

A school of music transmitted through a line of teachers and students, sharing repertoire, technique and stylistic habits. Gharanas are usually named after a city or a family.

A distinctive playing idiom or style, especially on instruments. Baaj may lean on vocal models (gayaki) or on idiomatic string technique (tantrakari).

An instrumental style built on plectrum technique, featuring fast, clearly articulated passages, rhythmic play and jhala. It treats the instrument as a vehicle in its own right rather than imitating singing.

Playing an instrument in imitation of vocal music, using smooth meend, ornamented phrasing and breath-like shaping of the raga. Vilayat Khan is a celebrated exponent of this approach.

The unmetred introduction to a raga, played without tabla, unfolding the notes slowly from the lower register upwards. It establishes the raga's mood and principal phrases before the gat.

The section following alap in which a steady pulse is created on the instrument, often by repeating strokes on the strings. It bridges free alap and the metred gat.

A fast, rhythmically dense section played with rapid strokes, often including the chikari strings, and usually placed at the climax of a performance.

A rhythmic device in which a phrase is repeated three times so that its final note falls on sam. Tihais mark the end of sections in gat, alap and jhala.

A smooth glide from one note to another, produced by sliding the finger on the string or by breath control. It is central to expressive phrasing in ragas.