RBSE SS Vocal Music cheat sheet

Aroha/avaroha: aroha is the ascending order of swaras, avaroha the descending; aroha may be vakra (zig-zag) or omit a swara that appears in avaroha, e.g. ragas with shuddha and komal forms of the same degree in different directions.

Pakad: the short catch-phrase that identifies a raga; it uses the raga's characteristic phrases and often its vadi/samvadi, so a pakad alone distinguishes e.g. Bihag from Maru Bihag or Des from Tilak Kamod.

Vadi is the amsa swara (most prominent, most frequently dwelt upon); samvadi is the second most important, usually a fourth or fifth from the vadi; anuvadi are the remaining swaras and vivadi the dissonant ones.

Jati (shuddha/audava–shadava–sampurna scheme): a pentatonic raga is audava, hexatonic shadava, heptatonic sampurna; jati is stated separately for aroha and avaroha, e.g. audava–sampurna for Bhoopali.

Time of performance follows the purva-raga/uttara-raga principle: ragas with teevra madhyam or komal rishabh are generally sandhi-prakash (twilight) or evening–night ragas, while those with shuddha madhyam and komal nishad tend to be morning ragas.

Prescribed Class XII ragas commonly include Yaman, Bhairav, Bhoopali, Bhimpalasi, Malkauns, Darbari Kanada, Todi, Miyan ki Malhar, Kafi, Khamaj, Des, Tilang, Jaunpuri, Asavari and Vrindavani Sarang; each needs aroha, avaroha, pakad, vadi, samvadi, jati and time.

Yaman: sampurna–sampurna, teevra Ma, vadi Ga, samvadi Ni, sung in the first prahar of night; the characteristic phrase is Ni–Re–Ga–Ma(teevra)–Pa with Ga and Ni as the resting notes.

Bhairav: sampurna–sampurna with komal Re and komal Dha, vadi Dha, samvadi Re, first prahar of morning; the andolan (slow oscillation) on komal Re and komal Dha is the identifying feature.

Bhoopali: audava–audava (S R G P D), all shuddha, vadi Ga, samvadi Dha, first prahar of night; Malkauns is audava–audava (S g m d n) with vadi Ma, samvadi Sa, sung late night.

Tala structure is given by vibhag (bars), matra (beats per bar), tali (clap) and khali (wave); theka is the mnemonic drum-syllable pattern of the tabla that marks each matra, e.g. Teental theka: dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha.

Teental = 16 matras, 4 vibhags of 4, tali on 1, 5, 13 and khali on 9; Jhaptal = 10 matras (2+3+2+3), tali on 1, 3, 8, khali on 6; Ektal = 12 matras in 6 vibhags of 2, khali on matras 5 and 11.

Rupak = 7 matras (3+2+2) with khali on the sam (matra 1) - the only common tala whose first beat is khali; Dadra = 6 matras (3+3); Keharwa = 8 matras (4+4); Chautal = 12 matras (4+4+4) with tali on 1, 5, 9, 11 and khali on 3 and 7.

Laya is the tempo (vilambit, madhya, drut); layakari is the rhythmic manipulation of a composition against the tala - barabar (1:1), dugun (2:1), tigun (3:1), chaugun (4:1), and aad (3/2) or kuwaad (5/4) for fractional layakari.

Laya is measured in matras per minute; dugun in Teental means two swara-notes per matra, so one avartan (16 matras) carries 32 notes at dugun and 64 at chaugun.

Notation convention (Bhatkhande/Palat system): S r R g G m M P d D n N with capital letters for shuddha and lower case for komal; M stands for teevra madhyam; a dot above a swara marks the upper octave, a dot below the lower octave, and a dash or blank marks a held note (meend).

In swaralipi, vertical lines mark vibhag boundaries, the sam is marked by the symbol × or a double bar, khali by 0 and tali by the numbers 2, 3, 4; the theka syllables are written above or below the swara line to align text with matra.

A tala recitation (padhant) requires the theka syllables spoken in correct laya with hand gestures: tali shown by a clap and khali by a wave of the hand, reciting the tala in barabar, dugun and then chaugun.

Bada khayal: vilambit laya, usually Teental or Ektal, with a sthayi (first line, in the lower/middle register) and antara (second section, upper register); improvisation proceeds through alap, bol-alap, bol-bant, taan and layakari, returning to the sam.

Chhota khayal: madhya or drut laya, short sthayi and antara, with fewer improvised sections - typically bol-alap, taan and a tihai - and often followed by a tarana or a second drut composition.

Dhrupad: four-part structure - sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog - in Chautal or Dhamar, sung with nom-tom alap in syllables like re, na, tom, ta; the pakhawaj accompanies and the composition is called a bandish or dhrupad-vani.

Dhamar: a dhrupad-family form in Dhamar tala (14 matras, 5+2+3+4), with a text on the Holi festival or Krishna's play; sung in madhya laya with a distinct swinging gait and pakhawaj accompaniment.

Tarana: a fast composition using meaningless syllables (nom-tom, dir-dir, ta-na-na, ya-la-li) instead of text, in drut laya, usually in Teental or Ektal; the sthayi and antara carry the syllable pattern rather than poetry.

Sadra: a lighter form between dhrupad and khayal, usually in Jhaptal or Chautal, with a two-part (sthayi–antara) structure and simpler, often devotional or romantic text.

Thumri and dadra are lighter semiclassical forms (not dhrupad-family) with bol-banao and text-emphasis; they are distinguished from khayal by their reliance on expressive bol-banav rather than systematic vistaar.

Structural marker to identify a form: presence of nom-tom alap and four sections = dhrupad; meaningless syllables at drut laya = tarana; vilambit with bol-bant and taan = bada khayal.

Bhatkhande's Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati introduced the swaralipi using Devanagari; V. N. Bhatkhande also devised the 'Bhatkhande notation' with bar lines, sam ×, khali 0 and tali numbers, still standard in Indian syllabi.

V. D. Paluskar's notation (Paluskar Paddhati) uses a different layout of the saptak and was adopted by Gandharva Mahavidyalaya; both systems encode the same information - swara, octave, duration, tala position.

Swaras are written S R G M P D N; komal forms are marked with a horizontal line below (or lower case), teevra Ma with a vertical line above or a capital M; octave dots above/below the swara are essential for ati-tar and mandra saptak.

Duration: an unmarked swara normally fills one matra; a horizontal dash after a swara extends its length by one matra, and two or more swaras grouped under one matra indicate faster movement (e.g. two notes per matra = dugun).

Meend, kan, andolan and gamak are indicated by curved lines, small grace notes or the words themselves; murki is written as a cluster of small notes attached to a main swara.

Reading a swaralipi: first fix the tala and laya, locate the sam (×), then read vibhag by vibhag, aligning each swara group with its matra; the theka syllables confirm the tala position of each line.

A bandish notation must show: raga name, tala, laya, sthayi and antara with text under the swaras, sam/khali marks, and the theka - omitting any of these makes the notation incomplete for exam purposes.

Gwalior gharana: the oldest khayal gharana, rooted in the court of Daulat Rao Scindia; exponents include Haddu Khan, Hassu Khan, Naththan Khan, and later Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar and D. V. Paluskar.

Agra gharana: known for deep vilambit laya, strong bol-bant and forceful voice; exponents include Faiyaz Khan, Vilayat Hussain Khan, Sharafat Hussain Khan and Lalith Rao.

Jaipur–Atrauli gharana: Alladiya Khan founded it, noted for complex layakari and wide melodic leaps; later exponents include Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar and Kishori Amonkar.

Kirana gharana: Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan, known for slow, sustained swara and emphasis on sur over tala; exponents include Sawai Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi and Prabha Atre.

Other major vocal gharanas: Patiala (Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ameer Khan), Delhi (Nasir Ahmed Khan, Chand Khan), Bhendi Bazar, Indore and Rampur-Sahaswan (Inayat Hussain Khan, Mushtaq Hussain Khan).

Musicologists and theorists: Bharata (Natyashastra), Sarangadeva (Sangita Ratnakara), Ahobala (Sangita Parijata), Ramamatya (Svaramelakalanidhi), Pt. V. N. Bhatkhande (Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, Kramik Pustak Malika) and Pt. V. D. Paluskar.

Composers: Amir Khusrau is traditionally credited with the sitar/tabla legend and forms like qawwali and tarana; Sadarang (Niamat Khan) and Adarang (Firoz Khan) composed many khayal bandishes still sung today.

Modern contributors: Kumar Gandharva for his original raga interpretations, Bhimsen Joshi for popularising khayal and abhang, and Onkar Nath Thakur for musicology and the notation of ragas.

Voice culture covers breath support (diaphragmatic breathing), posture, resonance and vocal hygiene; sadhana is daily practice of paltas (swara patterns) in akar, beginning in mandra and moving to ati-tar.

Core terminology: sur (pitch), swara (note), saptak (mandra, madhya, tar), alankar (ornament), kan (grace note), meend (glide), andolan (slow oscillation), gamak (heavy oscillation), murki (fast cluster), khatka (fast turn).

Vistaar types: alap (unmetered, aakar or nom-tom), bol-alap (improvisation on the words of the bandish), bol-bant (rhythmic play on words), taan (fast melodic runs), and tihai (a phrase repeated three times to land on sam).

Saptak and register: mandra (lower), madhya (middle), tar (upper); a performer's ambitus is judged by the ability to move cleanly between these without breaking tone.

Laya terms: vilambit (slow), madhya (medium), drut (fast); sam (first beat), khali (empty beat), tali (clap), avartan (one full cycle), and theka (drum pattern).

Raga terms: vadi, samvadi, anuvadi, vivadi, pakad, aroha, avaroha, jati, and time (prahar); a raga's lakshana is defined by these, not by its scale alone.

Form terms: sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog (dhrupad sections); bandish (composition); cheez (composition in khayal); gat (instrumental); nom-tom (dhrupad alap syllables).

Bharata's Natyashastra (c. 2nd century BCE–2nd century CE) is the earliest surviving treatise on Indian music, dance and drama; it describes the grama-murchhana system and the 22 shrutis.

Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th century) is the most cited medieval treatise, systematising raga, tala, prabandha and the shruti debate; it is a standard reference in university syllabi.

Ahobala's Sangita Parijata (17th century) and Ramamatya's Svaramelakalanidhi (16th century) are key texts on the mela/scale classification and the placement of shrutis.

Pt. V. N. Bhatkhande: Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati (4 volumes), Kramik Pustak Malika (6 volumes of bandish notation), and the first All-India Music Conference (1916, Baroda) - he standardised the ten-that system of raga classification.

Pt. V. D. Paluskar: founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901, Lahore) and developed a notation system and graded syllabus still used in many schools.

Pt. Onkar Nath Thakur wrote Sangeetanjali and was a major musicologist; Prof. B. R. Deodhar and S. N. Ratanjankar (Bhatkhande's disciple, associated with Marris College, Lucknow) contributed to pedagogy and notation.

Composer-performers: Sadarang and Adarang (18th-century Delhi court) for khayal bandishes; Tansen (16th-century Akbar's court) is traditionally credited with Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi, Darbari Kanada and Mian ki Sarang.

Representative performers to know: Faiyaz Khan (Agra), Abdul Karim Khan (Kirana), Alladiya Khan (Jaipur), Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (Patiala), Bhimsen Joshi (Kirana), Kishori Amonkar (Jaipur–Atrauli), D. V. Paluskar (Gwalior).

Standard khayal presentation order: alap (unmetered, with aakar or nom-tom) → bada khayal sthayi and antara → bol-alap → bol-bant → taan/layakari → tihai on sam → chhota khayal (drut) → optionally tarana.

Alap must establish the raga's vadi, samvadi and pakad before the bandish; dwelling on the vadi and samvadi and avoiding the vivadi is the marker of correct raga bhava.

Bandish entry: begin the sthayi on or near the sam so the first line lands on matra 1; the antara moves into the tar saptak and returns to sam at its close.

Tala recitation (padhant) is examined in three layas: barabar, dugun and chaugun, with correct tali (clap) and khali (wave) gestures; the theka syllables must match the tala's vibhag pattern.

Sight-reading: read the swaralipi silently to fix tala and laya, identify the sam, then sing vibhag by vibhag while marking the matra with the hand; komal/teevra marks and octave dots must be observed exactly.

Viva voce topics: definitions of vadi/samvadi/pakad/jati, the raga's time and prahar, the gharana of the composition, the composer (e.g. Sadarang/Adarang), and the tala's vibhag/tali/khali structure.

Common practical faults to avoid: singing aroha and avaroha identically when the raga is vakra, ignoring the khali, landing taan phrases off sam, and mixing a neighbouring raga's pakad (e.g. Bihag with Maru Bihag).