RBSE SS Sitar flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Imdadkhani gharana

Sitar lineage founded by Imdad Khan in Etawah, emphasizing gayaki (vocal-style) phrasing, meend and a full bass; carried by Inayat Khan, Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan.

Maihar gharana

Lineage centred on Allauddin Khan of Maihar, blending sitar and sarod traditions; its best-known sitar disciples are Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee.

Amir Khusrau's tritantri vina

The three-stringed instrument traditionally attributed to Amir Khusrau in the 13th century, regarded as an ancestor of the modern sitar.

Vilayatkhani sitar

Sitar design associated with Vilayat Khan, typically with six playing strings and eleven sympathetic strings, giving a fuller bass and a gayaki-oriented tone.

Tumba

The large gourd resonator at the lower end of the sitar; it amplifies the strings and shapes the instrument's deep, resonant timbre.

Jawari

The curved bridge of the sitar; its precise curvature produces the characteristic buzz and sustain, and is shaped by specialist craftsmen.

Taraf strings

The sympathetic strings of the sitar, usually eleven to thirteen, tuned to the notes of the raga and resonating without being plucked directly.

Standard sitar tuning

With Sa at C#, the six playing strings are tuned C#, G#, C#, F#, G#, C#; the seventh, if present, sounds the lower octave.

That

One of ten parent scales codified by Bhatkhande (Bilaval, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi, Todi) under which ragas are classified.

Jati

Classification of a raga by note count in each direction: odava (five), shadava (six) and sampurna (seven), giving combinations such as audava-sampurna.

Vadi and samvadi

Vadi is a raga's principal sonant note; samvadi is its consonant partner, usually a fourth or fifth away and sounded less often.

Pakad

A short identifying phrase that captures a raga's essential movement; it is the practical test of raga recognition in performance.

Vakra raga

A raga whose melodic movement is crooked or non-linear, so notes appear out of strict ascending or descending order in its characteristic phrases.

Teental

The sixteen-matra tala divided into four vibhags of four matras each; tali falls on matras 1, 5 and 13, and khali on matra 9.

Jhaptal

A ten-matra tala with vibhags of 2+3+2+3; tali falls on matras 1, 3 and 8, and khali on matra 6.

Sam

The first matra of a tala cycle, marked by a clap; compositions and tihai resolve on sam, making it the point of rhythmic arrival.

Bhatkhande notation

Sargam-based notation using dots above and below for octave, lines to divide vibhags, and symbols x, numbers and 0 for sam, tali and khali.

Layakari

Deliberate variation of tempo against the tala while preserving the cycle, including barabar, dugun, tigun and chaugun subdivisions.

Tihai

A phrase repeated three times so that its final note lands exactly on sam; the standard cadential device in sitar gat performance.

Yaman

Kalyan-that raga with tivra Ma; aroha S R G M(tivra) P D N S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; the phrase N R G R S identifies it.

Bhairav

Bhairav-that raga using komal Re and komal Dha in both directions; vadi Dha, samvadi Re; slow andolan on komal Re is characteristic.

Bhoopali

Bilaval-that audava-audava raga using S R G P D S with no Ma or Ni; vadi Ga, samvadi Dha; the phrase G P D P G R S identifies it.

Bhimpalasi

Kafi-that raga whose aroha omits Re and Dha while the avaroha includes them; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; the phrase M P N S is typical.

Malkauns

Bhairavi-that audava-audava raga using komal Ga, Dha and Ni; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; the phrase G M D N S serves as its pakad.

Masitkhani gat

Slow (vilambit) gat in Teental named after Masit Khan, built on long sustained strokes and a spacious, expansive gait.

Razakhani gat

Fast (drut) gat attributed to Raza Khan, using dense stroke patterns, quick bols and frequent tihai to close on sam.

Tarana

A drut-laya composition using meaningless syllables such as nom, tom, dere and dim instead of poetry; it often follows a gat.

Sargam gat

A gat whose composition is set in sargam syllables rather than stroke bols, used to display raga grammar; common in the Maihar lineage.

Alap

Unmetered, improvised raga exposition beginning in the lower octave and ascending gradually, establishing vadi and pakad before any tala enters.

Jod

The section after alap that introduces a regular pulse without a tala cycle, using steady strokes on the jod string as a bridge to jhala.

Jhala

The fast rhythmic climax played on the laraj string with alternating strokes, usually in drut laya and often preceding the gat.

Vilayat Khan

Sitarist (1928–2004) who developed gayaki ang on the instrument, designed the Vilayatkhani sitar and composed widely played gats.

Ravi Shankar

Sitarist (1920–2012) who brought the instrument to a global audience, standardised tuning to C# and composed film scores and concertos.