UPMSP High School Vocal Music cheat sheet

Nada: sound produced by regular vibration (aahat) or unstruck vibration (anahat); musical nada requires a steady pitch, audible volume, and pleasing timbre.

Shruti: the smallest perceptible pitch interval used in Indian music; 22 shrutis are traditionally enumerated, with shadja and pancham treated as fixed (achal) in most ragas.

Swara: seven shuddha degrees - Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni; komal forms lower Re, Ga, Dha, Ni by one semitone and tivra raises Ma by one semitone.

Saptak: the seven-note octave; mandra (lower), madhya (middle), and taar (upper) saptaks are separated by an octave each.

Sa–Pa is the stable perfect fifth; Sa–Ma is a fourth; Sa–Re is a whole tone; Sa–Ga is a major third in the shuddha scale.

Shruti ratio reference: Sa 1/1, Re 9/8, Ga 5/4, Ma 4/3, Pa 3/2, Dha 5/3, Ni 15/8 (just intonation equivalents used in theoretical texts).

Achal swara: Sa and Pa are fixed in all thaat and raga; all other swaras may be komal, shuddha, or tivra depending on the raga.

Vadi, samvadi, anuvadi, vivadi: four functional classes of swara in a raga; vadi is the most prominent, samvadi the second most prominent, vivadi is avoided.

Swaralipi: notation system using Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni with symbols for komal (underscore), tivra (vertical line), and octave marks (dot below = mandra, dot above = taar).

Bhatkhande notation: uses shuddha, komal, and tivra marks plus horizontal lines for tala divisions; swaras are grouped according to the matra structure.

Thaat: a parent scale of seven notes from which ragas are derived; Bhatkhande's ten thaats are Bilawal, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi, Bhairav, Kalyan, Marwa, Poorvi, Todi.

Raga: a melodic framework with at least five notes, a defined aroha and avaroha, vadi–samvadi, and characteristic pakad phrases.

Jati: classification of raga by note count - audav (5), shadav (6), sampoorna (7); aroha and avaroha may have different jatis.

Pakad: a short identifying phrase that captures the raga's characteristic movement; it is used in performance to establish the raga quickly.

Thaat vs raga: a thaat is a scale only, with no aroha–avaroha or vadi; a raga adds movement rules, emphasis, and mood.

Time theory: many ragas are assigned to specific prahar of the day; e.g., Bhairav to morning, Yaman to evening, Malkauns to late night.

Tala: a cyclic rhythmic framework defined by matras (beats), vibhag (divisions), tali (clapped), khali (waved), and sam (first beat).

Laya: tempo; vilambit (slow), madhya (medium), and drut (fast) are the three standard speeds; laya can be doubled (dugun) or quadrupled (chougun).

Teentaal: 16 matras, 4 vibhags of 4; tali on 1, 5, 13; khali on 9; common for khayal, tarana, and instrumental gat.

Ektaal: 12 matras, 6 vibhags of 2; tali on 1, 5, 9, 11; khali on 3, 7; used in vilambit khayal.

Jhaptaal: 10 matras, 4 vibhags (2+3+2+3); tali on 1, 3, 8; khali on 6.

Rupak: 7 matras, 3 vibhags (3+2+2); khali on 1 (sam is khali), tali on 4 and 6 - the only common tala where sam is khali.

Dadra: 6 matras, 2 vibhags of 3; tali on 1, khali on 4; common for bhajan, geet, and light classical.

Kaharva: 8 matras, 2 vibhags of 4; tali on 1, khali on 5; widely used in folk and film music.

Khayal: the dominant Hindustani vocal form; two parts - bada khayal (vilambit) and chhota khayal (drut); uses alaap, taan, bol-alaap, and sargam.

Dhrupad: the oldest surviving classical vocal form; four parts - sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog; accompanied by pakhawaj; uses nom-tom alaap.

Tarana: a fast vocal form using rhythmic syllables (nom, tom, ta, na, dir, da) instead of meaningful text; often set in Teentaal or Ektaal.

Bhajan: devotional song, usually in Hindi or a regional language; common talas are Dadra (6) and Kaharva (8); emphasis on text and bhakti bhava.

Geet: general song form, often in light classical or film style; may use Dadra, Kaharva, or Teentaal; text-driven with simple melodic structure.

Thumri: light classical form associated with Lucknow and Banaras gharanas; text is romantic and expressive; common talas are Dadra and Deepchandi.

Ghazal: Urdu poetic form sung in light classical style; couplet-based with radif and qafiya; not a classical raga form.

Dhamar: dhrupad-style form in Dhamar tala (14 matras); associated with Holi and Krishna themes.

Tat vadya (string instruments): sound produced by plucked or bowed strings; examples - sitar, sarod, tanpura, veena, violin, sarangi.

Sushir vadya (wind instruments): sound produced by vibrating air column; examples - bansuri, shehnai, harmonium, nagaswaram, clarinet.

Tanpura: drone instrument with four strings tuned Pa–Sa–Sa–Sa (or Ma–Sa–Sa–Sa); provides the reference pitch for the performer.

Sitar: plucked string instrument with movable frets and sympathetic strings (tarab); associated with Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Sarod: fretless plucked string instrument with metal fingerboard; associated with Amjad Ali Khan and the Maihar gharana.

Bansuri: bamboo transverse flute; associated with Pannalal Ghosh, who adapted it for classical music.

Shehnai: double-reed wind instrument; associated with Ustad Bismillah Khan; played at auspicious ceremonies.

Harmonium: reed wind instrument introduced in the 19th century; now standard for vocal accompaniment in Hindustani music.

Natya Shastra: attributed to Bharata Muni, dated roughly between 200 BCE and 200 CE; earliest surviving treatise on Indian music, dance, and drama.

Sangeet Ratnakar: written by Sharangadeva in the 13th century; a major medieval treatise covering swara, raga, tala, and instruments.

Brihaddeshi: attributed to Matanga Muni (c. 6th–8th century); early text distinguishing deshi from marga music.

Bhatkhande's Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati (4 volumes): published in the early 20th century; established the ten-thaat system and modern notation.

V. D. Paluskar: founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) and promoted notation and institutional music education.

All India Radio: established 1936; became a major patron and broadcaster of Hindustani and Carnatic music.

Gharana system: emerged in the 19th–20th centuries; major vocal gharanas include Gwalior, Kirana, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, and Patiala.

Sangeet Natak Akademi: founded 1952; India's national academy for music, dance, and drama.

Bharata Muni: author of Natya Shastra; credited with codifying the 22 shrutis and the concept of grama–murchhana.

Sharangadeva: 13th-century author of Sangeet Ratnakar; systematized raga classification and tala theory.

Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860–1936): created the ten-thaat system; wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati and standardized notation.

Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872–1931): revived notation and founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya; composed the popular bhajan 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' setting.

Ustad Amir Khan (1912–1974): Indore gharana; known for slow, expansive vilambit khayal and the 'nom-tom' style.

Pandit Omkarnath Thakur (1897–1967): vocalist and scholar; wrote Sangeetanjali; known for bhajan and khayal.

Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920–2012): sitar maestro; brought Indian classical music to international audiences; composed film scores.

Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916–2006): shehnai maestro; recipient of Bharat Ratna (2001).

Alankar: a systematic pattern of swaras in ascending or descending order used for practice; e.g., Sa Re Ga, Re Ga Ma, Ga Ma Pa.

Palta: a practice pattern that reverses direction or changes order of swaras; e.g., Sa Ga Re Ma Ga Pa, used to build flexibility.

Sargam: singing with swara names (Sa Re Ga Ma...) instead of text; used in khayal and as a teaching tool.

Lakshangeet: a composition that displays the characteristic phrases (lakshan) of a raga; used to teach raga identity.

Practice sequence: start in madhya saptak, then extend to mandra and taar; keep Sa as the reference drone throughout.

Vilambit practice: sing alankar in vilambit laya first to stabilize pitch, then increase to madhya and drut.

Breath control: practice long sustained notes (dirgha swara) on each degree before adding movement.

Notation reading: identify komal/tivra marks and octave dots before singing a written composition.

Hindustani vs Carnatic: Hindustani has 10 thaats and ragas like Yaman, Bhairav; Carnatic has 72 melakartas and ragas like Shankarabharanam, Kalyani.

Raga identification: check aroha–avaroha, vadi–samvadi, and pakad; e.g., Yaman has tivra Ma and is sampoorna, with vadi Ga and samvadi Ni.

Tala identification: count matras and locate tali/khali; Teentaal 16, Ektaal 12, Jhaptaal 10, Rupak 7, Dadra 6, Kaharva 8.

Form identification: khayal has bada/chhota; dhrupad has four sthayi–antara–sanchari–abhog; tarana uses rhythmic syllables.

Comparative analysis: Bhairav (komal Re, komal Dha, morning) vs Bhairavi (all komal, concluding raga); Yaman (tivra Ma, evening) vs Bhupali (audav, no Ma/Ni).

Notation analysis: verify that the swara count per vibhag matches the tala; check sam placement and khali marking.

Laya analysis: identify vilambit, madhya, or drut; note dugun/chougun relationships in the composition.

Gharanas: Gwalior (clear bol-alaap), Kirana (sustained notes, slow alaap), Agra (nom-tom, heavy voice), Jaipur-Atrauli (complex ragas).