UPMSP High School Instrumental Music cheat sheet
UPMSP High School Instrumental Music · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Definition, Nature and Scope of Instrumental Music (Vadyatmak Sangeet)
Vadyatmak sangeet is music produced by instruments (vadya) alone, without vocal recitation; it is distinguished from gayan (vocal) and nritya (dance).
The threefold division of sangeet into gita (vocal), vadya (instrumental) and nritya (dance) is stated in Bharata's Natyashastra; instrumental music is the second limb.
Instrumental music is classified as swara-pradhan when melody dominates and tal-pradhan (or laya-pradhan) when rhythm dominates; percussion instruments belong to the latter.
Scope includes solo performance (ekal vadya), accompaniment (sangat), ensemble playing (vadya-vrinda), and orchestral composition (orchestra/vadya mandali).
Instrumental music can reproduce raga and tala as fully as vocal music but is not bound by language, lyric or breathing; hence it can render faster tans and longer avartans.
Vadyatmak sangeet preserves ragas through instruments such as rudra veena, sitar, sarod and sarangi, and preserves talas through tabla, pakhawaj and mridangam.
Instrumental music has its own idiomatic forms: gat, masitkhani gat, razakhani gat, jhala, toda, and percussion compositions like peshkar, qaida, rela and tukda.
The term 'vadya' in Sanskrit also denotes the player and the instrument; in modern usage it means the instrument itself, and 'vadyatmak' means 'pertaining to instruments'.
Classification of Musical Instruments (Tata, Sushir, Avanaddha, Ghan)
The fourfold classification (chaturvidha) of instruments is given in Bharata's Natyashastra: tata (stringed), sushir (wind), avanaddha (covered/membrane) and ghan (solid/idiophonic).
Tata vadya: sound is produced by vibrating strings; examples are veena, sitar, sarod, sarangi, guitar and tanpura. Plucked (nakhaj) and bowed (dhanushaj) are its sub-types.
Sushir vadya: sound is produced by vibrating an air column; examples are bansuri, shehnai, nagaswaram, harmonium and clarinet. Sub-types include bamboo (vanshi) and metal (dhatu) winds.
Avanaddha vadya: sound is produced by a stretched membrane over a hollow body; examples are tabla, pakhawaj, mridangam, dholak, nagada and dhol.
Ghan vadya: sound is produced by striking a solid, non-tensioned body; examples are jaltarang, manjira, ghatam, kartal, xylophone and bells.
A fifth class, 'vitat' or 'tata' with strings struck rather than plucked, is sometimes treated separately; the santoor is often placed in tata or in a struck-string class.
The Natyashastra also classifies instruments by playing action: struck (avanaddha, ghan) versus blown (sushir) versus plucked or bowed (tata).
Modern ethnomusicological terms correspond as: chordophone = tata, aerophone = sushir, membranophone = avanaddha, idiophone = ghan.
Notation System and Writing Notation of Prescribed Ragas and Talas
Swaras are written with abbreviations S R G M P D N; komal swaras are shown by a line below (or a small stroke) and tivra Ma by a vertical line above the letter.
Octave marks: a dot below a swara indicates the mandra (lower) octave; a dot above indicates the tar (upper) octave; unmarked swaras are in the madhya octave.
Aroha and avaroha are written as ascending and descending sequences with an arrow (↑ / ↓) or the words 'aroh' and 'avroh' before the swara string.
Pakad is written as a short phrase group in parentheses, showing characteristic swara clusters rather than a full scale.
Tala notation is written in a grid: each column is one matra; vibhag boundaries are marked by a vertical line, sam by the symbol 'X', tali by numbers (2, 3, 4...) and khali by '0'.
Theka is written syllable by syllable under the matra numbers, e.g. Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Tin Tin Ta | Ta Dhin Dhin Dha for tintal (16 matras).
Layakari is notated by subdividing each matra: barabar (1 note per matra), dugun (2), tigun (3), chaugun (4); brackets or slashes group the subdivisions.
Meend and kan are shown by curved lines or small arrows between swaras; gamak by a wavy line; khatka by a small cluster of grace notes before the main swara.
Prescribed Ragas: Aroha, Avaroha, Pakad, Vadi, Samvadi, Time and Characteristics
Yaman: aroha S R G M(tivra) P D N S; avaroha S N D P M(tivra) G R S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening (first prahar of night); tivra Ma is the identifying swara; sampurna-sampurna.
Bhairav: aroha S r G M P d N S; avaroha S N d P M G r S; vadi Dha, samvadi Re; komal Re and komal Dha give the raga its character; performed in the morning; sampurna-sampurna.
Bhoopali (Bhoop): aroha S R G P D S; avaroha S D P G R S; vadi Ga, samvadi Dha; audav-audav (5-5); omits Ma and Ni; performed in the evening.
Bageshri: aroha S g m P d n S; avaroha S n d P m g R S; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; komal Ga, komal Dha, komal Ni; night raga; often sung as a janya of Kafi.
Bhimpalasi: aroha n S g m P n S; avaroha S n d P m g R S; vadi Ma, samvadi Sa; komal Ga and komal Ni; afternoon (third prahar of day).
Khamaj: aroha S G m P D N S; avaroha S n D P m G R S; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; both shuddha and komal Ni appear; late night; often treated as a thaat name too.
Bilawal: aroha S R G M P D N S; avaroha S N D P M G R S; vadi Dha, samvadi Ga; all shuddha swaras; morning raga; sampurna-sampurna.
Kafi: aroha S R g m P D n S; avaroha S n D P m g R S; vadi Pa, samvadi Re; komal Ga and komal Ni; night; folk-flavoured thaat.
Prescribed Talas: Theka, Matra, Vibhag, Tali, Khali, Laya and Layakari
Tintal: 16 matras, 4 vibhags of 4; tali on 1, 5, 13; khali on 9; theka Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Dhin Dhin Dha | Dha Tin Tin Ta | Ta Dhin Dhin Dha.
Jhaptal: 10 matras, 4 vibhags (2+3+2+3); tali on 1, 3, 8; khali on 6; theka Dhi Na | Dhi Dhi Na | Ti Na | Dhi Dhi Na.
Ektaal: 12 matras, 6 vibhags of 2; tali on 1, 5, 9, 11; khali on 3, 7; theka Dhin Dhin | Dha Ge | Tir Kit | Tu Na | Kat Ta | Dha Ge | Dhin Na.
Rupak: 7 matras, 3 vibhags (3+2+2); khali on 1 (sam is khali), tali on 4 and 6; theka Tin Tin Na | Dhin Na | Dhin Na.
Keharwa: 8 matras, 2 vibhags of 4; tali on 1, khali on 5; theka Dha Ge Na Ti | Na Ka Dhi Na.
Dadra: 6 matras, 2 vibhags of 3; tali on 1, khali on 4; theka Dha Dhin Na | Dha Tun Na.
Laya types: vilambit (slow), madhya (medium) and drut (fast); layakari includes barabar (1x), dugun (2x), tigun (3x) and chaugun (4x), plus adi (3/2) and kuadi (5/4) in advanced practice.
Sam is matra 1 and the point of convergence; khali is a vibhag marked by a wave of the hand and is shown by '0'; tali is marked by a clap and numbered.
Life Sketches and Contributions of Musicians and Instrument Makers
Tansen (c. 1500-1586), court musician of Akbar, credited with ragas Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi, Darbari Kanada and Mian ki Sarang; his tomb is in Gwalior.
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) is traditionally credited with the sitar's origin, the tarana form and early tabla development; these attributions are traditional, not documented.
Bhatkhande (1860-1936) codified Hindustani notation in his 'Kramik Pustak Malika' and founded the Marris College (now Bhatkhande Music Institute), Lucknow; he formulated ten thaats.
V. D. Paluskar (1872-1931) revived vocal music, founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (Lahore 1901, later Mumbai) and used a notation system with Western staff influence.
Allauddin Khan (c. 1862-1972), sarod and violin master of Maihar, trained Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar and Annapurna Devi; he composed in raga Hemant.
Ravi Shankar (1920-2012) popularised sitar globally, composed film scores and concertos, and was a Rajya Sabha member; Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009) founded the Ali Akbar College of Music.
Instrument makers: the Rikhi Ram family of Delhi and the Hemen & Co. tradition in Kolkata are noted sarod and sitar makers; Kanai Lal and the Pal family of Kolkata are noted for sarangi and esraj.
Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) elevated shehnai to concert status and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001; Hariprasad Chaurasia (b. 1938) did the same for bansuri.
Structure, Tuning and Playing Technique of the Prescribed Instrument
Sitar: a long-necked lute with a gourd (tumba) resonator, 6-7 main strings and 11-13 sympathetic (taraf) strings; frets are tied and movable, allowing fine tuning of swaras.
Sitar tuning: main playing string is Ma (or Sa depending on tradition); the drone strings (chikari) are tuned Sa, Sa and upper Sa; taraf strings are tuned to the raga's swaras.
Sitar technique: right hand uses mizrab (plectrum) with da (inward) and ra (outward) strokes; left hand uses meend (pulling the string across the curved fret) and kan (grace).
Tabla: a pair of drums - daya (right, treble, single membrane with syahi) and bayan (left, bass, double membrane); the syahi (black centre) fixes pitch and produces overtones.
Tabla tuning: daya is tuned by tapping the gatta/gajra (wooden pegs) and adjusting the pudi; bayan is tuned by pressing the heel of the hand and adjusting the dori (lacing).
Bansuri: a bamboo transverse flute with 6-7 finger holes; tuning depends on the distance between the blowing hole and the first finger hole; closed holes give lower notes.
Bansuri technique: notes are produced by varying effective tube length with finger holes and by blowing pressure; half-holing gives komal and tivra swaras; meend is done by sliding fingers.
Sarangi: a bowed, fretless instrument with 3 main strings and many sympathetic strings; the bow (gaz) is held palm-up; fingering with the nail edge allows continuous meend.
Basic Acoustics, Swara and Shruti
Pitch depends on frequency; the octave (saptak) is a 2:1 frequency ratio; Sa to upper Sa doubles the frequency.
The 22 shrutis of Bharata's tradition are positions within the octave; they are theoretical microtonal positions, not 22 equal steps.
Just intonation ratios for common intervals: Sa 1/1, komal Re 16/15, shuddha Re 9/8, komal Ga 6/5, shuddha Ga 5/4, shuddha Ma 4/3, tivra Ma 45/32 or 7/5, Pa 3/2, komal Dha 8/5, shuddha Dha 5/3, komal Ni 9/5 or 16/9, shuddha Ni 15/8.
Equal temperament divides the octave into 12 equal semitones with ratio 2^(1/12) ≈ 1.0595; Indian classical tuning is generally just intonation, so intervals differ from equal temperament.
Consonance (samvad) arises from simple frequency ratios: octave 2:1, fifth 3:2, fourth 4:3; complex ratios such as 16:15 are dissonant.
Timbre (quality) depends on the harmonic spectrum and the relative amplitudes of overtones; the syahi of tabla and the tumba of sitar shape timbre.
Resonance occurs when a driven system vibrates at its natural frequency; the tumba and the tabla shell act as resonators amplifying specific frequencies.
A shruti is a microtonal position; a swara is a musical note selected from shrutis. In Hindustani practice 12 swaras (7 shuddha, 5 vikrit) are used from the 22 shrutis.
Technical Terminology of Indian Music
Sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhog are the four sections of a composition (dhrupad); sthayi is the first and most important section.
Alankar (palta) means a permutational exercise of swaras; kan is a grace note; meend is a glide; gamak is a heavy oscillation; khatka is a cluster of fast grace notes.
Tana is a fast melodic phrase; palta is a sequence; murki is a fast ornamental turn; zamzama is a heavy, ornate phrase.
Gat is an instrumental composition; masitkhani gat is in vilambit laya, razakhani gat in drut laya; jhala is the fast rhythmic climax with chikari strokes.
Tala terms: matra (beat), vibhag (bar), tali (clap), khali (wave), sam (first beat), theka (mnemonic syllables), laya (tempo), layakari (tempo multiples).
Raga terms: aroha (ascent), avaroha (descent), pakad (catch phrase), vadi (sonant), samvadi (consonant), anuvadi (assonant), vivadi (dissonant), varjya (omitted swara), nyasa (resting note).
Thaat is a scale of seven swaras used for classification (Bhatkhande's ten thaats); jati describes the raga's note count (audav 5, shadav 6, sampurna 7).
Other terms: gharana (stylistic school), bandish (composition), cheez (composition), tarana (syllabic composition), dhrupad, dhamar, khayal, thumri, and vadya-vrinda (ensemble).