Sangeet ke Prakar: Classical, Semi-Classical and Folk Forms
Classical forms
- Dhrupad: the oldest living Hindustani vocal form; four angs - sthayi, antara, sanchari, aabhog - with pakhawaj, nom-tom alaap, and four vanis (Nauhar, Dagar, Khandar, Gaudi).
- Dhamar: a Holi-season composition in dhamar taal of 14 matras, with pakhawaj, describing Krishna and colours.
- Tarana: meaningless syllabic text (dir, tom, naadir, tadare) sung in a raag, usually drut; tradition credits it to Amir Khusrau.
Semi-classical
- Thumri: shringar rasa; bol-banao and bandish-ki-thumri; Banaras and Lucknow gharanas; ragas Khamaj, Kafi, Bhairavi, Tilak Kamod.
- Tappa: Punjab, fast taans, text broken into small bols, associated with Shori-miyan.
- Ghazal: Urdu couplets with matla, radif and qaafiya, sung in light ragas.
- Bhajan: devotional, nirgun or sagun.
Worked example
A composition in 14-matra dhamar taal with pakhawaj, sung around Holi and describing Krishna's play, is a dhamar. If the same text were reset in Teentaal with tabla in a light Khamaj with bol-banao, the answer becomes thumri - taal, instrument and treatment decide the category, not the poetry alone.
Traps
- Labelling thumri as classical.
- Claiming tarana has a meaningful lyric.
- Confusing dhamar (the form) with dhamar taal (the 14-matra cycle).
- Listing ragas for tappa that actually belong to thumri, with no comment on treatment.