Compositions and Gats: Vilambit, Drut, Maseetkhani, Razakhani and Tihai
What the domain tests
This domain tests whether you can distinguish gat types and write a tihai that mathematically lands on sam. It also checks notation of a prescribed bandish or gat with tala marks.
Core rules and concepts
- Bandish is a vocal composition; gat is an instrumental composition. Both are set in a raga and tala.
- Vilambit gat is slow and spacious. Drut gat is fast and compact.
- Maseetkhani gat is a vilambit gat, often in Teental, with room for vistar and deliberate phrasing. Razakhani gat is a drut gat, lively and often tihai-rich.
- Tihai is a phrase repeated three times so that the final note falls on sam. The arithmetic must be shown.
Worked example
In Teental, take a three-matra phrase: Dha Dhin Dha. Three repetitions take 3 × 3 = 9 matras. To end on sam, start at matra 9: first repetition 9-11, second 12-14, third 15-16-1, with the final Dha on sam. Reasoning: the third repetition crosses the avartan boundary; the tihai is valid only because the last matra is sam, not khali or a random beat.
Traps that cost marks
Do not repeat a tihai only twice. Do not end on khali. Do not confuse maseetkhani with razakhani. Do not write a gat without vibhag, sam and tali-khali marks. Do not ignore the arithmetic when a tihai question asks you to place it.