Khyal-Agra Gharana:
The gayaki of the Agra Gharana is a blend of khayal gayaki and Dhrupad - Dhamar. In training, both the khayal and dhrupad components run hand in hand and are not taught in an isolated fashion. This is obvious from the svaroccara (The method of singing notes) of the Agra Gharana which demands that the projection of voice be more forceful and voluminous than encountered in khayal gayaki. The svarocarra of the gharana is also reminiscent of Dhrupad in which swaras are uttered open and bare (without grace notes).
Most khayal performances by artists of Agra gharana commence with the nom-tom alaap, a tradition unique to the Agra gharana. Different facets of a raga are displayed with the help of bandish or cija while the raga is liberated using vistaar. The use of bandish or cija for performing a raga is ubiquitous in all Hindustani classical music gharanas but cheez or bandish occupy a special position in the teaching methodology of the Agra Gharana.
The gharana adopts a kind of voice production which relies on a flatter version of the vowel sound 'a'`, which makes its music agreeable to rhythmic variations and is best suited for a deep masculine voice. Emphasis is laid on bold, full-throated and robust voice production, and singing in the lower register (mandra) is favoured. Keeping in tune with its dhrupadic origins, the singers use broad and powerful ornamentations (gamaks), extensive glides (meends), and resonant articulations of notes. As with the Gwalior gharana, the Agra singers accentuate the importance of the bandish and its methodical exposition.
The singers of this gharana are also great masters over laya-kari or the rhythmic component. In fact, laya-kari is the lasting foundation on which the singers build the edifice of the bandish. In the hands of the best exponents, the dialogue between the singer and the tabla player often turns into a dramatic event. Their tihais are eagerly awaited, as are their nifty ways of arriving at the same, by building up anticipation within the listener.
This is the only Gharana that has still continued to sing Dhrupad-Dhamar along with Nom-Tom Alap, Khayal, Thumri, Tappa, Tarana, Hori, Dadra, Ghazal, Kaul, Rasiya etc.
Ut. Mohsin Khan Niazi (Grand son/disciple of 'Ut. Khadim Hussain Khan' / son of Sitar maestro 'Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan')
Pt. Dilip Chandra Vedi
Ut. Ghagghe Khudhabaksh
Ut. Mehboob Khan 'Daras Piya'
Ut. Kale Khan 'Saras Piya'
Ut. Ghulam Abbas Khan-'Sabrang'
Ut. Natthan Khan
Ut. Tassaduq Hussain Khan 'Vinodpiya'
Ut. Faiyaz Khan (1880–1950) 'Prempiya'
Ut. Atta Hussain Khan 'Ratan Piya'
Ut. Vilayat Hussain Khan 'Pran Piya'
Ut. Khadim Hussain Khan 'Sajan Piya'
Ut. Latafat Hussain Khan 'Prem Das'
Ut. Sharafat Hussain Khan 'Prem Rang'
Ut. Anwar Hussain Khan
Ud Basheer Ahmed Khan
Ud. Akeel Ahmed Khan 'Mohan Piya'
Ud Shabeer Ahmed Khan
Ud Naseem Ahmed Khan
Ud Waseem Ahmed Khan
Ud Shafi Ahmed Khan
Ut. Azmat Hussain Khan 'Dil Rang'
Pt. Madhusudan Joshi of Baroda (seniormost disciple of Ut. Atta Hussain Khan)
Pt. Shrikrishna Babanrao Haldankar 'Raspiya' (b. 1927)'
Pt. Arun Kashalkar Rasdas'
Ustad Yunus Hussain Khan 'Darpan'
Zohrabai (1868–1913)
Ut.Yashpaul 'Sagun Piya'
Pt. Ramarao Naik
Pt. Harish Chander Bali
Pt. Jagannathbua Purohit-Gunidas
Mardav Sangeetgya Prof. Satya Dev Sharma Jalandhar Wale Disciple of Pt.Harish Chander Bali
Smt.Lalith J. Rao
Smt. Bharathi Prathap, Desciple of Smt. Lalith J. Rao
Ut. Asad Ali Khan - migrated to Pakistan
Pt. Vijay Kichlu
Pt. Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar
Pt. S. C. R.Bhatt
Pt. K. G. Ginde
Pt. M R Gautam
Pt. Chidanand Nagarkar-'Chit Aanand'
Pt. Dinkar Kaikini 'Din Rang'
Smt. Sumati Mutatkar
Smt Shrimatibai Narvekar
Smt. Manik Verma
Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki
Moni Babu (Manindralal Sengupta)
Ut. Ghulam Hasnain Khan alias 'Rajamiyan'
Pt. Dhruv Tara joshi 'Prem Rang' and 'Rasikpiya'
Pt. Ratnakant Ramnathkar 'Premrang'
Smt.Vrinda Mundkur
Subhra Guha
Shri Rajesh Kelkar is a Agra scholar
Ut. Mohsin Ahmed Khan
Pt. Tushar Dutta
Pt. Sudhindra Bhowmick
Pt. Sunil Bose
Late Pta.Anjanibai Lolekar..a Disciple of utd. Anwar hussain khan
Late Ustad Aqeel Ahemad Khan Agra
Late Ustad Shabbir Ahemad Khan, Agra
Late Ustad Nasir Ahemad Khan, Kolkata
Rubi Mallik, Agra
Pt. Devashish Ganguly 'Sanggeetesh'(Founder- Bharat Sannskriti, Agra)
Agra Gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi.
The first known musician of this tradition is Nayak Gopal. The style prevalent then in the Gharana was “Dhrupad-Dhamar”. Ustad Ghagghe Khudabuksh (1790-1880 AD) introduced the “Khayal” style of Gwalior Gharana into Agra gharana which Khudabaksh learnt from Natthan Paribaksh of Gwalior. Furthermore the Khayal style of Atrauli gharana was added in the late 19th century.