These 8 Angas or Ashtanga are as follows: Swara, Geet, Taal and Laya, Aalap, Taan, Meend, Gamak and Bolalap and Boltan. The raga is decorated only by the proper use of the above eight organs.
Swara : The word swara (meaning notes) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Svar', which means sound. There are different forms of sound. But the sound which is soothing to ear and which is musical is known as swaras or sur. Hindustani classical music has 7 major notes also known as Shudha Swaras. Each swara is associated with one of the seven chakras of the body. Sa is associated with the sound of the peacock; Re, the bull/skylark; Ga, the goat; Ma, the dove/heron; Pa, the cuckoo/ nightingale; Dha, the horse and Ni, the elephant.
Svara or swara is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or saptaka. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept about the complete dimension of musical pitch. Most of the time a svara is identified as both musical note and tone, but a tone is a precise substitute for sur, related to tunefulness. Traditionally, Indians have just seven svaras/notes with short names, e.g. saa, re/ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni which Indian musicians collectively designate as saptak or saptaka. It is one of the reasons why svara is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven.
Sapta svara, also called sapta swara or sapta sur, refers to the seven distinct notes of the octave or the seven successive svaras of a saptak. The sapta svara can be collectively referred to as the sargam (which is an acronym of the consonants of the first four svaras). Sargam is the Indian equivalent to solfège, a technique for the teaching of sight-singing. As in Western moveable-Do solfège, the svara Sa is the tonic of a piece or scale. The seven svaras of the saptak are the fundamentals of heptatonic scales or melakarta ragas and thaats in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music.
Seven svara are Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhara, Madhyama, Panchama, Dhaivata and Nishada. The svaras of the sargam are often learnt in abbreviated form: sa, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni. Of these, the first svara that is 'sa', and the fifth svara that is 'pa', are considered anchors (achal svaras) that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavours (komal and tivra svaras) that differs between the two major systems.
North Indian Hindustani music has fixed name of a relative pitch, but South Indian Carnatic music keeps on making interchanges of the names of pitches in case of ri-ga and dha-ni whenever required. Swaras appear in successive steps in an octave. More comprehensively, swara-graam (scale) is the practical concept of Indian music comprising seven + five= twelve most useful musical pitches. Sage Matanga made a very important statement in his Brihaddeshi some 1500 years ago that:
Shadja aadayah svaraah na bhavanti
aakar aadayah eva svaraah
i.e. shadja, rishabha, gaandhaara, are not the real svaras but their pronunciation in the form of aa-kar, i-kaar, u-kaar are the real form of the svaras.
Table for Swaras
Carnatic name Hindustani name Western note
Full form Abbreviation Full form Abbreviation when the tonic, Sa, is C)
Shadja Sa Shadja Sa C
Shuddha Madhyama Shuddha Ma Shuddha Madhyama Ma F
Prati Madhyama Prati Ma Teevra Madhyama M'a F
Panchama Pa Panchama Pa G
Svaras in Carnatic music
The svaras in Carnatic music are slightly different in the twelve-note system. Each swara is either prakriti (invariant) or vikriti (variable). Shadja and Pancham are prakriti svaras, whilst Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Dhaivata and Nishada are vikriti svaras. Ma has two variants, and each of Ri, Ga, Dha and Ni has three variants. The mnemonic syllables for each vikriti svara use the vowels 'a', 'i' and 'u' successively from lowest to highest. For example, Rishabha has the three ascending variants 'ra', 'ri' and 'ru', being respectively 1, 2 and 3 semitones above the tonic note, Shadja.
Geet : Geet (song or lyrical poetry) in Hindi and in Urdu may refer to any poem set to music that can be sung alone or as a duet or in chorus. It has remained popular in all parts of the Indian sub-continent particularly in the Hindi and Urdu speaking areas.
In its classical form a Geet conforms to Prabandha, a composition bound by Dhatu that comprises Sthayi, Antara, Dhrupad etc.; and Anga that comprises swar, taal, pat, birud etc.Therefore, it has a beginning part known as Prabandha which is followed by an Udgraah or Dhruv which is its part that is repeatedly sung and cannot be left out, the ending part is known as Aabhog and that part of the geet which is between Dhruv and Aabhog is called Pada or Antara. Dhrupad, Khyal, Thumri and Ghazals are the accepted forms of Hindustani classical music. The legendary singers Mian Tansen and Raja Man Singh Tomar were Dhrupad singers.
Geets are a significant part of Indian folk-literature meant for all memorable occasions, then they are known as lok-geets sung by different communities and sections of society. These lok-geets include Chaiti, Kajari, Hori and Sawani. However, the boundary-line separating folk songs from classical songs cannot be easily traced and re-drawn.
Geets are also central to many cultures and communities across the globe and are used in a variety of contexts and purposes. Frequently, religious communities employ geets to not only express devotion but also to transmit knowledge of their faiths. For instance, in the Satpanthi Ismaili communities of South Asia (also known as Khojas), geets of devotion are composed and sung by community artistes. The Geets Portal at the University of Saskatchewan Library is a digital curation of the Ismaili community's devotional tradition of geets.
Taal and Laya : Tala is the rhythmical groupings of beats. These rhythmic cycles range from 3 to 108 beats. It is the theory of time measure and has the same principle in Hindustani and Carnatic music, though the names and styles differ. The musical time is divided into simple and complicated metres. Tala is independent of the music it accompanies and has its own divisions. It moves in bars, and each beat in it is divided into the smallest fraction. Tala is the most important aspect of classical music, and it can be considered to be the very basis or pulse of music. Different talas are recognized like Dadra, Rupak, Jhaptal, Ektal, Adha-Chautal and Teen-Tal. There are over a 100 Talas, but only 30 Talas are known and only about 10-12 talas are actually used. The most commonly encountered one is the one with sixteen beats called the teentaal. The Laya is the tempo, which keeps the uniformity of time span. The Matra is the smallest unit of the tala.
Tal is the basic temporal element of song, music, and dance concerned with duration and stress. Tal is of two kinds:
Samapadi or sam(equal metrical foot) and
Bisamapadi or bisamachhandi or visham (irregular metrical foot).
Samapadi tal includes the following: ektal, trital, chautal, surfank, etc. Bisamapadi includes the following: teoda, dhamar, jhanptal, jhumra. A tal is made up of a number of units or matra. Trital, for example, has 16 matra, divided into four parts or feet: 1 2 3 4/ 5 6 7 8/9 10 11 12/ 13 14 15 16. In each part the number of matra are the same. In jhanptal there are ten matra arranged as follows: 1 2/ 3 4 5/ 6 7/ 8 9 10. As the matra are not divided equally, jhanptal is a bisamapadi tal.
The first matra of the tal is called the sama. The sama is indicated by tali or clapping. The remaining feet, as well some matra, contain the beat and are shown by clapping. These are called tali. The division in which there is no clapping is called khali or fank (gap/empty).
Among the writers and composers who created new tals are rabindranath tagore, kazi nazrul islam, Ustad alauddin khan. Rabindranath Tagore created the following tals: jhampak, sasthi, rupkada, nabatal, ekadashi and nabapavcha. Nazrul Islam also created some tals such as nabanandan, priyachhanda, manimalachhanda, svagatachhanda, mandakini chhanda, and mavjubhasini tal.
Ustad Alauddin Khan created some tals for the Sarod such as mohanta, rajbesh, udaysin, bijay, bijayananda, upral, bikramat, laghukir, rabga, rabgabaran, rabgarayat and abhinandan.
Carnatic music has a rigid thala structure. The thalas are defined on the basis of intricate arithmetic calculations. Thalas always occur in cyclic pattern. The thalas are made up of three basic units, namely, laghu, drutam and anu drutam. The time unit of laghu varies according to the 'jaati'. Depending on the jaati of laghu we get 35 thalas. It is again possible to split each time unit or beat into five 'ghatis'. This leads to 35×5 = 175 thalas in Carnatic music. The most common thala is the Adi (first, foremost) thala, which consists of a repeating measure of 8 beats. Thalas are also associated with moods just like the ragas. The popular mapping from the thalas (gatis) to the moods is chatusram – devotional and happy times; tisram – festivity; khandam – anger or frustration; misram – romantic and joyous, and sangeernam – confusion.
Aalap : ‘Alap’ is the first movement of the raga. It is a slow, serene movement acting as an invocation and it gradually develops the raga. Alaap a form of classical music that employs high technique and lends itself to aesthetic expression, meditation and creativity. It is, perhaps, the most evolved, purest and complete in form and to render it beautifully is the dream of every great artiste in the North Indian system of music. Notwithstanding the high technique employed, Alaap's appeal is universal, crossing cultural frontiers.
The hallmarks of Alaap are its simplicity and authenticity underpinned by a highly structured format. As distinct from works and phrases that are used in other classical forms like dhrupad, Dhamar or kheyal, Alaap is rendered through the invocation of specific sound symbols, themselves creating special effect.
Alaap is an exposition in nada niantran (sound or volume control). It invokes sur, sruti, (microtones) swar, gupt-swars and gupt-layas (hidden notes and beats), nir and sampurna akars (indefinite and complete tonal formations), meend. soot, kampit, andolan, lehak, gamak, hudak, dhuran, churan, merukhund together with their application in half, full and multiple saptaks (octaves) enabling the Alaapiya (Alaap artiste) to present a particular rasa (sentiment) or combination of rasas with great variety and depth.
Alaap is born of Guru-Shishya Parampara, a method of learning and documentation. In its manifestation, whether from father to son or from Guru to disciple, the process involves the imparting of teaching and learning spanning decades. There is no place for it in schools or universities. The process involved is direct, on a one-to-one basis. Alaap, as indeed other classical forms, admits no copying from records or taleem from brief meetings with Gurus bereft of the Guru-Shishya methodology.
Alaap is either performed on its own or followed, after a full rendering, by Dhrupad or Dhamar and in the very rare instance by Dhrupadang Kheyal.
Alaap ie prelude can be further divided into vistar, jod and taan The performance begins with a vistar (slow elaboration of the raga) and slowly transitions to jod (lilting/rhythmic improvisation) and taan (dramatic conclusion of the alap).
Jor : Jor begins with the added element of rhythm which, combined with the weaving of innumerable melodic patterns, gradually grains in tempo and brings the raga to the final movement.
Taan : Taan is a technique used in the vocal performance of a raga in Hindustani classical music. It involves the improvisation of very rapid melodic passages using vowels, often the long 'a' as in the word 'far', and it targets at improvising and to expand weaving together the notes in a fast tempo.
Meend : In Hindustani music, meend refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice, and is used often in vocal and instrumental music. In its simplest form, a meend is a smooth glide from one note to another. During slower parts of a melody, kan-swars also become meends. However, meends can span much longer intervals too.
On the veena, sitar, sarangi and other plucked stringed instruments, it is usually done by pushing the strings across the frets to vary their effective length and tension; compare portamento and finger vibrato. This can be done on wind instruments like the bansuri by using the fingers to cover the holes in a manner that the changes between discrete pitches are imperceptible. It is considered a sort of alankar, or ornament.
The Meend in its most basic form can range from a simple span of 2 notes to a whole octave. These are straightforward, smooth and uni-directional. The basic Meend is generally very slow paced and usually rendered in the first part of the alaap – vistaar. As the pace gradually picks up, the Meends also gain in tempo and progress to more complex structures.Not all meends travel directly from the starting to ending notes – some meends take circuitous paths, touching notes that do not fall between the notes in question.
Meend is an important part of any classical performance; however, it is a technique not possible on a hand-held harmonium often used in musical concerts or on the santoor. For this reason, traditionalists singing khyal prefer an accompaniment on an instrument such as a sarangi that can perform meend.
Meend is a speciality of Indian music. Using Meend in singing the song sounds very good to hear.
Gamak : Gamaka (also spelled gamak) refer to ornamentation that is used in the performance of North and South Indian classical music. Gamaka can be understood as embellishment done on a note or between two notes. Present-day Carnatic music uses at least fifteen different kinds of ornamentation. Gamaka is any graceful turn, curve or cornering touch given to a single note or a group of notes, which adds emphasis to each raga's individuality. Gamaka can be understood as any movement done on a note or in between two notes. The unique character of each raga is given by its gamakas, making their role essential rather than decorative in Indian music. Nearly all Indian musical treatises have a section dedicated to describing, listing and characterising gamakas.
The term gamaka itself means 'ornamented note' in Sanskrit. Gamakas involve the variation of pitch of a note, using heavy forceful oscillations between adjacent and distant notes. Each raga has specific rules on the types of gamakas that might be applied to specific notes, and the types that may not.
Types of gamak :
Tiripa, Sphurita, Kampita, Leena, Andolita, Vali, Tribhinna, Kurula, Aahata, Ulhasita, Humphita, Mudrita, Namita, Plavita, Mishrita.
Carnatic music has several ornamentation classes, which can be divided into major groups as shown in the table below. These and many more gamakas are mentioned in various treatises and compositions including Arohana (ascending patterns), Avarohana (descending patterns), ahata & pratyahata.
Bolalap and Boltan : Raga through phases of rendering/elaboration identified as alap, bol-alap,bol-laya, bol-tan and tan. Normally, the sequence followed in rendering is as listed here but it is not obliga-tory to strictly adhere to it. The proportion of accentuation of these phases may also vary according to individual, sty-listic and gharana-wise preferences.
Bol Taan : Taan can be sung by utilizing the words of the bandish. This is a difficult type of a taan as in this correct pronunciation, meaning of the composition, everything has to be taken into consideration. Shuddha/Sapat (Straight) Taan : The notes are placed in an order in one or more octaves.
Bol-alap: The phase combines alap and enunciation of words of the composition concerned. This is expected to add one more dimension to the elaboration, because meaningfulness of words becomes a potential force in shaping musical ideas.