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Hindustani Gayiki: The North Indian Classical

   Hindustani classical vocal music

Music is a universal language, everyone can relate to it .The way in which the tune is interpreted by different cultures is the difference and that is why we get different and distinct musical experiences. Sangeet is what we call in Sanskrit, the sandhi of two terms. It is the term formed by the amalgamation of two terms that is 'Sam' and 'geet', Where Sam means along with and geet means lyrics or poetry. Sangeet = Sam + Geet. Indian Classical Music has two sub genres:Hindustani music also known as North Indian Style and Carnatic musicVarious vocal forms include: Kheyal, Bhajan, Tarana, Dhrupad, Dhammar, Dadra, Gazal, Geet, Thumri, Qawali, Kirtan or Dhun, Shabad, Lakshan Geet, Film Songs, Folk Music, Swarmalika. Most of the classical songs of north India are devotional in nature, but there are a few genre which are especially oriented toward religion.  Most notable is the bhajan, dhun or kirtanfor Hindus, the kawali (qawali) for Muslims, and the shabad for Sikhs.The gazal is one style which is known for its rich poetic, and romantic content.  The Hindi geet is basically just a song.Undoubtedly, the most popular is the film song. There are also a few genres which are oriented specifically toward musical education.  The most notable example is the lakshan geet.  In this style the words of the song actually describe the raag which is being performed.  Another genre which is used for pedagogic purposes is the swarmalika.  This style uses the sargam of the piece instead of words.India also has a rich tradition of folk music.  These will vary from region to region.

Principles of Hindustani music

Swara or Saptak: Theoretical aspect of concept of 'saptak', the tonic node 'sa' is the root of Indian music, and position of earlier nodes depends on position of 'sa'. When the frequency of this sa is doubled we get the upper sa. The frequency space between these two is called saptak. Below image is a clear representation of saptak used in Indian Classical Music. The three primary registers of Indian classical music are mandra (lower), madhya (middle) and taar (upper).

Raga: Raga is the soul of music, Raga is the basis of classical music. A raga is based on the principle of a combination of notes selected out the 22 note intervals of the octave. A performer with sufficient training and knowledge alone can create the desired emotions, through the combination of shrutis and notes.

Tala: This balance is the essence of Tala and therefore Tala is in classical music is an important factor.  When accompanying the dance, vocal and instrumental music, the Tala maintains the balance which is the most essential function of music.

Rythm has three aspects: Tala, Laya and Matra. Tala is a complete cycle of Metrical phrase composed of a fixed number of beats. The Laya is the tempo, which keeps uniformity of time span and it has 3 divisions - Vilambit, Madhya and Drut. The Matra is the smallest unit of the tala.

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Types of Singing prevalent in Hindustani Music System : 

Dhruvapad, Lakshan Geet, Tappa, Sargam, Qawwali, Dhamar, Thumri, Tarana, Bhajan, Geet, Khayal, Hori, Chaturanga, Ghazal, Folk-geet, Natya Sangeet, Sugam Sangeet, Knock and chuckle.

Dhruvapad - Seriously meaningful vocabulary, the arrangements which are sung by the combination of vowels filled with seriousness, are the only ones that are Dhruvapad. Dhruvapada is a taan-shunya song with the miracle of rhythm from the serious sound. The rhythms used in this are – Bramhatal, Mattatal, Gajjhampa, Chautal, Shulfaq etc. While singing it, one has to do the work of doubly quadrupani aadi kuadi biadi rhythm.

Lakshan Geet - A poem expressing the form of raga which is tied in the form of small thoughts is called Lakshna Geet.

Tappa - Tappa means to reach a certain place or to set a fixed destination. According to the earlier tradition, when traders from Gujarat, Kathiawar to Punjab, Kabul, Balochistan used to travel through the desert of Rajputana in camel convoys to reach the stalled destinations, at that time the folk songs of Punjab's love stories, Heer-Ranjha , Sohini-Mahiwal etc. were sung with full of emotion. His compilation was done by Hussain Sharqi. Shori Mian composed them in special ragas. These Punjabi language compositions are called Tappa. Tappa is sung with the help of parts of Murki, Taan, Aalap, Mead of Indian music. Punjabi rhythm is used in it. A special type of fluid, melodious, open throat is necessary for singing Tappa, in which the preparation of the throat is special.

Sargam - Such a melodious mastery of vocals which is melodious and attractive and makes the raga form clear, that is the Sargam. It is sung by reciting vowels instead of alap.

Qawwali - The arrangement which is sung in the rhythm called Qawwali is Qawwali. Especially Muslim hymn systems called Khamsa and Naat Qawwali.

Thumri - A melodious song of Radhakrishna or filled with the feeling of love, whose meaning is wrapped in the feeling of union or separation, sung with loud accompaniments and embellished with emotional vocals and vocals, it is called thumri. The thumris of Lucknow, Banaras and Punjab styles are full of their own speciality. The rhythms used in this are Punjabi, Chanchar, Deepchandi, Kaharwa and Dadra etc.

Tarana - The striking repercussions of veena playing by expressing the non-powerful lyrics, the inseparable feature of tarana singing is the successful performance of instrumental music, without breaking the rhythm. The name of saying na na na dir dirrrr etc. in fast rhythm is not a taunt. The successful performance of the veena should be done by the vocals, that is the tarana.

Bhajans - The arrangements for the description of God's praises and pastimes composed by sages like Surdas, Meera, Tulsi, Yugalpriya, Pratap Bala, Jam Sutta, Kabir etc. Their rhythms are Kaharwa, Dhumali, Dadra etc.

Geet - Bhavgeet composed by modern poets, which are sung according to the meaning of the folk music, which remain word-oriented, these are called songs.

Khayal or Khayal - Khayal is a Persian word, which means imagination. There are two types of thoughts. The first is a big thought and the second a small thought. Bada khayal is sung with the solemnity of the Dhruvapad in a belated rhythm and elaborated on the basis of imagination. While singing it, the behavior of the eight limbs is done properly. The rhythms that are used in great care are Ektal, Tilwara, Jhumra, Rupak, Jhaptal, Aara-Chautal, Adital etc.
Chhota Khayal, the playful sarcasm is full of charm and rhythm, while singing it, all the eight limbs are used. Trital, Ektaal, Jhaptal, Rupak and Aada-Chautal etc. are played in drutala which are used in short khayals.

Hori - The poem or song from the context of Holi which is sung on the basis of thumri is called Hori.

Dhamar - 

Chaturanga or Chatrang - Chatrang is such a type of song in which four types of management philosophy are together, khayal, tarana, sargam and small paran of tabla or pakhawaj, they are included in chatrang.

Ghazal - The poetry or poetry singing of Urdu language is called Ghazal singing. This word is predominant, meaning spectator, song type, which is chanted with special types of khatkas, murkis etc. In this, locks like Kaharwa, Dhumali, Dadra etc. are used.

Khatke and Murkiyan - Beautiful murkis are the life of thumri. Murki are those sweet succulent vowel schemes, which are melodiously taken by soft vocals. Whereas the vowel schemes of the khatke are elicited by the filled larynx. This is the difference between Murki and Khatke.

Folk song - This music is sung in distant villages, and its many forms are seen in different languages. Chaiti, Kajri etc. are forms of folk songs.

Natya Sangeet - The music sung in plays is called Natya Sangeet.

Sugam Sangeet - Sugam or simple music from classical music is called Sugam Sangeet. The genres sung in it are songs, ghazals, bhajans, qawwali, folk songs etc.

Based on the notes they use, most Hindustani ragas can be classified under one of these ten scales. The parent scale of a raga functions, essentially, as its key signature. For instance, if you know that a raga belongs to the Kalyan scale, then you know that it uses the sharp variant of Ma . If it belongs to the Kafi scale, then you know that it uses the flat variants of ga and ni . And so on.

   Instruments accompanying Hindustani classical vocal

The barest minimums of instrumental accompaniment used are tabla for rhythm, tanpura for harmonic resonance.Other Instruments used in Hindustani music include the sitar, sarod, surbahar, esraj, veena, bansuri, shehnai, sarangi, violin, santoor and pakhavaj.

   Hindustani classical vocal - a brief history

The origin of Indian music is said to be rooted in the Vedas. It is said that God Himself is musical sound, the sound which pervades the whole universe, i.e. Nadabrahma. The origins of Indian music are therefore considered divine. It is said that the musician has to cultivate an attitude of self-abandonment, in order to fuse with the Supreme Reality, Brahma.
Brahma is said to be the author of the four Vedas, of which the SamaVeda was chanted in definite musical patterns. Vedic hymns were sung in plain melody, using only 3 notes.It took a long time for music to come to the form found in present-day India. The most important advance in music was made between the 14th and 18th centuries. During this period, the music sung in the north came in contact with Persian music and assimilated it, through the Pathans and the Mughals. It is then that two schools of music resulted, the Hindustani and the Carnatic. Hindustani music adopted a scale of Shudha Swara saptaka(octave of natural notes) and Carnatic music retained the traditional octave. During this period, different styles of classical compositions such as Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khayal,etc. were contributed to Hindustani music, along with many exquisite hymns, bhajans, kirtans, etc.

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