Classical Music.
The most common vocal form in North Indian classical
music is the khayal, meaning
"imagination."
The khyal is contrasted with the dhruvapada known as dhrupad, which means "fixed
words."
There are two types of khayal. The first is sung in
extremely slow tempo, with each syllable of the text having extensive melisma prolongation
of a syllable over many notes, so that the words are virtually unrecognizable.
It is not usually preceded by a lengthy alapa,
instead, alapa-like phrases are generally sung against the very slow time
measure to the accompaniment of the drums.
Also characteristic of the khayal are the sargam
tanas, passages using the Indian equivalent of the sol-fa syllables, and the
a-kar tanas, which are rapid runs sung to the syllable aah.
The second type of khayal, which may be as much as
eight times faster than the slow and is generally set in a different tala,
follows the slow.
Its composed portion is usually quite short, and the
main features of the improvisation are the a-kar tanas.
Occasionally, a composition called tarana, made up
of meaningless syllables, may replace the fast-tempo khayal.
The thumri is another North Indian vocal form and is
based on the romantic-devotional literature inspired by the bhakti movement.
The text is usually derived from the Radha-Krishna
theme and is of primary importance.
The words are strictly adhered to, and the singer
attempts to interpret them with his melodic improvisations.
It is quite usual for a singer to deviate
momentarily from the raga in which the composition is set, by using accidentals
and evoking other ragas that might be suggested by the words, but he always
returns to the original raga.
Some of the North Indian musical forms are very like
the South Indian. The vocal forms dhrupad and dhamar resemble the
ragam-tanam-pallavi. They begin with an elaborate alapa followed by the more
rhythmic but unmeasured non-tom using meaningless syllables such as te, re, na,
nom, and tom.
Then follow the four composed sections of the
dhrupad or dhamar, the latter being named after dhamar-tala of 14 units (5 + 5
+ 4) in which it is composed, the former name derived from dhruvapada.
The song, usually in slow or medium tempo, is first
sung as composed; then the performer introduces variations, the words often
being distorted and serving merely as a vehicle for the melodic and rhythmic
improvisations.
Although the dhrupad-dhamar form has been out of
favor for over a century, it is now apparently being revived.
Instrumental music has gained considerable
prominence in North India in recent times.
The most common instrumental form is the gat, which
seems to have derived its elements from both dhrupad and khayal. It is usually
preceded by alapa and jor, which resemble the alapa and non-tom sections of the
dhrupad.
On plucked stringed instruments these two movements
are often followed by jhala, a fast section in which the rhythmic plucking of
the drone strings is used to achieve a climax.
The performer usually pauses before the composed gat
is introduced.
Like the khayal, the gat can be in slow or fast
tempo.
The composition is generally short, and the emphasis
is on the improvisations of the melody instrumentalist and the drummer, who for
the most part alternate in their extemporizing.
The final climax may once again be achieved by a
jhala section, in which the tempo is accelerated quite considerably.
Other forms played on instruments are the thumri,
basically an instrumental rendering of a vocal thumri, and dhun, which is
derived from a folk tune and does not usually follow a conventional raga.
One may also hear a piece called raga-mala
literally, "a garland of ragas", in which the musician modulates from
one raga to another, finally concluding with a return to the original raga.
The most prominent melody instruments used in North
Indian classical music are the sitar, surbahar, a larger version of the sitar; the
sarod, a plucked lute without frets and a shorter neck than that of the sitar,
the sarangi, a short-necked bowed lute, the bansuri, a side-blown bamboo flute
with six or seven finger holes, the sheh'nai, a double-reed wind instrument
similar to the oboe, but without keys; and the violin, played in the same
manner as in South India.
Secondary melody instruments are used only in vocal
music, the two most common being the sarangi and the keyboard harmonium, an
import from the West.
The violin and the surmandal, a plucked board
zither, are also used in this context.
In recent times, instrumental duets, in which the
musicians improvise alternately, have grown in popularity.
In these duets the musicians may imitate each
other's phrases, temporarily creating something of the effect of a secondary
melody instrument.
As with South Indian music, the drone is usually
provided by a tamboura Bengali tanpura or a hand-pumped reed drone similar to
the harmonium but without a keyboard, called sur-peti in North India.
The sheh'nai is usually accompanied by one or more
drone shehnais, called sur.
The rhythmic accompaniment is usually provided on
the tabla, a pair of small drums played with the fingers.
As accompaniment to the somewhat archaic dhrupad,
however, the pakhavaj, a double-conical drum, similar to the South Indian
mridanga, is generally used.
The sheh'nai in classical music is usually
accompanied by a small pair of kettledrums, called dukar-tikar.
