Indian music glossary

90 terms from Hindustani and Carnatic music, ghazal and film song, each defined in a sentence. Open a term for a short explanation and the page that teaches it.

A

Achal swaraअचल स्वर; a fixed note: Achal swara means an immovable note in Indian music: Sa and Pa each have only one form, never lowered or raised. You hear both in the tanpura drone, the continuing sound of Sa and Pa together.
Alankarअलंकार; a note pattern for practice: An alankar is a fixed pattern of notes repeated up and down a scale as a practice exercise. Students sing alankars daily to practise note pitch and build speed.
Alapआलाप; also alaap or alapana: Alap is the slow opening without a set rhythmic cycle in a Hindustani performance of a raga, a melodic framework. The singer or instrumentalist introduces its notes, characteristic phrases and mood before the rhythm begins.
Alapanaஆலாபனை; the Carnatic raga exposition: Alapana is an exploration of a raga, a melodic framework, without a fixed beat in Carnatic music. You hear it before a composition in the same raga, with singers using syllables such as ta da ri na rather than words.
Andolanआंदोलन; a slow swing on a note: Andolan is a slow, gentle sway between a held note and a slightly lower or higher pitch. It appears on particular notes in ragas, melodic frameworks that guide note movement and emphasis, including Raga Darbari.
Antaraअन्तरा; the verse: An antara is a verse of a Hindi film song, or the second section of a Hindustani classical composition. It brings new words and a new melodic idea, usually moving higher before leading back to the opening section.
Anupallaviअनुपल्लवी; the second section: Anupallavi is the second section of a Carnatic (South Indian classical) composition, following the pallavi, the opening section that returns. It usually develops the opening idea, climbs into the upper part of the range, and leads back to the pallavi.
Arohaआरोह; ascent: Aroha is the ascending order of notes in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. In Raga Bhoop, it is Sa Re Ga Pa Dha Sa', with Ma and Ni left out.
Audavaऔडव; five-note: Audava describes a raga, or melodic framework, that uses five notes going up and five notes coming down. Bhoop is an example, using Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.
Avarohaअवरोह; descent: Avaroha is the descending order of notes in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. It is the path the melody takes from the upper Sa down to the home Sa.
Avartanआवर्तन; one cycle of the taal: An avartan is one complete cycle of a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, from sam, the first beat, to just before the next sam. Compositions and improvised passages are measured in avartans.

B

Bandishबंदिश; the composed song in a raga: A bandish is a fixed composition in Hindustani classical music, a short song with words that a performer sings and improvises around. You will hear it in musical forms such as khayal, dhrupad and thumri.
Bansuriबांसुरी; the bamboo flute: The bansuri is North India's side-blown bamboo flute, with six or seven finger holes and no keys. You will hear it in folk, devotional and concert music.
Bhajanभजन; a devotional song: A bhajan is a devotional song in the Hindu tradition, sung to a deity, a saint or the divine in general. You will hear bhajans in temples, at home and in concert, and many film songs borrow their form.
Bolबोल; drum syllable: A bol is a spoken syllable that stands for a stroke on the tabla, a pair of drums, or another drum. In some contexts, bol also means the words of a song.

C

Chalanचलन; how a raga moves: Chalan is the characteristic movement of a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. You hear it in compositions and melodies invented during performance, through how notes are approached and which turns are used or avoided.
Charanamचरणम्; the concluding section: Charanam is the concluding section of a Carnatic (South Indian classical) composition, usually the longest, with new words and a fresh melody. In South Indian film songs, each verse is called a charanam.

D

Dadraदादरा; the six-beat cycle: Dadra is a six-beat taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged in two groups of three. Dadra also names a light-classical song form sung in this rhythm.
Dhrupadध्रुपद; the oldest surviving Hindustani form: Dhrupad is the oldest form of Hindustani classical singing still performed, with long held notes, little ornament and close attention to pitch. Recordings by the Dagar family are a reference point for hearing the style.
Drutद्रुत; fast tempo: Drut means a fast tempo, or pace, in Hindustani music. You will hear it as a performance moves towards its rhythmic climax, often with busier accompaniment.

G

Gamakगमक; a shake or oscillation on a note: Gamak is a forceful swing between a note and its neighbour, made by a voice or instrument. In Hindustani music it is one ornament, or note-shaping movement; in Carnatic music, gamaka is the general word for all such ornaments.
Ghazalग़ज़ल; غزل: A ghazal is poetry built from self-contained couplets, or pairs of lines, sharing a rhythmic pattern and rhyme, usually with a repeated phrase. In Indian music, ghazal also means the sung performance of such a poem in a light classical style.

H

Harmoniumहारमोनियम; the reed keyboard: A harmonium is a small, hand-pumped reed organ with a keyboard. In Indian music, it accompanies singers by following their melody and providing a steady pitch reference.

J

Janyaजन्य; derived raga: A janya is a Carnatic raga, a melodic framework, derived from a melakarta, one of 72 seven-note parent scales. Hamsadhwani is one example, using the five notes Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Ni.

K

Kalpanaswaramகல்பனா ஸ்வரம்; improvised note passages: Kalpanaswaram is improvised singing of the note names, sa ri ga ma pa da ni, in Carnatic music. You hear it after a composition, with note passages returning to a chosen song line exactly on the beat.
Kanकण; a grace note: A kan, or kan swara, is a grace note: a light touch of a neighbouring note just before or after the main note. In Hindustani music, the voice may brush Re or Ma instead of landing directly on Ga.
Kaydaक़ायदा; a tabla theme and its variations: A kayda is a basic compositional form in a tabla solo, built from a short theme and variations. The variations rearrange only the theme’s bols, the syllables that name drum sounds.
Keherwaकहरवा; the eight-beat cycle: Keherwa is an eight-beat taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged in two groups of four. Clap on beat one and wave on beat five, then repeat the cycle.
Khaliखाली; the empty beat: Khali means “empty” and names the section of a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, marked by a hand wave instead of a clap. The drummer plays lighter strokes here, and the contrast with clapped sections helps you feel where you are in the cycle.
Khayalख़याल; also khyal: Khayal means “imagination” or “thought” in Urdu and Persian. It is the main vocal form of Hindustani classical music today, where singers invent melody around a bandish, a short composed piece.
Komalकोमल; lowered: Komal means “soft” and, in Indian music, refers to the lowered, or flattened, form of a note. Re, Ga, Dha and Ni have komal forms, while the natural form is called shuddha.
Kritiकृति; Carnatic composition: A kriti is the main composed song form of Carnatic (South Indian classical) music. It has words, a fixed raga (melodic framework), a fixed tala (rhythmic cycle) and named sections.

L

Layaलय; tempo: Laya means tempo, or how fast or slow music moves, and more broadly the sense of time in a performance. A repeating rhythmic cycle keeps the same beat count at any laya; only the space between beats changes.
Laykariलयकारी; playing with the rhythm: Laykari is rhythmic play: singing or playing a phrase at a different speed or grouping against the beat, then meeting it again. You will hear it in khayal and dhrupad singing, and especially in instrumental music.

M

Madhya layaमध्य लय; medium tempo: Madhya laya means medium tempo in Indian music, between vilambit, slow tempo, and drut, fast tempo. You will hear it in instrumental compositions and in the middle section of khayal, a vocal form.
Mandra, madhya and taar saptakमंद्र, मध्य, तार; the three octaves: A saptak is an octave, named relative to the singer’s Sa, the home or reference note. Mandra is the lower octave, madhya the middle octave, and taar the upper octave.
Manodharmaமனோதர்மம்; the improvised part of Carnatic music: Manodharma means improvisation in Carnatic music, or music invented during performance rather than composed beforehand. You will hear it in concerts alongside composed pieces called kritis.
Maqtaमक़ता; the closing couplet with the poet's name: A maqta is the final pair of lines in a ghazal, a poem built from self-contained pairs of lines, where the poet includes their pen name. You meet it in sung ghazals, where it closes and signs the poem, though not every ghazal has one.
Matlaमतला; the opening couplet of a ghazal: The matla is the opening couplet, or pair of lines, of a ghazal, a poem built from self-contained couplets linked by rhyme and rhythm. You hear it at the start of a sung ghazal, where singers often repeat it to establish the melody.
Matraमात्रा; beat: A matra is a single beat of a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle. Teentaal has sixteen matras, so counting from one to sixteen and returning to one takes you once round the cycle.
Meendमींड; the glide between notes: Meend is a smooth glide from one note to another without a break. You hear it in Hindustani singing and instrumental playing as an ornament, a way of shaping a musical phrase.
Melakartaमेलकर्ता; Carnatic parent scale: A melakarta is a parent scale in Carnatic music that uses all seven notes in order, going up and coming down. There are 72 melakartas, which help organise ragas, the melodic frameworks musicians perform.
Misraमिसरा; one line of a couplet: A misra is a single line of Urdu poetry, and two misras form a sher, or couplet. You will meet it in ghazal singing, where singers may repeat the first line before delivering the second.
Mridangamமிருதங்கம்; the Carnatic drum: The mridangam is a double-headed barrel drum that accompanies Carnatic music, played horizontally with both hands. Its name comes from Sanskrit and means “made of clay”, referring to its ancient form.
Mukhdaमुखड़ा; the hook of a film song: Mukhda, literally “face”, is the opening section of a Hindi film song, with its first lines sung to the main melody. These lines return after every verse and usually give the song its title.
Murkiमुरकी; a quick cluster of notes: A murki is a fast, light cluster of two or three notes around a main note in Indian music. You will hear it in film songs and ghazals, sung poems built from self-contained pairs of lines.

N

Nadaiநடை; the subdivision of a beat: Nadai, also called gati, means the number of pulses, or smaller counts, inside each beat in Carnatic music. You will hear it in percussion playing and swara passages, which are musical note passages.
Niravalநிரவல்; improvising on one line: Niraval is a practice in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music where a musician improvises different melodies on one line of a composition. The words and their position in the taal, the rhythmic cycle, stay the same.
Nyasaन्यास; the note a phrase rests on: Nyasa is the note on which a musical phrase comes to rest. You hear it in ragas, melodic frameworks in Indian classical music, where certain notes let a phrase pause and settle.

P

Pakadपकड़; the catch-phrase of a raga: Pakad is a short identifying phrase, or group of phrases, in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. The word means “grip” or “catch”, and the phrase carries the raga’s typical movement and emphasis, not just its notes.
Pallaviपल्लवी; the opening and refrain: Pallavi is the opening section of a Carnatic (South Indian classical) composition and its refrain, the part that returns. In a Malayalam film song, it is the opening part everyone sings along to, which returns after every verse.

Q

Qafiaक़ाफ़िया; the rhyme of a ghazal: Qafia is the rhyming word or syllable just before the radif, the refrain repeated word for word. You hear it in sung ghazals, poems built from self-contained pairs of lines joined by rhyme and a shared pattern of length and rhythm.
Qawwaliक़व्वाली; Sufi devotional singing: Qawwali is the devotional music of South Asia’s Sufi shrines, sung by a group led by one or two main singers. Handclaps mark the beat as repeated phrases build towards faster singing and higher notes.

R

Radifरदीफ़; ردیف; the refrain: Radif is a word or phrase repeated at set line endings in a ghazal, poetry built from self-contained pairs of lines. It ends both lines of the opening pair and the second line of every later pair, becoming a musical refrain when sung.
Ragaराग; Carnatic ragam: A raga is a melodic framework in Indian classical music for creating pieces and inventing melody during performance. It sets which notes appear, how they move, which carry weight, and which short phrases identify it.
Ragam Tanam PallaviThe centrepiece of a Carnatic concert: Ragam Tanam Pallavi, often shortened to RTP, is the longest and most improvised item in a Carnatic (South Indian classical) concert. Its three stages move from free melodic exploration to pulsed improvisation, then to developing a single composed line within a fixed rhythmic cycle.
Rasaरस; mood: Rasa means flavour or essence, and in Indian music it names the mood a performance is said to carry. That mood comes from the notes, the phrases and how they are sung, not from a rule.

S

SaShadja; the home note: Sa is the first swara, or note, in Indian music and the home note from which every other note is measured. It has only one form, but a singer can set it to any pitch that suits their voice.
Samसम; the first beat: Sam is the first beat of a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle. It is the arrival point where the melody and the drum meet.
Sampoornaसम्पूर्ण; seven-note: Sampoorna means complete. In Indian music, a sampoorna raga, a musical framework, uses all seven notes both going up and coming down.
Samvadiसंवादी; the second note: Samvadi is the second most important note in a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. In Raga Bhoop, Dha is the samvadi and Ga is the vadi, the most important note.
Sangatiசங்கதி; a variation of a line: A sangati is a melodic variation of one line in a Carnatic (South Indian classical) composition. The words stay the same while the tune changes with each repetition, usually becoming more elaborate.
Saptakसप्तक; octave register: A saptak is an octave, spanning seven notes from Sa, one of Indian music’s basic notes, to the next Sa. The three named saptaks are mandra (low), madhya (middle) and taar (high).
Sargamसरगम: Sargam means singing or writing a melody using the note names Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni instead of words. The word comes from the first four names, Sa Re Ga Ma.
Shadavaषाडव; a six-note raga: Shadava means using six of the seven swaras, or notes. It describes a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music, or the notes it uses going up or coming down.
Sherशेर; شعر; plural ashaar: A sher is a pair of lines in a ghazal, a poem of self-contained pairs linked by rhyme and a shared rhythmic pattern. The first line sets up a thought, and the second completes or turns it.
Shrutiश्रुति; also the singer's pitch: In Indian music theory, shruti is the smallest pitch interval, or gap between pitches, that a trained ear can tell apart. In studio and concert talk, shruti means the pitch a singer chooses for Sa, their home note.
Shuddhaशुद्ध; natural: Shuddha means “pure” and describes a note’s natural, unaltered form in Indian music. For example, Raga Bhoop uses only shuddha notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Pa and Dha.
Sthayiस्थायी; the first part of a bandish: Sthayi is the first section of a Hindustani classical composition. It stays mostly in the lower and middle range and serves as the refrain, the part that returns.
Swaraस्वर; also spelled svara: A swara is a musical note in Indian music. The seven basic swaras are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni.
Swarasthanaस्वरस्थान; the position of a note: Swarasthana means the place of a note, one of the twelve pitch positions in an octave. In Carnatic music, these positions help build parent scales; in Hindustani terms, they describe which of twelve keys a note falls on.

T

Taalताल; also tala: A taal is a repeating cycle of a fixed number of beats, grouped into sections with clap and wave markings. It also carries a basic drum pattern called the theka.
Taanतान; a fast run of notes: A taan is a fast, improvised run of notes in Hindustani music, sung to a vowel or the words of a composition. You will hear taans late in khayal, a form of Hindustani singing, after the slow development.
Tablaतबला; the paired drums of North India: Tabla is a pair of hand drums, one smaller and higher-pitched, the other larger with a pitch the player can bend. It provides rhythm for most Hindustani music.
Taliताली; a clapped beat: Tali is a beat marked with a clap when you count a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, by hand. You meet it when learning to count cycles, such as teentaal, which has claps on beats 1, 5 and 13.
Tanpuraतानपूरा; the drone instrument: The tanpura is a long-necked string instrument that provides a drone, a continuous pitch reference beneath the music. Heard behind almost every Indian classical performance, it establishes Sa, the home note the singer tunes to.
Taranaतराना; a song of syllables: A tarana is a Hindustani composition sung to syllables such as “dir dir” and “tanana” rather than words. It is usually fast and often closes a vocal performance, letting the singer show speed and rhythm.
Teentaalतीनताल; the sixteen-beat cycle: Teentaal is the most common taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, in Hindustani classical music. It has sixteen beats in four groups of four, with claps on beats 1, 5 and 13 and a wave on beat 9.
Thaatथाट; Hindustani parent scale: A thaat is a seven-note parent scale used in Hindustani music to classify ragas, the melodic frameworks musicians perform. It is a classification tool, not something performed.
Thekaठेका; the basic drum pattern: Theka is the basic drum pattern played on tabla drums that spells out a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle. It keeps time with one stroke per beat while the melody moves.
Thumriठुमरी; the light classical song of love: Thumri is a light classical vocal form from North India, associated with Lucknow and Banaras. Its songs usually express love and longing in a woman's voice, often addressing Krishna.
Tihaiतिहाई; a phrase played three times to land on sam: A tihai is a rhythmic phrase repeated three times, with its final note on sam, the first beat of a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle. It is the standard way to end an improvisation in Hindustani music, on tabla, sitar or voice.
Tillanaதில்லானா; the Carnatic tarana: A tillana is a fast, rhythmic composition in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, built mostly from syllables such as “tha dhim thaka”. It appears at the end of concerts or dance recitals, with a short passage of words in the charanam, the concluding section.
Tivraतीव्र; raised: Tivra means sharp, the raised form of a note in Indian music. Only Ma has a tivra form, written Ma' on BeatRootRaga pages.

V

Vadiवादी; the most important note: The vadi is the most important note of a raga, a melodic framework in Indian classical music. It is the note a musician rests on and returns to most often.
Vakraवक्र; a crooked or zigzag movement: Vakra means “crooked” in Indian music. It describes a note path that turns back or skips and returns instead of moving straight up or down.
Varnamவர்ணம்; the Carnatic practice piece: A varnam is a compact composition in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music that shows the full range of a raga, a melodic framework. Students learn it after basic exercises, and it often opens a concert.
Vibhagविभाग; section of a cycle: A vibhag is a group of beats within a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle. In teentaal, a 16-beat taal, the beats form four vibhags: 4 + 4 + 4 + 4.
Vikrit swaraविकृत स्वर; a note with two forms: A vikrit swara is a note with an altered form as well as its natural form. You meet these forms in ragas, melodic frameworks shaped by note choices: Yaman uses raised Ma, while Bhairav uses lowered Re and Dha.
Vilambitविलंबित; slow tempo: Vilambit means slow tempo in Hindustani music, relative to madhya (medium) and drut (fast), rather than a fixed number of beats per minute. You will hear it in the opening bada khayal (vocal piece) of a concert, before the same raga (melodic framework) is taken up faster.