Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Gamak
गमक; 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.
By John, Music lover from Bangalore · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 29 Sept 2026
Gamak
Gamak is a forceful swing between a note and a neighbouring note, made by a voice or instrument. It is wider and heavier than vibrato, a wavering of pitch. Listen for the movement around the note, not just the note itself.
In Hindustani music, gamak is one named ornament, or way of shaping a note. In Carnatic music, gamaka is the broader word for ornaments that shape a raga. A raga gives a melody rules for movement, emphasis and phrasing. Almost no Carnatic note is sung plain.
For example, listen for heavy oscillations on the notes Ga and Ni in a Carnatic rendering of Kalyani. That movement helps carry the raga’s identity.
Where gamak appears and what to listen for
In Hindustani music, gamak is one named ornament, or way of shaping a note, among many. Listen for a forceful swing between a note and its neighbour.
In Carnatic music, gamaka has a broader meaning. It covers all the ornaments that shape a raga, a melodic framework with rules for movement, emphasis and phrasing. Almost no note is sung plain.
The same written note can belong to two Carnatic ragas, with only its gamaka telling them apart. The movement matters, not just the note’s name.
Keep going
- Raga vs scale: what Western musicians get wrong · A raga adds rules for movement, emphasis, identifying phrases and ornamentation to a scale or mode, a scale with a home note. Producers lose its identity when they treat it as a note list, ignore its tuning and phrasing, or let changing chords reshape the melody’s meaning.