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Hindustani classical music



 
 
Hindustani Classical Music (Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
: ???????????? ????????? ?????, Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
: ????????? ??????? ?????) is the Hindustani
Hindustani

Hindustani is an adjectival form of Hindustan which originally meant people from the whole geographical region of Indian subcontinent, though latterly it is used mainly to describe a region in northern India, east and south of Yamuna river, between the Vindhya mountains and the Himalayas, where Hindustani language is spoken and is the origin...
 or erstwhile North Indian style of Indian classical music
Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
. Originating in the Vedic period, it is a tradition that has been evolving from the 12th century AD, in what is now northern India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
, and Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, and also Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
, and is today one of the two main parts of Indian classical music
Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
, with the other one being Carnatic music
Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu....
, which represents the music of South India
South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the Union territories of India of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area....
.

tradition was born out of a cultural synthesis from several musical streams: the vedic chant tradition dating back to approximately one millennia BCE, the equally ancient Persian
Persian music

Persian traditional music is the traditional and indigenous music of Persian Empire and Persian language: musiqi, the science and art of music, and moosiqi, the sound and performance of music ....
 tradition of Musiqi-e assil, and also existent folk traditions prevalent in the region.






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Hindustani Classical Music (Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
: ???????????? ????????? ?????, Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
: ????????? ??????? ?????) is the Hindustani
Hindustani

Hindustani is an adjectival form of Hindustan which originally meant people from the whole geographical region of Indian subcontinent, though latterly it is used mainly to describe a region in northern India, east and south of Yamuna river, between the Vindhya mountains and the Himalayas, where Hindustani language is spoken and is the origin...
 or erstwhile North Indian style of Indian classical music
Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
. Originating in the Vedic period, it is a tradition that has been evolving from the 12th century AD, in what is now northern India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
, and Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, and also Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
 and Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
, and is today one of the two main parts of Indian classical music
Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
, with the other one being Carnatic music
Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu....
, which represents the music of South India
South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the Union territories of India of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area....
.

Characteristics

The tradition was born out of a cultural synthesis from several musical streams: the vedic chant tradition dating back to approximately one millennia BCE, the equally ancient Persian
Persian music

Persian traditional music is the traditional and indigenous music of Persian Empire and Persian language: musiqi, the science and art of music, and moosiqi, the sound and performance of music ....
 tradition of Musiqi-e assil, and also existent folk traditions prevalent in the region. The terms North Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet are also occasionally used.

It is traditional for performers who have reached a distinguished level of achievement, to be awarded titles of respect; Hindus are usually referred to as Pandit and Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
s as Ustad. An interesting aspect of Hindustani music going back to sufi times, is the tradition of religious neutrality: Muslim ustads singing Hindu bhajan
Bhajan

A Bhajan is a type of Hindu devotional song, often simple, lyrical and expressing love for the divinity. The music is sometimes based on Indian classical music ragas and Tala s....
s, or vice versa.

Around the 12th century, Hindustani classical music diverged from the principle which eventually came to be identified as Carnatic classical music. The central notions in both these systems is that of a melodic mode
Musical mode

Mode is a term from Western music theory having three senses: the rhythmic relationship between long and short values in the late medieval period; in early medieval theory, Interval ; and, most commonly, a concept involving Musical scale and melody type ....
 or raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
, sung to a rhythmic cycle or tala
Tala

Tala may refer to:* Samoan tala, the monetary unit of Samoa* Tala , a DC Comics supervillainess of the Phantom Stranger* Tala , the goddess of stars in Tagalog mythology...
. The tradition dates back to the ancient Samaveda
Samaveda

The Samaveda , is third of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1000 BC and it ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rigveda....
, (lit. sama=ritual chant), which deals with the norms for chanting of sruti
Sruti

If you are looking for the singer, see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings, see Sruti . is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma and therefore is also influential within Hindu Law....
s or hymns such as the Rig Veda. These principles were refined in the Natyashastra by Bharata
Bharata

Bharata ??? may refer to:*a name of Agni*a name of Rudra*a name of Manu , according to the Vishnu Purana*Bharata , a celebrated hero and monarch of India, first of twelve Cakravartins ...
 (2nd-3d c. CE) and the Dattilam
Dattilam

Dattilam is an ancient Music of India musical text ascribed to the sage Dattila. It is believed to have been composed shortly after the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni, and is usually dated between the 1st and 4th c....
 (probably 3d-4th c. AD).

In medieval times, many of the melodic systems were fused with ideas from Persian music, particularly through the influence of sufi composers like Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro

Ab'ul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusrow , better known as Amir Khusrow Dehlawi , was an Indian musician, scholar and a poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent....
, and later in the Moghul courts. Noted composers such as Tansen
Tansen

Miyan Tansen or Ramtanu Pandey is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab ....
 flourished, along with religious groups like the Vaishnavites. After the 16th century, the singing styles diversified into different gharana
Gharana

In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage and/or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style....
s patronized in different princely courts. Around 1900, Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande

Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was an Indian classical musician who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindusthani Music, an art which had been propogated for a few centuries via oral tradition only, during which span it had undergone several changes which rendered the raag-grammar in ancient texts outdated....
 consolidated the musical structures of Hindustani classical music into a number of thaat
Thaat

A thaat is a musical mode in Hindustani music. Thaats always have seven different pitches and are the basis for the organization and classification of ragas in North Indian classical music....
s. In the 20th century, Hindustani classical music has become popular across the world through the influence of artistes like Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar

Pandit Ravi Shankar is a Bengali people Indian sitar player and composer. He is a disciple of Allauddin Khan, the founder of the Maihar gharana of Hindustani classical music....
, Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is a master of the sarod. His performances worldwide have established the modern sarod idiom and contributed to greater awareness of Indian classical music....
 and many others.

Indian classical music has 7 basic notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni, with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale. Unlike the 12-note scale in Western music, the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and intertonal gaps (temper
Interval (music)

In music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitch of two notes.Intervals may be described as:*vertical if the two notes sound simultaneously...
) may also vary; however, with the gradual replacement of the sarangi
Sarangi

The Sarangi is a bow , short-necked lute of the Indian subcontinent. It is an important bowed string instrument of India's Hindustani classical music tradition....
 by the harmonium
Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ or pipe organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of Free reed aerophone, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion....
, an equal tempered scale is increasingly used. The performance is set to a melodic pattern called a raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
 (also spelled as raag) characterized in part by specific ascent (Arohana
Arohana

Arohana, Arohanam or Arohan, in the context of Hindustani Classical Music and Carnatic Music, is the ascending Musical scale of notes in a raga ....
) and descent (Avarohana) sequences, which may not be identical. Other characteristics include King (Vadi
Vadi (Hindustani classical music)

Vadi, in both Hindustani classical music and Carnatic music, is the dominant swara of a given raga . It does not refer to the most played note but it rather refers to a note of special significance....
) and Queen (Samavadi
Samavadi

In Indian classical music, the second-most prominent note of a raga. This is misleading, as it may not refer to the second-most played note, necessarily....
) notes and characteristic phrases (Pakad
Pakad

In Hindustani music, a pakad is a generally-accepted musical phrase thought to encapsulate the essence of a particular raga. In many cases, the pakad is implied from the convolutions of the arohana and avrohana, while in some cases it must be memorized separately....
). In addition each raga has its natural register (Ambit) and glissando
Glissando

A glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized Musical terminology derived from the French glisser, to glide....
 (Meend
Meend

In Hindustani music meend refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice in both vocal and instrumental music....
) rules, as well as features specific to different styles and compositions within the raga structure. Performances are usually marked by considerable improvisation within these norms.

History


Music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 was first formalized in India in connection with preserving the sruti
Sruti

If you are looking for the singer, see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings, see Sruti . is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma and therefore is also influential within Hindu Law....
 texts, primarily the four vedas, which are seen as apaurasheya (lit. un-created by man). Not only was the text important, but also the manner in which they had been enunciated by the immortals. Prosody and chanting were thus of great importance, and were enshrined in the two vedanga
Vedanga

The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines for the understanding and tradition of the Vedas.#Shiksha : phonetics and phonology #Chandas : Meter ...
s (bodies of knowledge) called Shiksha
Shiksha

Shiksha is one of the six Vedangas, treating the traditional Hindu science of phonetics and phonology of Sanskrit.Its aim is the teaching of the correct pronunciation of the Vedas and mantras....
 (pronunciation, chants) and Chhandas (prosody); these remained a key part of the brahminic educational system till modern times. The formal aspects of the chant are delineated in the Samaveda
Samaveda

The Samaveda , is third of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1000 BC and it ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rigveda....
, with certain aspects, e.g. the relation of chanting to meditation, elaborated in the Chandogya Upanishad
Chandogya Upanishad

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the "primary" Upanishads. Together with the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedas Brahmana period ....
 (ca. 8th c. BC). Priests involved in these ritual chants were called Samans and a number of ancient musical instruments such as the conch
Conch

A conch is one of a number of different species of medium-sized to large saltwater snails or their shells.True conchs are Marine gastropod molluscs in the family Strombidae, and the genus Strombus....
 (shankh), lute (veena
Veena

Veena is a plucked stringed instrument used in Carnatic music. There are several variations of the veena, which in its South Indian form is a member of the lute family....
), flute (bansuri
Bansuri

The bansuri ; is a transverse alto flute of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes....
), trumpets and horns were associated with this and later practices of ritual singing.

Sanskritic Tradition

The Samaveda
Samaveda

The Samaveda , is third of the four Vedas, the ancient core Hindu scriptures. Its earliest parts are believed to date from 1000 BC and it ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rigveda....
 outlined the ritual chants for singing the verses of the Rigveda, particularly for offerings of Soma
Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
. It proposed a tonal structure consisting of seven notes, which were named, in descending order, as Krusht, Pratham, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturth, Mandra and Atiswar. These refer to the notes of a flute, which was the only fixed frequency instrument. This is why the second note is called pratham (lit. first, i.e. note when only first hole is closed).

Music is dealt with extensively in the Valmiki Ramayana; Narada
Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Hindu tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana....
 is an accomplished musician, as is Ravana
Ravana

Ravana, also transliterated as Raavana, Ravan or Raavan, was a mythical king of rakshasas , with great supernatural power, who is said to have ruled Lanka about 6000 years ago....
; Saraswati
Saraswati

Hindus believe that Saraswati is the Devi of knowledge, music and the arts. Saraswati has been identified with the Vedic period Saraswati River....
 with her veena
Veena

Veena is a plucked stringed instrument used in Carnatic music. There are several variations of the veena, which in its South Indian form is a member of the lute family....
 is the goddess of music. Gandharva
Gandharva

In Hinduism In Hinduism, the Gandharvas are male nature spirits, husbands of the Apsaras. Some are part animal, usually a bird or horse. They have superb musical skills....
s are presented as spirits who are musical masters, and the gandharva style looks to music primarily for pleasure, accompanied by the soma
Soma

Soma , or Haoma , from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic civilization and Greater Iran cultures....
 rasa. In the Vishnudharmottara Purana
Vishnudharmottara Purana

The Vishnudharmottara Purana is a Hinduism text dedicated to the arts. It is a Supplement or Appendix to the Vishnu Purana.Part III of the Vishnudharmottara gives an account of the various branches, methods and ideals of Indian painting....
, the Naga king Ashvatara asks to know the svaras from Saraswati.

The most important text on music in the ancient canon is Bharata
Bharata Muni

Bharata was an ancient Indian musicologist who authored the Natya Shastra of Bharata, a theoretical treatise on ancient Indian dramaturgy and histrionics, dated to between roughly 400 BC and 200 BC....
's Natya Shastra
Natya Shastra

The Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing Indian theatre, Indian classical dance and Indian classical music....
, composed around the 3rd c. CE. The Natya Shastra deals with the different modes of music, dance, and drama, and also the emotional responses (rasa
Rasa

Rasa may refer to:* Roosevelt Academy Student Association, Student Association of Liberal Arts Honors College in Middelburg, The Netherlands* Rasa , a concept in the Indian performing arts...
) they are expected to evoke. The scale is described in terms of 22 micro-tones, which can be combined in clusters of 4, 3, or two to form an octave.

While the term raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
 is articulated in the Natya Shastra (where its meaning is more literal, colour, as in the mood), it finds a clearer expression in what is called jati in the Dattilam
Dattilam

Dattilam is an ancient Music of India musical text ascribed to the sage Dattila. It is believed to have been composed shortly after the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni, and is usually dated between the 1st and 4th c....
, a text composed shortly after or around the same time as Natya Shastra. The Dattilam is focused on gandharva music, and discusses scales (swara
Swara

The notes, or swaras, of Indian music are shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam....
), defining a tonal framework called grama in terms of 22 micro-tonal intervals (sruti) comprising one octave. It also discusses various arrangements of the notes (murchhana), the permutations and combinations of note-sequences (tanas), and alankara or elaboration. Dattilam categorizes melodic structure into 18 groups called jati, which are the fundamental melodic structures similar to the raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
. The names of the jatis reflect regional origins, e.g. andhri, oudichya.

Music also finds mention in a number of texts from the Gupta period; Kalidasa
Kalidasa

Kalidasa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the Gupta Empire, probably in the 4th century BC or 5th century or 6th century....
 mentions several kinds of veena (Parivadini, Vipanchi), as well as percussion instruments (Mridang), the flute (Vamshi) and conch (Shankha). Music also finds mention in Buddhist
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 and Jaina texts from the earliest periods of the Christian era.

Narada
Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Hindu tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana....
's Sangita Makarandha treatise circa 1100 CE is the earliest text where rules similar to the current Hindustani classical music can be found. Narada
Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Hindu tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana....
 actually names and classifies the system in its earlier form before the advent of changes as a result of Persian influences. Jayadeva
Jayadeva

Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet, who lived in Orissa, circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort, Radha, and is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism .He was born in an Utkala Brahmin family....
's Gita Govinda
Gita Govinda

The Gita Govinda is a work composed in the 12th century by the great poet Jayadeva, who was the court poet to King Lakshman Sen of Bengal. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha....
 from the 12th century was perhaps the earliest musical composition presently known sung in the classical tradition called Ashtapadi music.

In the 13th century, Sharngadeva composed the Sangita Ratnakara, which has names such as the turushka todi (Turkish todi), revealing an influx of ideas from the Islamic influx. This text is the last to be mentioned by both the Carnatic and the Hindustani traditions, and is often thought to date the divergence between the two.

Medieval Period: Persian influence


The advent of Islamic rule under the Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate refers to the many Muslim countries that ruled in Hindustan from 1206 to 1526. Several Turkic peoples and Pashtun people dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk Sultanate , the Khilji dynasty , the Tughlaq dynasty , the Sayyid dynasty , and the Lodhi dynasty ....
 and later the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a Muslim imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century....
 over northern India caused considerable cultural interchange. Increasingly, musicians received patronage in the courts of the new rulers, who in their turn, started taking increasing interest in local music forms. The initial generations may have been rooted in a cultural traditions outside India, gradually, they adopted many aspects from their kingdoms which retained the traditional Hindu culture. This helped spur the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas to bring forth new forms of musical synthesis like qawwali
Qawwali

Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in areas with a historically strong Muslim presence, such as southern Pakistan, and parts of India....
 and khayal.

The most influential musician from the Delhi Sultanate
Delhi Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate refers to the many Muslim countries that ruled in Hindustan from 1206 to 1526. Several Turkic peoples and Pashtun people dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk Sultanate , the Khilji dynasty , the Tughlaq dynasty , the Sayyid dynasty , and the Lodhi dynasty ....
 period was Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), sometimes called the father of modern Hindustani classical music. A prolific composer in Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
, Turkish
Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern Europe....
, Arabic, as well as Braj Bhasha, he is credited with systematizing many aspects of Hindustani music, and also introducing the ragas Zeelaf and Sarparda. He created the genre of the qawwali
Qawwali

Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in areas with a historically strong Muslim presence, such as southern Pakistan, and parts of India....
, which fuses Persian melody and beat on a dhrupad like structure. A number of instruments (such as the sitar
Sitar

The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument. It uses sympathetic strings along with a long hollow neck and a gourd resonance chamber to produce a very rich sound with complex harmonic resonance....
) were also introduced in his time.

Amir Khusrau is sometimes credited with the origins of the khayal form, but the record of his compositions do not appear to support this. It is possible that the word khayal was a corruption of qawwali, but it is more likely that it has a separate etymology (the Arabic word khyal means mood or capriciousness). The compositions by the court musician Niyamat Khan (Sadarang) in the court of Muhammad Shah
Muhammad Shah

Muhammad Shah also known as Roshan Akhtar was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar Jehan Shah, the 4th son of Bahadur Shah I....
 'Rangiley' bear a closer affinity to the modern khyal, and suggests that while khyal already existed in some form, 'Sadarang' may have been the father of modern day khyal.

Much of the musical forms innovated by these pioneers merged with the Hindu tradition, composed in the popular language of the people (as opposed to Sanskrit) in the work of composers like Kabir
Kabir

Kabir }}...
 or Nanak. This can be seen as part of a larger Bhakti
Bhakti

Bhakti is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning devotion. Within Vaishnavism bhakti is only used in conjunction with Vishnu, Krishna or of the associated avatar, who are the source of attractiveness....
 tradition, (strongly related to the Vaishnavite movement) which remained influential across several centuries; notable figures include Jayadeva
Jayadeva

Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet, who lived in Orissa, circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort, Radha, and is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism .He was born in an Utkala Brahmin family....
 (11th century), Vidyapati
Vidyapati

Vidyapati Thakur , also known by the sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil was a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit writer. He was born in the village of Bishphi in Madhubani district of Bihar state, India....
 (1375 AD), Chandidas
Chandidas

Chandidas refers to medieval poet of Bengal. Over 1250 poems related to the love of Radha and Krishna in Bengali language with the bhanita of Chandidas are found with three different sobriquets along with his name, , Dvija and Dina as well as without any sobriquet also....
 (14th-15th century), and Meerabai (1555-1603 AD).

As the Mughal Empire came into closer contact with Hindus, especially under Jalal ud-Din Akbar, music and dance also flourished. Particularly, the legendary musician Tansen
Tansen

Miyan Tansen or Ramtanu Pandey is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab ....
 is recognized as having introduced a number of innovations, ragas as well as particular compositions. Legend has it that upon his rendition of a night-time raga in the morning, the entire city fell under a hush and clouds gathered in the sky, or that he could light fires by singing raga Deepak, which is supposed to be composed of notes in high octaves.

At the royal house of Gwalior
Gwalior

Gwalior ,, is a city in Madhya Pradesh in India. It lies 76 miles south of Agra and has a population of over 12 lakh . The Gwalior metropolitan area is the 46th most populated area in the country....
, Raja Mansingh Tomar (1486-1516 AD) also participated in the shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom (Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
) as the language for classical songs. He himself penned several volumes of compositions on religious and secular themes, and was also responsible for the major compilation, the Mankutuhal (book of curiosity), which outlined the major forms of music prevalent at the time. In particular, the musical form known as dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
 saw considerable development in his court and remained a strong point of the Gwalior gharana for many centuries.

After the dissolution of the Mughal empire, the patronage of music continued in smaller princely kingdoms like Lucknow
Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous States and territories of India of India. It has a population of 4,875,858. Lucknow is also the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, Patiala
Patiala

Patiala is a city in the Punjab, India state of India. Patiala district is one of the erstwhile princely cities of Punjab. Located in the south-eastern part of the state, it lies between 29?49? and 30?47? north latitude, 75?58? and 76?54' east longitude....
, Banaras, giving rise to the diversity of styles that is today known as gharana
Gharana

In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage and/or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style....
s. Many musician families obtained large grants of land which made them self sufficient, at least for a few generations (e.g. the Sham Chaurasia gharana). Meanwhile the Bhakti
Bhakti

Bhakti is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning devotion. Within Vaishnavism bhakti is only used in conjunction with Vishnu, Krishna or of the associated avatar, who are the source of attractiveness....
 and Sufi traditions continued to develop, and interact with the different gharanas and groups.

Modern era


In the 20th century, the power of the maharajahs and nawab
Nawab

A Nawab or Nawaab was originally the subedar or viceroy of a subah or region of the Mughal empire. It became a high title for Muslim nobles....
s declined, and so did their patronage. With the expulsion of Wajid Ali Shah
Wajid Ali Shah

Wajid Ali Shah was the tenth and last nawab of the princely kingdom of Awadh in present day Uttar Pradesh in India. He ascended the throne of Awadh in 1847 and ruled for nine years....
 to Calcutta after 1857, the Lucknavi musical tradition came to influence the music of renaissance Bengal
Bengal

Bengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast of South Asia. Today it is mainly divided between the independent sovereign nation of the Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Assam, Tripura and Oris...
, giving rise to the tradition of Ragpradhan gan around the turn of the century.

In the early 20th century, Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar

Pundit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was a Hindustani musician....
 emerged as an extremely talented musician and organizer (despite having been blinded at age 12). His books on music, as well as the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya music school that he opened in Lahore
Lahore

is the capital of the Pakistani Subdivisions of Pakistan of Punjab and is the List of most populated metropolitan areas in Pakistan city in Pakistan after Karachi....
 in 1901 helped foster a movement away from the closed gharana system.

Paluskar's contemporary (and occasional rival) 'Chaturpandit' Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande

Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande was an Indian classical musician who wrote the first modern treatise on Hindusthani Music, an art which had been propogated for a few centuries via oral tradition only, during which span it had undergone several changes which rendered the raag-grammar in ancient texts outdated....
 recognized the many rifts that had appeared in the structure of Indian classical music. He undertook extensive research visits to a large number of gharanas, Hindustani as well as Carnatic, collecting and comparing compositions. Between 1909 and 1932, he brought out the monumental Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi (4 vols), which suggested a transcription for Indian music and described the many traditions in this notation. Finally, it consolidated the many musical forms of Hindustani Classical music into a number of thaat
Thaat

A thaat is a musical mode in Hindustani music. Thaats always have seven different pitches and are the basis for the organization and classification of ragas in North Indian classical music....
s, a system that had been proposed in the Carnatic tradition in the 17th century. The ragas as we know them today were consolidated in this landmark work, although there are some inconsistencies and ambiguities in Bhatkande's system.

In modern times, the government-run All India Radio
All India Radio

File:AIR FM Tower Mangalore 0203.jpgAll India Radio , officially known as Akashvani is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati , an autonomous corporation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India....
, Bangladesh Betar
Bangladesh Betar

Bangladesh Betar is the state-owned radio broadcasting organisation of Bangladesh. It was also known as Radio Bangladesh between 1975 and 1996....
 and Radio Pakistan
Radio Pakistan

Radio Pakistan is the official international broadcasting station of Pakistan.Radio Pakistan was able to start its external services on regular basis on 1949....
 helped to bring the artists in front of the public, countering the loss of the patronage system. The first star was Gauhar Jan, whose career was born out of Fred Gaisberg
Fred Gaisberg

Frederick William Gaisberg was the among the first classical producers for the phonograph. He himself did not use the term ?producer? and was not an impresario like his prot?g? Walter Legge of EMI or an innovator like John Culshaw of Decca Records....
's first recordings of Indian music in 1902. With the advance of films and other public media, musicians started to make their living through public performances. With exposure to Western music, some of these melodies also started merging with classical forms, especially in the stream of popular music. A number of Gurukul
Gurukul

A Gurukul is a type of ancient Hindu school in India that is residential in nature with the shishyas or students and the guru or teacher living in proximity, many a time within the same house....
s, such as that of Alauddin Khan at Maihar
Maihar

Maihar is a city and a municipality in Satna district in the Indian States and territories of India of Madhya Pradesh. Maihar is known for the temple of revered mother goddess Saraswati situated on Trikuta hill of Maihar....
, flourished. In more modern times, corporate support has also been forthcoming (e.g. the ITC Sangeet Research Academy).

Principles of Hindustani music

The rhythmic organization is based on rhythmic patterns called Taal
Tala (music)

In Indian classical music, Tala , literally a "clap," is a rhythmical pattern that determines the rhythmical structure of a composition. It plays a similar role to metre in Western music, but is structurally different from the concept of metre....
. The melodic foundations are "melodic modes", or "Parent Scales", known as Thaat
Thaat

A thaat is a musical mode in Hindustani music. Thaats always have seven different pitches and are the basis for the organization and classification of ragas in North Indian classical music....
s, under which most raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
s can be classified based on the notes they use.

Thaats - and so Ragas - may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swara
Swara

The notes, or swaras, of Indian music are shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam....
. Hindustani musicians name these pitches using a system called Sargam, the equivalent of Western movable do solfege
Solfege

In music, solf?ge is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solf?ge syllable ....
:
  • Sa (Shadaj) = Do
  • Re (Rishab) = Re
  • Ga (Gandhar) = Mi
  • Ma (Madhyam) = Fa
  • Pa (Pancham) = So
  • Dha (Dhaiwat) = La
  • Ni (Nishad) = Ti
  • Sa (Shadaj) = Do


Both systems repeat at the octave. The difference between sargam and solfege is that re, ga, ma, dha, and ni can refer to either "Pure" (Shuddha) or altered "Flat" (Komal) or "Sharp" (Tivra) versions of their respective scale degrees. As with movable do solfege, the notes are heard relative to an arbitrary tonic that varies from performance to performance, rather than to fixed frequencies, as on a xylophone.

The fine intonational differences between different instances of the same swara are sometimes called sruti
Sruti (music)

The sruti is the smallest interval of the tuning system in Indian classical music, contrary to the 12 semitones in conventional Western scales....
. The three primary registers of Indian classical music are Mandra, Madhya and Tara. Since the octave location is not fixed, it is also possible to use provenances in mid-register (such as Mandra-Madhya or Madhya-Tara) for certain ragas. A typical rendition of Hindustani raga involves two stages:

  • Alap: a rhythmically free improvisation on the rules for the raga in order to give life to the raga and shape out its characteristics. The alap is followed by the jod and jhala in instrumental music.


  • Bandish or Gat
    GAT

    The word Gat can refer to:*In Israel**Gath , an ancient Philistine city mentioned in the Bible**Gat , a kibbutz in modern Israel** Kiryat Gat, a city in modern Israel...
    : a fixed, melodic composition set in a specific raga, performed with rhythmic accompaniment by a tabla or pakhavaj. There are different ways of systematizing the parts of a composition. For example:
    • Sthaayi: The initial, Rondo
      Rondo

      Rondo, and its French language equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that is distinct from the form....
       phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
    • Antara
      Antara

      Antara is the equivalent of a Verse in Hindustani classical music.In Hindustani classical music, the fixed section is in four parts of which only the first two are performed regularly: Sthayi - the first line of the Sthayi serves as a Cadence , while the section itself serves as a base for the singer returns to the Sthayi time and again...
      : The first body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition.
    • Sanchaari: The third body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes
      Dhrupad

      Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
    • Aabhog: The fourth and concluding body phrase or line of a fixed, melodic composition, seen more typically in Dhrupad Bandishes
      Dhrupad

      Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
      .
      There are three variations of Bandish, regarding tempo:
    • Vilambit
      Vilambit

      Vilambit is an introductory slow tempo, or laya, used in the performance of a vocal raga in Hindustani classical music....
       Bandish
      : A slow and steady melodic composition, usually in Largo to Adagio speeds.
    • Madhyalaya Bandish: A medium tempo melodic competition, usually set in Andante to Allegretto speeds.
    • Drut
      Drut

      Drut is the concluding section, in fast tempo , of the performance of a vocal raga in Hindustani classical music....
       Bandish
      : A fast tempo melodic composition, usually set to Allegretto speed, and onwards.


Vocal music

Hindustani classical music is primarily vocal-centric, insofar as the musical forms were designed primarily for vocal performance, and many instruments were designed and evaluated as to how well they emulate the human voice.

Types of compositions

The major vocal forms-cum-styles associated with Hindustani classical music are Dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
, Khayal, and Tarana
Tarana

Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical music vocal music in which certain words and syllables are used in a medium-paced or fast rendition....
. Other forms include Dhamar
Dhamar

Dhamar can refer to:*Dhamar , an Indian style of music*Dhamar Governorate in Yemen*Dhamar, Yemen - city in Yemen...
, Trivat, Chaiti, Kajari
Kajari

Kajari , derived from the Hindi word Kajra, or Kohl , is a genre of Hindustani classical music singing, popular in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ....
, Tappa, Tap-Khayal, Ashtapadis
Ashtapadis

Ashtapadis or Ashtapadi rhymns are regular compositions of music in India where there are eight lines within the composition. Each song of Ashtapadi is set in a special raga and tala....
, Thumri
Thumri

Thumri is a common genre of semi-Hindustani classical music Music of India.The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna....
, Dadra
Dadra

Dadra refers to two separate but originally linked concepts in Hindustani classical music....
, Ghazal
Ghazal

In poetry, the ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter. The Arabic word "ghazal" is pronounced roughly like the English word "guzzle", but with the first, g-like consonant further back in the throat....
 and Bhajan
Bhajan

A Bhajan is a type of Hindu devotional song, often simple, lyrical and expressing love for the divinity. The music is sometimes based on Indian classical music ragas and Tala s....
. Of these, some forms fall within the crossover to folk or Semi-Classical or Light Classical music, as they often do not adhere to the rigorous rules and regulations of 'pure' Classical Music.

Dhrupad

Dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
 is a yet older style of singing, traditionally performed by male singers. It is performed with a tanpura and a Pakhawaj
Pakhavaj

The Pakhavaj, also called Mardal, Pakhawaj, Pakuaj, Pakhvaj or Mardala, is an Indian barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, the North Indian equivalent to the Southern mridangam....
 as instrumental accompaniments. The lyrics, which sometimes were in Sanskrit centuries ago, are presently often sung in Brajbhasha, a medieval form of Hindi that was spoken in the Mathura area. The Rudra Veena
Rudra veena

The rudra veena is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music. It is an ancient instrument rarely played today. The rudra veena declined in popularity in part due to the introduction of the surbahar in the early 19th century which allowed sitarists to more easily present the alap sections of slow dhrupad-style rag...
, an ancient string instrument, is used in instrumental music in the style of Dhrupad.

Dhrupad music is primarily devotional in theme and content. It contains recitals in praise of particular deities. Dhrupad compositions begin with a relatively long and acyclic Alap, where the syllables of the following mantra is recited:

"Om Anant tam Taran Tarini Twam Hari Om Narayan, Anant Hari Om Narayan".
The alap gradually unfolds into more rhythmic Jod and Jhala sections. This is followed by a rendition of Bandish, with the pakhawaj as an accompaniment. The greatest of Indian musicians, Tansen
Tansen

Miyan Tansen or Ramtanu Pandey is considered among the greatest composer-musicians in Hindustani classical music. He was an extraordinarily gifted vocalist, known for a large number of compositions, and also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved the rabab ....
 sung in the Dhrupad style. A lighter form of Dhrupad, called Dhamar
Dhamar

Dhamar can refer to:*Dhamar , an Indian style of music*Dhamar Governorate in Yemen*Dhamar, Yemen - city in Yemen...
, is sung primarily during the festival of Holi
Holi

Holi , also called the Festival of Colours, is a popular Hinduism spring festival observed in India, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, United Kingdom and Nepal....
.

Dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
 was the main form of northern Indian classical music until two centuries ago, but has since then given way to the somewhat less austere, khyal
Khyal

Khyal is the modern genre of Hindustani classical music in North India. Its name comes from an Arabic language word meaning "imagination". It appeared more recently than dhrupad....
, a more free-form style of singing. Since losing its main patrons among the royalty in Indian princely states, Dhrupad ran the risk of becoming extinct in the first half of the twentieth century. Fortunately, the efforts by a few proponents from the Dagar family have led to its revival and eventual popularization in India and in the West.

Some of the best known vocalists who sing in the Dhrupad style are the members of the Dagar lineage, including the late Senior Dagar brothers, i.e. Us. Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Us. Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, the late Junior Dagar brothers, i.e. Us. Nasir Zahiruddin and Us. Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, Us. Wasifuddin Dagar
Wasifuddin Dagar

Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar is considered to be one of the foremost Dhrupad singers in India today. He represents the 20th unbroken generation of dhrupad singers in the Dagar family....
, Us. Fariduddin Dagar, Us. Sayeeduddin Dagar. Other leading exponents include the Gundecha Brothers
Gundecha Brothers

Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha, known as the Gundecha Brothers, are leading Dagarvani dhrupad singers, taught by Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Zia Mohiuddin Dagar....
 (i.e. Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha), Dr. Ritwik Sanyal
Ritwik Sanyal

Prof. Ritwik Sanyal is one of the virtuosos of the north Indian vocal classical style, Dhrupad and a professor and head of the Department of Vocal Music in the faculty of performing arts at Banaras Hindu University....
 and Pt. Uday Bhawalkar, who have received training from some of the Dagars. Leading vocalists outside the Dagar lineage include the Mallik family.

Khayal
Khayal is a form of vocal music
Vocal music

Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without musical instruments accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece....
 in Hindustani music, adopted from medieval Persian music and based on Dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
 music. Khayal, literally meaning "Thought" in Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
/Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
 originally from Arabic, Khyal, is special as it is based on improvising and expressing emotion. A Khayal is a 4 to 8 lined lyric set to tune. The lyric is of an emotional account possibly from poetic observation. Khayals are also more popularly depicting emotional significance between two lovers, a situation evoking intense feeling, or situations of ethological significance in Hinduism and Islam.

Th importance of the Khayal's content is for the singer to depict, through music in the set raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
, the emotional significance of the Khayal. The singer improvises and finds inspiration within the raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
 to depict the Khayal.

The origination of Khayal is controversial, yet it is accepted that this style was based on Dhrupad
Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani classical music musical tradition in India. Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung....
 gayaki
Gayaki

Gayaki is a style of presenting Hindustani classical music.There are different gharanas in Indian classical music tradition. Each gharana has different style of presenting the musical compositions....
 and influenced by Persian music. Many argue that Amir Khusrau created the style in the late 16th century. This form was popularized by Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah, through his court musicians. Some well-known composers of this period were Sadarang
Sadarang

Sadarang was the pen name of the Hindustani music musical composer and artist Niyamat Khan. Sadarang was active in the eighteenth century....
, Adarang, and Manarang.

"Kaisku Marwa Jaayal Hamaraa More darawa nayan ghar kan warahe, Mohammad Shah ke Sadarangile, Prem Piya la Chapate Apne, Huntara Tana Mana Waarune" - Mohammad Shah This Khayal bandish in raga
Raga

Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
 Bibhas
Bibhas

Bibhas is a Hindustani classical music raga....
 was popularized by D.V. Paluskar. It is interesting how this bandish mentions three names -- Mohammad Shah, Sadarang, and Prem Piya.

Later performers include D. V. Paluskar, Amir Khan
Amir Khan

Amir Khan may refer to:*Ustad Amir Khan, an Indian classical vocalist*Amir Khan , a British boxer*Aamir Khan, an Indian film actor, director and producer...
, Faiyaz Khan
Faiyaz Khan

Ustad Faiyaz Khan is the most well known exponent of Agra Gharana in Hindustani classical music. He was the master khayal vocalist of his time....
, Vinayak Rao Patwardhan, Pt. Shankar Rao Vyas, Pt.Narain Rao Vyas, Ut.Nazakat Ali And Ut. Salamat Ali Khan, Pt.Eknath Sarolkar, Pt.Kashinath Pant Marathe, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar
Mogubai Kurdikar

Mogubai Kurdikar was a renowned Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana ....
, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Pt. Gajananrao Joshi, Pt. Ram Marathe, Pt. Ratnakar Pai, Pt. Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. A. Kanan, Pt. Basavaraj Rajaguru and Mallikarjun Mansur
Mallikarjun Mansur

Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur was one of the greatest artists of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana of Hindustani music Khayal singing.Pt. Mansur's early training was under Nilkanthbuwa of Miraj who belonged to the Gwalior Gharana....
.

Some of the present day vocalists are Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan

Ustad Rashid Khan is an Indian classical musician in the North Indian Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana, and is the great grandson of Gharana founder Ustad Inayat Hussain....
, Pandit Jasraj
Pandit Jasraj

Pandit Jasraj is a famous Indian classical music vocalist, and the foremost exponent of the Mewati Gharana in Hindustani classical music....
, Bhimsen Joshi
Bhimsen Joshi

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi is one of India's renowned vocalists in the Hindustani classical music tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana , he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music ....
, Gangubai Hangal
Gangubai Hangal

Gangubai Hangal is one of the greats of the Hindustani classical music. She is a vocalist and an exponent of the Kirana Gharana . She learnt her music under the tutelage of Sawai Gandharva....
, Pt. Yeshwantbua Joshi, Girija Devi
Girija Devi

Girija Devi is an Indian singer and represents the Banaras Gharana of singers. She is adept at different genres of Hindustani classical music vocal music including Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti and Kajari, but she excels in the Poorab ang Thumri....
, Kishori Amonkar
Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar is a noted Indian classical vocalist. She sings khyal in the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana style....
, Satyasheel Deshpande
Satyasheel Deshpande

Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande is an Hindustani classical music who specializes in singing khyal. He is a prominent disciple of Pt. Kumar Gandharva and the son of musicologist Vamanrao Deshpande....
, Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan
Ustad Iqbal Ahmad Khan

Born and brought up in the musical environs of Delhi Gharana of music, Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan is an active promoter of Hazrat Amir Khusro?s tradition of Indian music....
, Dr. Ishwarchandra Karkare,Dr. Rajshekhar Mansur, Pt Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Arun Bhaduri, Malini Rajurkar
Malini Rajurkar

Malini Rajurkar is a leading Hindustani classical singer.Malinibai grew up in Rajasthan where she was initiated into music. She married into a musical family and her husband Vasantrao became her long-time guru....
, Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, Prabakar Karekar, Alka Deo Marulkar, Aslam Khan, Sanjeev Abhyankar
Sanjeev Abhyankar

Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar is a Hindustani classical music vocalist of the Mewati Gharana .He won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1999, for his song, Suno Re Bhaila" in Hindi film Godmother ...
, Shruti Sadolikar
Shruti Sadolikar

Shruti Sadolikar is a classical music singer of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana of Hindustani classical music in India .Shruti hails from Maharashtra....
, Ashwini Bhide, Padma Talwalker, Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, Maya Motegaonkar, Chandrashekar Swami, Pt. Venkatesh Kumar, Mashkoor Ali Khan,Vidushi Subhra Guha,Pt. Parameshwar Hegde, Indrani Choudhury, Pandit Ganapathi Bhatt
Ganapathi Bhatt

Pandit Ganapati Bhat is an Indian Hindustani classical music vocalist. He lives and works in Hasanagi, a small village in the state of Karnataka in India....
, Pt.Madhav Gudi, Bhawani Angiras, Smt. Shashwati Mandal Paul, Pandit Nagaraj Havaldar, Pt. Somanath Mardoor, Pt.Panchakshariswamy Mattigatti, Pt. Shivanand Patil, Raghunandan Panshikar, Sandipan Samajpati, Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar, and Sanjeev Chimmalgi
Sanjeev Chimmalgi

Sanjeev Chimmalgi is a Hindustani classical music and a leading disciple of the master composer, musician and revered guru, the Padmabhushan Late ....
.

Tappa
Tappa is a form of Indian classical vocal music whose specialty is its rolling pace based on fast, subtle, knotty construction. The arrangement of words, with the help of tone vibrations performed in an exquisite vocal style, create a charming atmosphere. It originated from the folk songs of the camel riders of Punjab and developed as a form of classical music by Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori or Shori Mian (1742 - 1792), a court singer of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah
Asaf-Ud-Dowlah

Asaf-Ud-Dowlah was the nawab wazir of Oudh from 1775 to 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah, his mother and grandmother being the begums of Oudh, whose spoliation formed one of the chief counts in the charges against Warren Hastings....
, Nawab of Awadh
Nawab of Awadh

The Nawab of Awadh is the title of rulers who governed the state of Awadh in India in the 18th and 19th century.During the 139 years of Awadh reign following rulers ruled:...
. Among the prominent living performers of this style are Pt. Laxmanrao Kr. Pandit of Gwalior, Shamma Khurana, Pt. Manvalkar of Gwalior, Smt. Girija Devi
Girija Devi

Girija Devi is an Indian singer and represents the Banaras Gharana of singers. She is adept at different genres of Hindustani classical music vocal music including Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti and Kajari, but she excels in the Poorab ang Thumri....
 of Benaras, Dr. Ishwarchandra R. Karkare of Gwalior, Pt. Jayant Khot of Gwalior.

Tarana
Another vocal form, Tarana
Tarana

Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical music vocal music in which certain words and syllables are used in a medium-paced or fast rendition....
 are medium-to-fast paced songs that are used to convey a mood of elation and are usually performed towards the end of a concert. They consist of a few lines of poetry with rhythmic syllables or bols
Bol (music)

A bol, is a Mnemonic#Music syllable. It is used in Indian music to define the Tala , or rhythmic pattern, and is one of the most important parts of Indian rhythm....
 set to a tune. The singer uses these few lines as a basis for fast improvisation. In some sense the tarana can be compared to the Tillana of Carnatic music
Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu....
, although the latter is primarily associated with dance.

Thumri
Thumri
Thumri

Thumri is a common genre of semi-Hindustani classical music Music of India.The text is romantic or devotional in nature, and usually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna....
 is a semiclassical vocal form said to have begun with the court of Nawab
Nawab

A Nawab or Nawaab was originally the subedar or viceroy of a subah or region of the Mughal empire. It became a high title for Muslim nobles....
 Wajid Ali Shah
Wajid Ali Shah

Wajid Ali Shah was the tenth and last nawab of the princely kingdom of Awadh in present day Uttar Pradesh in India. He ascended the throne of Awadh in 1847 and ruled for nine years....
, 1847-1856. There are three types of thumri: Punjabi, Lucknavi and poorab ang thumri. The lyrics are typically in a proto-Hindi
Hindi

Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a Standard language register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English language, for administration of the central government....
 language called Braj bhasha and are usually romantic.

Some prominent recent performers of this genre are Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Barkat Ali Khan, Girija Devi
Girija Devi

Girija Devi is an Indian singer and represents the Banaras Gharana of singers. She is adept at different genres of Hindustani classical music vocal music including Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti and Kajari, but she excels in the Poorab ang Thumri....
, Siddheshwari Devi
Siddheshwari Devi

Siddheshwari Devi was a famous Hindustani singer from Varanasi, India lovingly known as Maa . Born in 1907, she lost her parents early and was brought up by her aunt, the noted singer Rajeshwari Devi....
, Begum Akhtar
Begum Akhtar

Begum Akhtar or Akhtari Bai Faizabadi was a Indian vocalist of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri.Her first public performance was at the age of fifteen....
, Shobha Gurtu
Shobha Gurtu

Shobha Gurtu was one of India's most famous singers in the light Hindustani classical music style. Though she had equal command over pure classical style, it was with light classical music that she received her fame, and in time came to be known as the Thumri Queen , and for the ?Abhinaya? ang in her full-throated voice ...
 and Pandit Channulal Mishra
Pandit Channulal Mishra

Pandit Channulal Mishra is a famous Hindustani classical music singer from Banaras, a noted expotent of the Kirana gharana of the Hindustani classical music and especially the Khayal and the 'Purab Ang' - Thumri....
.

Ghazal
Ghazal
Ghazal

In poetry, the ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter. The Arabic word "ghazal" is pronounced roughly like the English word "guzzle", but with the first, g-like consonant further back in the throat....
 is an originally Persian form of poetry. In the Indian sub-continent, Ghazal became the most common form of poetry in the Urdu language and was popularized by classical poets like Mir Taqi Mir
Mir Taqi Mir

Khuda-e-Sukhan Mir Taqi Mir , whose original name was Mohammed Taqi and Pen name was Mir , was the leading Urdu poetry of the eighteenth century, and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu language itself....
, Ghalib, Zauq and Sauda
Sauda

is a municipalities of Norway and industrial town in Rogaland Counties of Norway, Norway. It is part of the traditional districts of Norway of Ryfylke....
 amongst the North Indian literary elite. Vocal music set to this mode of poetry is popular with multiple variations across Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
, Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
 and Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. Ghazal exists in multiple variations, including folk
Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
 and pop
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
 forms.

Instrumental music

Although Hindustani music clearly is focused on the vocal performance, instrumental forms have existed since ancient times. In fact, in recent decades, especially outside South Asia, instrumental Hindustani music is more popular than vocal music, perhaps because the lyrics in the latter are not comprehensible due to unfamiliarity with the language. Still, complexity of Indian classical music could not be expressed in writing. Though some western scholars did record compositions in Staff notation system, Indian musicians used the Bhatkhande system. Though more accurate, this relies on Devanagari script rather than symbols and hence is cumbersome at times. A new notation system has been proposed which uses symbols and offers instantaneous comprehension like Staff notation system.

A number of musical instruments are associated with Hindustani classical music. The veena
Veena

Veena is a plucked stringed instrument used in Carnatic music. There are several variations of the veena, which in its South Indian form is a member of the lute family....
, a string instrument, was traditionally regarded as the most important, but few play it today and it has largely been superseded by its cousins the sitar
Sitar

The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument. It uses sympathetic strings along with a long hollow neck and a gourd resonance chamber to produce a very rich sound with complex harmonic resonance....
 and the sarod
Sarod

The sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in Hindustani classical music....
, both of which owe their origin to Persian influences. Other plucked/struck string instruments include the surbahar
Surbahar

The Surbahar is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of North India. It is related to the better-known sitar but has a lower tone....
, sursringar
Surasingar

The sursingar is a rare musical instrument played in Northern India. It is a lute-derived Sarod, except it is larger in size and produces a deeper sound....
, santoor
Santoor

The santoor is an Indian stringed musical instrument, believed to be derived from the Persian santur. It is also related to the Indian shata-tantri veena of earlier times....
, and various versions of the slide guitar
Slide guitar

Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide is in reference to the sliding motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides, which were the necks of glass bottles....
. Among bowed instruments, the sarangi
Sarangi

The Sarangi is a bow , short-necked lute of the Indian subcontinent. It is an important bowed string instrument of India's Hindustani classical music tradition....
, esraj
Esraj

The esraj is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old....
 (or dilruba
Dilruba

Dilruba may refer to:*Esraj*Dilruba a 1950 Hindi film...
) and violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
 are popular. The bansuri
Bansuri

The bansuri ; is a transverse alto flute of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes....
 (bamboo flute), shehnai
Shehnai

For the movie refer to Shehnai The Shehnai is an aerophonic instrument which is thought to bring good luck, and as a result, is widely used in India for marriages and processions....
, harmonium
Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ or pipe organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of Free reed aerophone, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion....
, and samvadini are important wind instruments. In the percussion ensemble, the tabla
Tabla

The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music....
 and the pakhavaj
Pakhavaj

The Pakhavaj, also called Mardal, Pakhawaj, Pakuaj, Pakhvaj or Mardala, is an Indian barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, the North Indian equivalent to the Southern mridangam....
 are the most popular. Various other instruments (including the Bulbul tarang
Bulbul tarang

A bulbul tarang is a string instrument from India and Pakistan. Its name literally means "waves of nightingales".The instrument employs two sets of strings, one set for drone, and one for melody....
 and the piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
) have also been used in varying degrees.

Some representative performers (these lists are by no means comprehensive nor are intended to be):
  • Veena: Dabir Khann, Birendra Kishore Roy Chowdhury, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Bahauddin Dagar, Asad Ali Khan, Suvir Misra, Jeff Lewis


  • Vichitra Veena: Dr. Lalmani Misra
    Lalmani Misra

    Dr. Lalmani Misra , M.A., Ph.D., D. Mus. , M.Mus. , B.Mus. , Dean & Head, Facutly of Music and Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, was an eminent Indian classical musician known as much for his art as for his scholarship....
    , Pt. Gopal Krishna, Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra
    Gopal Shankar Misra

    Dr. Gopal Shankar Misra is an Indian musician and music teacher. He is well remembered for a cryptic comment in a television interview when he remarked that of the 1,000,000,000 Indians, he was the only one to play and teach the vichitra veena....
    , Radhika Budhkar


  • Sitar: Imdad Khan
    Imdad Khan

    Ustad Imdad Khan was one of the greatest sitar and surbahar players of all time. His two sons Enayat Khan and Wahid Khan, his grandsons Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan, and great-grandsons Shahid Parvez, Shujaat Khan, Nishat Khan, Irshad Khan have all upheld his musical tradition, musical luminaries themselves....
    , Enayet Khan, Wahid Khan
    Wahid Khan

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
    , Mushtaq Ali Khan
    Mushtaq Ali Khan

    Ustad Mushtaq Ali Khan was born in Banaras and an Indian Sitar, Surbahar player. His father Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan was a renowned Sitar player. His musical ancestor tree includes Masit Sen, the originator of Masitkhani Baaj ....
    , Pandit Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan
    Vilayat Khan

    Ustad Vilayat Khan was one of India's well known sitar maestros, born in Gauripur in Mymensingh District, Bengal . He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75....
    , Nikhil Banerjee
    Nikhil Banerjee

    Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was one of India's most prominent sitar masters of the 20th century....
    , Shujaat Khan, Manilal Nag, Purnendu Shekhar Sengupta (Kanu Babu), Rais Khan, Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Imrat Khan
    Imrat Khan

    Imrat Khan is a leading sitar and surbahar player. He is considered India's leading publicly active surbahar player. He is the younger brother of sitar player Vilayat Khan....
    , Shahid Parvez
    Shahid Parvez

    Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is a Sitar of Hindustani Classical Music from Pune, India.He is privileged with both belonging to an illustrious musical family, and for achieving success in not only preserving the tradition but in pushing its boundaries to even greater heights of aesthetic beauty....
    , Indranil Bhattacharya, Santosh Banerjee, Kalyani Roy, Budhaditya Mukherjee
    Budhaditya Mukherjee

    Budhaditya Mukherjee is a Hindustani music classical sitar and surbahar player of the Imdadkhani Gharana .He was taught by his father Bimalendu Mukherjee from the age of 5, and started making a name for himself at a young age....
    , Sanjoy Bandopadhyay
    Sanjoy Bandopadhyay

    Sanjoy Bandopadhyay is a Bengali people Hindustani music classical sitar player. He is a disciple of Radhika Mohan Maitra....
    , Kartik Seshadri
    Kartik Seshadri

    Kartik Seshadri is a leading sitarist, composer and teacher. He was noted as a child prodigy in India. He began studying under Ravi Shankar in 1974....


  • Sarod: Allauddin Khan
    Allauddin Khan

    Allauddin Khan , was a Bengali people sarod player and multi-instrumentalist and one of the greatest music teachers of the 20th Century, father of Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi and guru to Ravi Shankar , Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Pannalal Ghosh, and other influential musicians....
    , Brij Narayan, Hafiz Ali Khan
    Hafiz Ali Khan

    Hafiz Ali Khan was an iconoclast figure in twentieth-century sarod music. A fifth-generation descendant of the famous Bangash Gharana of sarod players, Hafiz Ali was known for the lyrical beauty of his music and the crystal-clear tone of his strokes....
    , Radhika Mohan Moitra, Timir Baran, Ali Akbar Khan
    Ali Akbar Khan

    Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is a master of the sarod. His performances worldwide have established the modern sarod idiom and contributed to greater awareness of Indian classical music....
    , Jatin Bhattacharya, Buddhadev Das Gupta
    Buddhadev Das Gupta

    Buddhadev Das Gupta - Indian classical sarod musician and teacher currently residing in Kolkata, India. He is one of the artists featured in Nimbus Records's Raga Guide...
    , Vasant Rai
    Vasant Rai

    Vasant Rai was one of world's most acclaimed performers of Indian music and virtuoso of the Indo/Persian/Afghani instrument Sarod....
    , Sharan Rani, Dhyanesh Khan, Aashish Khan
    Aashish Khan

    Aashish Khan Debsharma is an eminent Indian classical musician, known for his virtuosity on the Sarode. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode"....
    , Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Partho Sarodi, Mukesh Sharma,


  • Surbahar: Imdad Khan
    Imdad Khan

    Ustad Imdad Khan was one of the greatest sitar and surbahar players of all time. His two sons Enayat Khan and Wahid Khan, his grandsons Vilayat Khan and Imrat Khan, and great-grandsons Shahid Parvez, Shujaat Khan, Nishat Khan, Irshad Khan have all upheld his musical tradition, musical luminaries themselves....
    , Wahid Khan
    Wahid Khan

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
    , Enayet Khan, Annapurna Devi
    Annapurna Devi

    Annapurna Devi is a reclusive Surbahar maestro of Indian Classical Music....
    , Imrat Khan
    Imrat Khan

    Imrat Khan is a leading sitar and surbahar player. He is considered India's leading publicly active surbahar player. He is the younger brother of sitar player Vilayat Khan....


  • Shehnai: Bismillah Khan
    Bismillah Khan

    Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib was a shehnai maestro from India. The term Ustad or Pandit in relation to Indian classical music means Master or Guru....
    , Ali Ahmed Khan


  • Bansuri: Pannalal Ghosh
    Pannalal Ghosh

    Pannalal Ghosh , also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was a Bengali people Indian flute player and composer....
    , Nityanand Haldipur
    Nityanand Haldipur

    Nityanand Haldipur is a performer and teacher of the Indian bamboo flute, known in India as the bansuri. He is a purist in the true Maihar Gharana tradition, at present learning from Ma Annapurna Devi, in Mumbai, India....
    , Hariprasad Chaurasia
    Hariprasad Chaurasia

    Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the Hindustani classical music bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music....
    , Raghunath Seth, Bari Siddiqui
    Bari Siddiqui

    Bari Siddiqui is a classical flautist, who created his own genre of folk fusion by fusing Hindustani classical music with Baul music. He lives and works from Dhaka, Bangladesh....
    , Pravin Godkhindi
    Pravin Godkhindi

    Pravin Godkhindi References...


  • Santoor: Shivkumar Sharma
    Shivkumar Sharma

    Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is an Indian classical musician of Hindustani classical music tradition. He is a master of the santoor, which used to be only a folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir....
    , Tarun Bhattachrya, Bhajan Sopori, Omprakash Chaurasiya


  • Sarangi: Ram Narayan
    Ram Narayan

    Ram Narayan is an India sarangi player. Narayan was educated in music from an early age and became a master at the age of thirty. He is credited with popularizing the sarangi as a solo instrument to the extend that his name was described as "synonymous with the sarangi."...
    , Bundu Khan, Ustad Sultan Khan
    Ustad Sultan Khan

    Ustad Sultan Khan is a renowned Indian sarangi player and singer, specializing in the Hindustani music. He is known for his melodic control and capabilities....
    , Abdul Latif Khan


  • Esraj: Ashesh Bandopadhyay, Ranadhir Roy


  • Violin: Parur Sundaram Iyer, V. G. Jog
    V. G. Jog

    Pandit Vishnu Govind Jog, better known as V. G. Jog , was an Indian violinist. He was the foremost exponent of the violin in the Hindustani music tradition in the 20th century, and is credited for introducing this instrument into Hindustani music....
    , Gajananrao Joshi
    Gajananrao Joshi

    Gajanan Anant Joshi was a vocalist and violin player in Hindustani Music. He was an exceptionally gifted musician and teacher. He had consummate command over layakari whether he was singing a bada khayal in Jhaptal or Jhumra or Tilwada or Teentaal....
    , N. Rajam, Allaudin Khan, L. Shankar
    L. Shankar

    Lakshminarayanan Shankar , also known as L. Shankar, Shankar or Shenkar, is a Tamil people Indian violinist, vocalist and composer....
    , L. Subramaniam
    L. Subramaniam

    Dr.Lakshminarayana Subramaniam is an acclaimed Indian violinist, composer and Conductor , trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music, and renowned for his virtuoso playing techniques and compositions in orchestral fusion....
    , D.H.Joglekar
    D.H.Joglekar

    Shri. D.H.Joglekar was born in Pune .He was a prominent violinist who has to his credit the introduction of a new way of tuning the violin which did not require the violinists to tune their violin to match the base note of any singer....


  • Harmonium: Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Appa Jalgaonkar, Ustad Zamir Ahmed Khan, Ustad Bhure Khan


  • Samvadini: Pt. Manohar Chimote, , Pt. Jitendra Gore


  • Tabla: Ahmed Jan Thirakwa
    Ahmed Jan Thirakwa

    Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa is considered one of the greatest tabla players of the 20th century. He is known for his mastery over most of the different tabla gharanas, and was one of the first tabla players to elevate the art of playing tabla solo to an art in its own right....
    , Gyan Prokash Ghosh, Shyamal Bose, Shankar Ghosh, Anindo Chaterjee, Chatur Lal
    Chatur Lal

    Chatur Lal was an Indian tabla player.His life was summed up by his quote, "All My Efforts Have Served A Single Purpose: Sangat Both In Art And Life."...
    , Shamta Prasad, Kanthe Maharaj, Alla Rakha, Arup Chattopadhyay, Anokhelal Misra, Keramatullah Khan, Kishen Maharaj, Zakir Hussain
    Zakir Hussain (musician)

    Ustad Zakir Hussain , born 9 March 1951, is a famous Grammy Award winning Indian tabla player. He is widely considered as the world's best tabla player....
    , Aban E. Mistry, Yogmaya Shukla, Debashis Choudhury, .


  • Guitar, slide (modified), or mohan veena
    Mohan veena

    The Mohan veena is a stringed musical instrument used in Indian classical music.It is actually a modified Archtop guitar with 20 strings: three melody strings, five drone strings strung to the peghead, and twelve sympathetic strings strung to the tuners mounted on the side of the neck....
    : , Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
    Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

    Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is an exponent of Hindustani music .Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is one of the most celebrated shishyas of the guitartist...
    , , , Nalin Mazumdar
    Nalin Mazumdar

    Sri Nalin Mazumdar can safely be called a guru or ustaad of the Hawaiian Guitar, also known as the Slide Guitar. Born and brought up in the holy city of Allahabad, Nalinji made untiring efforts towards the teaching and recognition of the Slide Guitar....
     of Allahabad, Neelranjan Mukherjee of Benaras presently in Delhi.


Prominent performers

There have been many great exponents of Hindustani music. Some of them (in no particular order) are:

Vocalists: Girija Devi
Girija Devi

Girija Devi is an Indian singer and represents the Banaras Gharana of singers. She is adept at different genres of Hindustani classical music vocal music including Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Chaiti and Kajari, but she excels in the Poorab ang Thumri....
, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Faiyaz Khan
Faiyaz Khan

Ustad Faiyaz Khan is the most well known exponent of Agra Gharana in Hindustani classical music. He was the master khayal vocalist of his time....
, Amir Khan
Amir Khan

Amir Khan may refer to:*Ustad Amir Khan, an Indian classical vocalist*Amir Khan , a British boxer*Aamir Khan, an Indian film actor, director and producer...
, Abdul Karim Khan
Abdul Karim Khan

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan , was one of the most important figures in Hindustani classical music of the 20th century , and the Kirana ...
, Vasantrao Deshpande
Vasantrao Deshpande

Vasantrao Deshpande was a Hindustani classical music vocalist who was also a brilliant performer of Natya Sangeet....
, , D. V. Paluskar, Salamat Ali Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur
Mallikarjun Mansur

Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur was one of the greatest artists of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana of Hindustani music Khayal singing.Pt. Mansur's early training was under Nilkanthbuwa of Miraj who belonged to the Gwalior Gharana....
, Omkarnath Thakur, Gangubai Hangal
Gangubai Hangal

Gangubai Hangal is one of the greats of the Hindustani classical music. She is a vocalist and an exponent of the Kirana Gharana . She learnt her music under the tutelage of Sawai Gandharva....
, Bhimsen Joshi
Bhimsen Joshi

Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi is one of India's renowned vocalists in the Hindustani classical music tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana , he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music ....
, Kishori Amonkar
Kishori Amonkar

Kishori Amonkar is a noted Indian classical vocalist. She sings khyal in the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana style....
, Kumar Gandharva
Kumar Gandharva

Kumar Gandharva was a famous Hindustani classical music singer, famous for his unique vocal style, refusal to be bound by the tradition of any gharana, and his innovative genius....
, Gundecha Brothers
Gundecha Brothers

Umakant and Ramakant Gundecha, known as the Gundecha Brothers, are leading Dagarvani dhrupad singers, taught by Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Zia Mohiuddin Dagar....
, Jasraj, Nityanand Haldipur
Nityanand Haldipur

Nityanand Haldipur is a performer and teacher of the Indian bamboo flute, known in India as the bansuri. He is a purist in the true Maihar Gharana tradition, at present learning from Ma Annapurna Devi, in Mumbai, India....
, Shruti Sadolikar-Katkar, Rajan and Sajan Mishra
Rajan and Sajan Mishra

Rajan and Sajan Mishra are two brothers, who are noted exponents of the Khayal form of Hindustani classical music singing. They were awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007 , Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, jointly in 1998 and the 'Gandharwa National Award' for 1994-1995 ...
, Ulhas Kashalkar
Ulhas Kashalkar

Pandit Ulhas N Kashalkar is a noted Hindustani classical music vocalist. He has received training in the Gwalior gharana, Jaipur-Atrauli gharana and Agra gharana gharanas, and is considered a legitimate representative of all three schools....
, Malini Rajurkar
Malini Rajurkar

Malini Rajurkar is a leading Hindustani classical singer.Malinibai grew up in Rajasthan where she was initiated into music. She married into a musical family and her husband Vasantrao became her long-time guru....
, Prabha Atre
Prabha Atre

Prabha Atre is an eminent Maharashtrian vocalist of Kirana Gharana classical Indian music....
, Dhondutai Kulkarni, Sharafat Hussain Khan

Instrumentalists: Allauddin Khan
Allauddin Khan

Allauddin Khan , was a Bengali people sarod player and multi-instrumentalist and one of the greatest music teachers of the 20th Century, father of Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi and guru to Ravi Shankar , Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Pannalal Ghosh, and other influential musicians....
, Vasant Rai
Vasant Rai

Vasant Rai was one of world's most acclaimed performers of Indian music and virtuoso of the Indo/Persian/Afghani instrument Sarod....
, Vilayat Khan
Vilayat Khan

Ustad Vilayat Khan was one of India's well known sitar maestros, born in Gauripur in Mymensingh District, Bengal . He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75....
, Bismillah Khan
Bismillah Khan

Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib was a shehnai maestro from India. The term Ustad or Pandit in relation to Indian classical music means Master or Guru....
, Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee
Nikhil Banerjee

Pandit Nikhil Banerjee was one of India's most prominent sitar masters of the 20th century....
, Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan is a master of the sarod. His performances worldwide have established the modern sarod idiom and contributed to greater awareness of Indian classical music....
, Pannalal Ghosh
Pannalal Ghosh

Pannalal Ghosh , also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was a Bengali people Indian flute player and composer....
, Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a Indian classical instrumentalist. He is a player of the bansuri, the Hindustani classical music bamboo flute. Chaurasia is a classicist who has made a conscious effort to reach out and expand the audience for classical music....
, Zakir Hussain
Zakir Hussain (musician)

Ustad Zakir Hussain , born 9 March 1951, is a famous Grammy Award winning Indian tabla player. He is widely considered as the world's best tabla player....
, Shivkumar Sharma
Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is an Indian classical musician of Hindustani classical music tradition. He is a master of the santoor, which used to be only a folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir....
, Annapurna Devi
Annapurna Devi

Annapurna Devi is a reclusive Surbahar maestro of Indian Classical Music....
, Vijay Raghav Rao
Vijay Raghav Rao

Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao is an Indian flautist.He was born in Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh, India.Over the past six decades, Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao has shaped and influenced the essential form and derivatives of culture known to the world as classically Indian....


See also

  • Indian classical music
    Indian classical music

    The origins of Indian classical music can be found from the oldest of scriptures, part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas.The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music at length....
  • Carnatic music
    Carnatic music

    Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu....
  • Music of Pakistan
    Music of Pakistan

    The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from other parts of South Asia as well as Music of Central Asia, Persian music, Turkish music, Arabic music as well as more modern American music influences....
  • Raga
    Raga

    Raga refers to musical mode used in Indian classical music. It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. In the Indian musical tradition, ragas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons....
  • Thaat
    Thaat

    A thaat is a musical mode in Hindustani music. Thaats always have seven different pitches and are the basis for the organization and classification of ragas in North Indian classical music....
  • Swara
    Swara

    The notes, or swaras, of Indian music are shadja, rishabh, gandhar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad. Collectively these notes are known as the sargam....
  • Tala
    Tala (music)

    In Indian classical music, Tala , literally a "clap," is a rhythmical pattern that determines the rhythmical structure of a composition. It plays a similar role to metre in Western music, but is structurally different from the concept of metre....


External links

tp://www.itcsra.org/ ITC Sangeet Research Academy]
  • (Very good tanpura recordings that are long in length. I have checked the tuning of the tanpura recordings with the program Finale Notepad. I found that the C# sa-pa is out of tune, but everything else is fine. I recommend using the Sa-Pa versions for better practice. Sa-Ma tunings are good for Ragas without a Pa or where the Ma is a important note. There is also a link on this page to more tanpura recordings. On the linked page, all the tanpura recordings starting with the name Shruti are out of tune according to Finale Notepad. All the ones that say 1 min or 8 min are in tune. All the recordings on this website are Sa-Pa.)
  • Raga-Rupanjali. Ratna Publications: Varanasi. 2007.