Tarana
Encyclopedia
Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...

 vocal music in which certain words and syllables (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phenomes are used in a medium-paced (madhyalaya) or fast (drut laya) rendition. It was invented by Amir Khusro
Amir Khusro
Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow , better known as Amīr Khusrow Dehlawī , was an Indian musician, scholar and poet. He was an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent...

, and is similar to the Qalbana form of Sufi poetry.

In modern times, the tarana is most commonly associated with Ustad Amir Khan, who did research on its origins and the syllables used, and helped popularize it.

The words are from Persian and Arabic. Sometimes some of the syllables used are from sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...

 or tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...

; singers might recite full compositions (e.g. tihais, gats, tukdas) within the body of the tarana.

The structure consists of a main melody, usually short, repeated many times, with variation and elaboration at the performer's discretion. There is a second contrasting melody, usually with higher notes, which is introduced once, and goes back to the main melody .

In the words of Thakur Jaidev Singh, an influential commentator on Indian music:
The thillana
Thillana
Thillana is a rhythmic piece in Carnatic music, from which the Hindustani tarana originated, generally performed at the end of a concert and widely used in dance performances. A thillana uses tala-like phrases in the pallavi and anupallavi, and lyrics in the charanam...

from 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...

 is based on the tarana, according to Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati was a celebrated Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style, made this style of dancing of south India well known in different parts of India, as also many parts of the world....

, and is widely used in dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

performances.
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