Pakad

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

, a ''pakad'' (Hindi: पकड़) is a generally accepted musical phrase (or set of phrases) thought to encapsulate the essence of a particular

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

. The pakad contains the melodic theme of the raga, on listening to the pakad a person who knows the raga is usually able to identify it. In many cases, the ragas contain the same

swara Svara or swara (Devanagari: स्वर, generally pronounced as ''swar'') is a Sanskrit word that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave or '' ...

s (notes), then the pakad also contains information about gayaki or chalan (the way the notes are to be ordered and played/sung). Usually, the pakad is formed from short convolutions of the

arohana Arohana, Arohanam or Aroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the ascending scale of notes in a raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The pitch increases as we ...

and

avarohana An Avarohana, Avarohanam or Avaroha, in the context of Indian classical music, is the descending scale of any raga.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, ''Glossary'' pages, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications The notes descend in pitch ...

, while in some cases it is quite different from them. The pakad for a particular raga need not be unique, its sole purpose is to clarify what raga it is. For example, here is a pakad for raga Yaman, a prominent raga from

: :Ni* Re Ga Ma# Pa, Ma# Ga Re Sa. An important aspect of a Pakad is Laya. Lay essentially means time, but contextually, it means how time is spent. Lay helps us to place emphasis on specific notes by giving them longer playing time - this helps to properly space apart notes. Without spacing apart notes accordingly, a Raag will fail to show it’s true characteristics, and this is why a Pakad is important to truly understand a raag. Hindustani music theory Carnatic music Hindustani music terminology {{India-music-stub