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Alankāra
''Alankara'' (), also referred to as palta or ''alankaram'', is a concept in Indian classical music and literally means "ornament, decoration". An ''alankara'' is any pattern of musical decoration a musician or vocalist creates within or across tones, based on ancient musical theories or driven by personal creative choices, in a progression of ''svaras''. The term ''alankara'' is standard in Carnatic music, while the same concept is referred to as ''palta'' or ''alankara'' in Hindustani music. The ancient and medieval music scholars of India state that there are unlimited creative possibilities available to a musician, but each scholar illustrated the concept with a set of ''alankara''. Datilla discussed 13 ''alankaras'', Bharata Muni presented 33, Sarngadeva described 63 ''alankaras'', while mid medieval scholars presented numerous more. The Indian music tradition classifies ''alankara'' as rational or irrational, wherein irrational ''alankara'' being those that cannot be reduce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnatic Music Terminology
Carnatic music terms are briefly described in this page. Major terms have their own separate article pages, while minor terms are defined / described here. The order of terms is from basic to related terms, rather than alphabetic. Main terms Nāda '' Nāda'' refers to music or musical sound. It also refers to the tone of a musical instrument. Anahata Nāda ''Anāhata Nāda'' refers to the naturally occurring sounds (literally not struck). Ahata Nāda ''Ahata Nāda'' refers to generated sounds or sounds made by efforts of man (literally that which is heard). It is of 6 types. 1.shareeraja - it emanates from the human throat. Example: vocal singing 2.Dhanuja - is born from string instruments. Example: Violin,veena etc... 3.Vayuja - us born when air is passed through narrow pipe like instruments. Example: Flute, nadaswaram etc... 4.Charmaja 5. Lohaja 6.Nakhaja Śruti '' Śruti'' is musical pitch. It is considered to be equivalent to tonic of western music. This is the pit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Classical Music
Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ''Hindustani classical music, Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as ''Carnatic classical music, Carnatic''. These traditions were not distinct until about the 15th century. During the period of Mughal Empire, Mughal rule of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Hindustani music emphasizes improvisation and exploration of all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic performances tend to be short composition-based. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences. Another unique classical music tradition from the eastern part of India is ''Odissi music'', which has evolved over the last two thousand years. The roots of the classical music of India are found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Svara
Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively, it is the ancient Indian concept of the complete dimension of musical pitch. At its most basic comparison to western music, a ''swara'' is, essentially, a "note" of a given scale. However, that is but a loose interpretation of the word, as a ''swara'' is identified as both a musical note and tone; a "tone" is a precise substitute for sur, relating to "tunefulness". Traditionally, Indian musicians have just seven ''swara''s/notes with short names: sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, which they collectively refer to as ''saptank'' or ''saptaka''. This is one of the reasons why ''swara'' is considered a symbolic expression for the number seven. In another loose comparison to western music, ''saptak'' (as an octave or scale) may be interpreted as s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnatic Music
Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is one of three main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu texts and traditions, particularly the Samaveda. (The other two are Hindustani music and Odissi music.) The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in ''gāyaki'' (singing) style. Although there are stylistic differences, the basic elements of (the relative musical pitch), (the musical sound of a single note), (the mode or melodic formulae), and (the rhythmic cycles) form the foundation of improvisation and composition in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. Although improvisation plays an important role, Carnatic music is mainly sung ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindustani Music
Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' literally means classical music, and is also used to refer to Indian classical music in general. It is played on instruments like the veena, sitar and sarod. It diverged in the 12th century Common Era, CE from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of Southern India. While Carnatic music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit, Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil language, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Hindi, Urdu, Braj Bhasha, Braj, Awadhi language, Avadhi, Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri, Bengali language, Bengali, Rajasthani languages, Rajasthani, Marathi language, Marathi and Punjabi language, Punjabi. Knowledge of Hindustani classical music is taught through a network of classical musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purandara Das
Purandara Dasa (IAST: Purandara Dāsa; (1470 – 1564) was a composer, singer and a Haridasa philosopher from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy. He was one of the chief founding proponents that shaped modern Carnatic music. In honor of his contributions to Carnatic music, he is referred to as the ''Pitamaha'' (''lit''. "grandsire") of Carnatic music. According to a legend, he is considered as an incarnation of Narada. Purandara Dasa was a wealthy merchant of gold, silver and other miscellaneous jewellery from Karnataka, who gave away all his material riches to become a Haridasa (literally meaning a servant of Vishnu or Krishna), a devotional singer who made the difficult Sanskrit tenets of Bhagavata Purana available to everyone in simple and melodious songs. He was one of the most important music scholars of medieval India. He formulated the basic lessons of teaching Carnatic music by structuring graded exercises known as '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raga
A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspective of the Indian tradition, the resulting music has the ability to "colour the mind" as it engages the emotions of the audience. Each raga provides the musician with a musical framework within which to improvise. Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the raga in keeping with rules specific to the raga. Ragas range from small ragas like Bahar (raga), Bahar and Sahana (raga), Sahana that are not much more than songs to big ragas like Malkauns, Darbari and Yaman (raga), Yaman, which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances can last over an hour. Ragas may change over time, with an example being Marwa (raga), Marwa, the primary development of which has been going down ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tala (music)
A tala (IAST ''tāla'') literally means a 'clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure'. It is the term used in Indian classical music similar to Metre (music), musical meter, that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time. The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or the other hand, verbally, striking of small cymbals, or a percussion instrument in the Indian subcontinental traditions. Along with ''raga'' which forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the ''tala'' forms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music. ''Tala'' is an ancient music concept traceable to Vedas, Vedic era texts of Hinduism, such as the ''Samaveda'' and methods for singing the Vedic hymns. The music traditions of the North and South India, particularly the ''raga'' and ''tala'' systems, were not considered as distinct until about the 16th century. There on, during the tumultuous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natya Shastra
The ''Nāṭya Shāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The text consists of 36 chapters with a cumulative total of 6,000 poetic verses describing performance arts. The subjects covered by the treatise include dramatic composition, structure of a play and the construction of a stage to host it, genres of acting, body movements, make up and costumes, role and goals of an art director, the musical scales, musical instruments and the integration of music with art performance. The ''Nāṭya Śāstra'' is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the arts, one which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India. It is also notable for its aesthetic "Rasa" theory, which asserts that entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meend
In Hindustani music, ''meend'' (Hindi: , ) refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice, and is used often in vocal and instrumental music. On the veena, sitar, sarangi and other plucked stringed instruments, it is usually done by pushing the strings across the frets to vary their effective length and tension; compare portamento and finger vibrato. This can be done on wind instruments like the bansuri by using the fingers to cover the holes in a manner that the changes between discrete pitches are imperceptible. It is considered a sort of '' alankar'', or ornament. ''Meend'' is an important part of any classical performance; however, it is a technique not possible on a hand-held harmonium often used in musical concerts (or on the santoor). For this reason, traditionalists singing khyal prefer an accompaniment on an instrument such as a sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grace Note
A grace note is a kind of music notation denoting several kinds of musical ornament (music), ornaments. It is usually printed smaller to indicate that it is melodically and harmonically nonessential. When occurring by itself, a single grace note indicates either an acciaccatura when notated with an oblique stroke through the stem, or an appoggiatura when notated without. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending on interpretation. For percussion, such as drums, a related concept are Ghost note, ghost notes — supportive snare-hits at a lower volume. Notation In notation, a grace Musical note, note is distinguished from a standard note by print size. A grace note is indicated by printing a note much smaller than an ordinary note, sometimes with a slash through the note stem (if two or more grace notes, there might be a slash through the note stem of the first note but not the subsequent gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamaka (music)
Gamaka (Hindi: / Urdu: ) (also spelled gamakam) refer to ornamentation that is used in the performance of North and South Indian classical music. Gamaka can be understood as embellishment done on a note or between two notes. Present-day Carnatic music uses at least fifteen different kinds of ornamentation. Gamaka is any graceful turn, curve or cornering touch given to a single note or a group of notes, which adds emphasis to each raga's individuality. ''Gamaka can be understood as any movement done on a note or in between two notes.'' The unique character of each raga is given by its gamakas, making their role essential rather than decorative in Indian music. Nearly all Indian musical treatises have a section dedicated to describing, listing and characterising gamakas. The term ''gamaka'' itself means "ornamented note" in Sanskrit. Gamakas involve the variation of pitch of a note, using oscillations or glides between notes. Each raga has specific rules on the types of gamakas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
