-
mantra
- Repeated scriptures, prayers, or phonetic formulas
- Enhance one's karma
-
Veda
- Unmetered songs of devotion and ritual
- Form the oldest books of the Hindu religion
-
-
-
raga
- Guidelines for a particular melodic improvisation that includes
- Tuning
- Scales
- Functions of pitches
- Melodic Motives
- Ornamentation
- Extramusical associations (time of day, emotions, etc.)
-
Tala
- Rhythmic element of Indian music
- Cycles of beat groups that make up a meter
-
bandish/gitam
Precomposed songs or themes for a raga
-
guru
Individual music teacher
-
gharana
- Particular school of vocal or instrumental performance
- Keep secrets of instruction and composition within a family of musicians
-
sitar
- Fretted plucked lute
- Has drones and melody strings
-
Ravi Shankar
Indian sitar musician
-
sarod
- Fretless plucked lute
- Melody and drone strings
- Slick metal fingerboard and skin covered resonator
-
Ali Akbar Khan
Indian sarod musician
-
sarangi
Bowed fiddle of North India
-
bansuri
Transverse bamboo flute
-
bin/vina
- Plucked stick-zither with frets
- Two large gourd resonators
-
tambura
- Plucked chordophone used for a drone
- Lute-zither
-
harmonium
Hand-pumped reed organ with fixed tuning
-
nagasvaram (shahnai)
Loud, conical double reed aerophone
-
tabla
- Pair of drums used in North India
- One is tuned to the tonic pitch, and the other has indefinite pitch
-
-
mrdangam
- Single drum with two heads
- Used in South India
-
sruti box
A reed organ that substitutes for the tambura
-
taraf
Sympathetic strings on Indian chordophones
-
sympathetic vibration
Vibration when exposed to pitches played on other strings
-
sruti
Microtone in ancient tuning system
-
svara
Scale steps in a raga
-
-
semitone
Interval between two adjacent notes in a twelve tone tuning system
-
melakarta
All possible seven-note scales that ragas could use
-
komal
Lowered tone (flat)
-
tivra
Raised tone (sharp)
-
suddh
Unaltered tone (natural)
-
that
- Thirty two possible scales in Hindustani music
- Developed by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande
-
arohana/avarohana
Representation of a raga including ascending/descending scale
-
chalan
Representation of a raga including characteristic motives while ascending/descending
-
vadi
Principal tone in a raga
-
samvadi
Secondary principle tone in a raga
-
gamak/gamaka
Characteristic ornamentation of a raga
-
pakar
Motives associated with ragas
-
-
rasa
A set of specific feelings that art can express
-
ragamala
Paintings that depict the mood of a raga
-
quantitative accents
Syllables accented by holding them twice as long
-
vibhag/anga
Groupings of beats in tala
-
tala cycle
Groupings of groupings of beats in tala
-
sam
First beat of the cycle
-
khali
Deemphasized beat of th cycle
-
tali
The first beats of vibhag that are neither sam or khali
-
bols
Syllables assigned to different drum strokes
-
theka/sokattu
A pattern of bols (syllables)
-
alap
Nonpulsatile section that begins a classical Indian performance
-
sthai
First half of the alap
-
antara
Second half of the alap
-
jor
Quasi-pulsatile section of the alap
-
jhala
Quasi-pulsatile section of the alap
-
scat
Syllables for vocal improvisation
-
qawwali
Devotional Islamic songs sung by Sufi mystics
-
dhrupad
- Primary musical form associated with Mughal period
- Long vocal performance
-
khyal
- Prominent vocal genre in Hindustani concerts
- More ornamented than dhrupad
-
thumri
- Light classical Hindustani vocal genre
- Lyrical love songs
-
kriti
- Vocal form of South Indian music
- Verse/refrain form
-
pallavi
Refrain of kriti music
-
caranam
Verse of kriti music
-
anupallavi
Contrasting section of kriti music
-
ragam-tanam-pallavi
- Long virtuosic vocal form in Southern India
- Free improvisation with little text
-
Ninnada Nela
Kriti song by composer Tyagaraja
-
cinna melm
Folk ensemble of South India
-
Baul music
- Religious sect in Eastern India
- Often a one man band
-
khamak
String drum of Baul music
-
Filmi
Songs originating in popular films
-
Asha Bhosle
Playback singer for Bollywood films
-
Dil Cheez Kya Hai
Song from film Umrao Jaan about a girl sold to become a courtesan
-
minimalism
A style in which composers experiment with a minimum of means
|
|
