ālāp
alap

[आलाप - hindi] invocation, the first three movements of the raga, played or sung in solo, (ālāp, jor, jhālā); as well as the name of the first, typically slow,  rhythmless movement, which precisely follows the traits of raga in every detail (typical phrases, vādī and samvādī, ārohana and āvarohana, rasa etc.)

ārohana

[आरोहण] ascending (scale)

ati drut

very fast (tempo)

audava

[औडव] a scale of five notes, one of the three jātis

āvarohana

[अवरोहण] descending (scale)

bandish

vocal  composition (set to a tala), which can be played on an instrument

bhajan

Hindu religious song and  the way of performance related to it

bilawāl

[बीलवाल] scale, containing only shuddha, that is natural notes, one of the ten thāts.

bīnkar

[बीनकार] someone who plays the bīn (rudra-vina) , as well as the name of a gharānā , originating from Miyan Tansen

bol

[बोल] 'syllable', short syllables denoting the traits (place and pitch) of the beats of the tabla , which help in memorizing the complicated compositions

dhamār

[धमार] composition with strict rhythm (14 bars) used in the style of dhrupad

dhrupad

[धुपद] compositional form which obtained its present form in the 14^th-15^th century AD, the stylistic origins of which go back to Vedic times.  Four of its forms endured till the last century: dagar, gauhar, khandar, nauhar

drut

fast (tempo)

gat

[गत] instrumental composition with strict rhythm

gharānā

[घराना] a special way of performance; normally a family tradition [ghar – ‘house’], which has endured in the guru-shishya parampara/master-disciple-relation at least for three generations.

ghazal

Urdu, or Farsi romantic song

jāti

[जाति] system of classification: the classification of the raga according to the length of the ascending and descending scale: sampūrna – seven-note scale, shādava – six-note scale, audava – five-note scale. Eg.: sampūrna-shādava, the ascending scale is a seven, the descending scale is a six-note scale.

jhālā

[झाला] closing movement of the alap and also of the raga with special rhythm, following the jor (closing the ālāp), and conlcuding the gat respectively.

jor

[जोड] the second movement of the raga, following the ālāp, characterized by pulsating rhythm and increasing tempo

kathak

[कथक] North Indian dance using complex footwork (using the feet as a rhythmical instrument) and sometimes telling a story.  [katha – to tell a story]

khālī

[खाली] the second most important point of the tala, or the start of the “empty”, unstressed beats, showing by waving hand.

khyāl

[खयाल] one of the most important, richly ornamented singing style of Hindustani Classical Music, which was probably invented by Amir Khusro (1253-1325), a Sufi of Turkish origin, from the elements of Persian (qaul and qawwali) and Indian (dhrupad) music.

khyāliya

[खयालीय] khyāl singer

komal

[कोमल] the flattening of the natural note by half a note, denoted by an underline: R, G, D, N

madhya

medium (tempo)

matra

metric in tala

mīnd

[मींड] the “bending” between the notes which is one of the most important bearers of the emotional essence of the raga

mohrā

[मोहरा] short melody pattern separating the units of the ālāp

qawwali

religious Sufi song, the purpose of which is to spread the doctrine of the Muslim religion, the deepening of religious belief, and the experiencing of the unity with Allah

Pandit

the title of an honourable, educated man in Hindu culture, the denomination of such a master in music, whose student is already a recognized performer, since from a traditional point of view, who is important is the person who helps carry on the tradition, no matter what unique level of realization is achieved by an individual.

rāg
raga

rāga [रागः – sanskrit], rāg [राग - hindi] the form of performance of Indian Classical Music, characterized by improvization in an increasingly intricate system of rules. Each raga has its own unique character, different from other ragas.

rasa

[रस] 'taste' – the emotional  essence of the raga

sam

[सम] the main stress of the tala, which is normally the first beat of the tala, showing by clapping hand

sampūrna

[संपूर्ण] a scale of seven notes, one of the three jātis

samvādī

[संमवादी] the second most important note of the rāga, the “minister”, which is the most often played note after the vādī

saptaka

an octave; its seven basic notes are the shadja, rishaba, gāndhārva, madhya, panchama, dhaivata, nishāda (S, R, G, M, P, D, N)

shādava

[षाडव] a scale of six notes, one of the three jātis

shruti

the smallest audible interval, the significance of which typically lies in the ornamentation (mīnd etc.), through which the main notes of a raga sound in a unique way. In Indian music, there are 22 different shrutis in an octave.

shuddha

the denotation of the seven unmodified basic notes of an octave (shuddha rishaba, etc.)

tāl
tala

tāla [तालः - sanskrit], tāl [ताल - hindi] 'clap' – rhythmic cycle, which is minimum 3 maximum 108 beats long.

tān
taan

[तान] melodic form in the  gat  movement, which can be heard between the bandish. If Indian Classical Music is a musical language, then tān  is the sentence.

tappa

originated from the folksongs of Punjabi Muslim cameldrovers, a fast, vocal and instrumental style with very rich ornamentation and firm rhythm.

thāt
thaat

[ठाट] a classification system, the idea of which is the classification of the raga under one of the ten thāts, that is one of the ten basic scales. These are: bilawāl, khamaj, kafi, bhairav, asawari, bhairavi, kalyan, marwa, purvi, todi (based on the six-volume book of Vishnu Nārayān Bhātkhande (1860-1936), Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati Kramik Pustak Mālikā, published in 1939.)

thumri

[ठुमरी] a so called “light”, romantic performing style, the system of which is freer than that of the raga’s, originating from the 19^th century, the text of which is always depicting the romantic episodes of Krishna’s life.

tihāi

[तिहाई] a phrase, repeated three times, the last note of which generally arrives on the sam, that is, on the first bar of the tala. One of the most typical elements of Indian Classical Music.

Ustad

The Urdu denomination of a guru, mostly used by Muslims, generally, the title of an honoured, educated man.

vādī

[वादी] the most important note of the raga, the “king”, which is the most often heard note in the raga.

vilambit

[विलमबित] slow (tempo)