HINDUSTANI MUSIC

It is unclear when the process of differentiation of Hindustani music started. The development of Hindustani music reached a peak during the rule of Akbar. During this 16th century period, Tansen studied music for about six years of his life with the help of Hindu king Ram Chand of Gwalior, and after that he performed at the Muslim court of Akbar. Therefore many musicians consider Tansen is the founder of Hindustani Music. Tansen style of music inspired many, and many modern gharanas. 

Hindustani music exists in four major forms Dhrupad, Khyal, Tarana and the semi classical Thumri.

Thumri is romantic or devotional in nature. The term Thumri is derived from the Hindi verb "thumakna" means to walk with dancing steps so as to make the ankle bells tinkle. The lyrics are usually in Uttarpradesh dialects of Hindi called Awadhi and Brij bhasha. There are three major groups of Thumri Lucknow gharana, Banaras gharana and Punjabi gharana.

Tappa is a form of  Indian semi classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace base on fast, fine and complex constriction. Its tunes are melodious, sweet and depict the emotional explosion of lover. It was existed in Rajasthan and Punjab region before it was systematised into classical music stricture. It bacame popular with the Bengali musician's, developing their tappa.

Dhrupad, the ancient form described in the Hindu text Natyashastra, is one of the key forms of classical music found all over the Indian subcontinent. The word from Dhruva which means stable and permanent. It has four stanzas called  Sthayi, Antara, Sanchari and Abhoga.

Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which there are certain words and syllables are used based on Persian and Arabic phonemes. For example Odani, Todani, Tadeem and Yalali.

Khyal or khayal is a traditional type of song from the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, with instrumental accompaniment. Khyal name come from an Arabic word meaning " imagination". It is thought to have developed out of Dhrupad introducing frequent taans and alankars. It is more free and flexible form and it provides greater scope improvisation and typically it having two main stanzas.

About my blog: This was the concluding part of the blog series explaining"History of Indian Classical Music".
The last three blogs(including this one)explained about origin and versatility of Indian Classical Music. We came to know about the different forms, rules and regulations of classical music.