Indian Classical Music Vocabulary Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary flashcards defining key terms, instruments, concepts, and structures in Indian classical music.

Carnatic classical music

Classical music from southern India that focuses on structured compositions.

Mridangnam

A drum instrument used in Carnatic classical music.

Sarasvati vina

A lute instrument used in Carnatic classical music.

Hindustani classical music

Classical music from northern India that focuses on improvisation and is the best known Indian music style to the outside world.

Sarod

A long-necked plucked lute with an unfretted neck, wooden body covered in goatskin, six main metal strings, eleven to fifteen sympathetic strings, played with a triangular pick of wax-covered coconut shell.

Tanbura

An unfretted four-string lute that plays a drone and produces a buzzy timbre due to small threads placed under each string on the bridge.

Sitar

A plucked lute instrument that has frets.

Tabla drum set

A set of two drums covered with multiple-membrane goat skin, consisting of the larger left-hand drum (bayan) and smaller right-hand drum (dayan).

Bayan

The larger left-hand drum of the tabla set used to play bass notes.

Dayan

The smaller, tuneable wooden right-hand drum of the tabla set.

Fretted neck

Small raised metal bars embedded along the fingerboard of a stringed instrument that divide the neck into precise musical intervals.

Alap

The beginning section of a melody (vocal or instrumental) in a raga performance, accompanied only by the drone instrument.

Jor

The section in a raga performance following the alap that becomes faster, emphasizes higher pitches, and has a somewhat steady rhythm not yet in tala.

Jhala

The ending section of the alap where music reaches maximum tempo and rhythmic density, characterized by repeatedly using drone strings in alternation with the melodic pitch.

Gat

A relatively short instrumental composition that overlaps with the entry of drum(s) and forms the basis for further improvisation.

Chiz

The vocal equivalent of a gat in a raga performance.

Tala

A cyclic rhythmic framework measuring musical time that ranges from 3 to 108 beats (commonly 6 to 16) to organize a raga performance.

Rasa

A mood or sentiment associated with artistic activity.

Raga

The foundational melodic framework in Indian classical music that shapes a specific mood, time, and emotional experience through precise rules of notes and ornamentation.

Indian Solfege

The scale degree system in Indian music named Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa.

Bols

Vocalized syllables (such as Dha, dhin, tin, ta) that represent specific drum strokes on instruments.

Tintal

A tal (rhythmic cycle) consisting of 16 beats arranged in four sets of four.

Tihai

A rhythmic cadence consisting of a phrase that usually repeats 3 times identically and finishes on the first beat (sam/sum) of the next cycle.

Qawwali

A raga-based semi-classical devotional music sung in dialect languages by a lead male singer and a chorus of 4-5 men clapping and singing, accompanied by harmonium, tabla, and dholak.

Dholak

A two-headed barrel drum used in Qawwali.

Ravi Shankar

An Indian sitar player who was a prominent 20th-century star of Hindustani classical music.

Ali Akbar

A prominent 20th-century star of Hindustani classical music who played the sarod.