Chapter 7 — Indian Classical Music

In Carnatic music, a tala is built from small units called angas (limbs). There are three main angas, each with its own sign and hand action:

Putting these angas together in different orders gives the seven main talas (the sapta or suladi talas): Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata and Eka. For example, Triputa is I O O, Ata is I I O O, Jhampa is I U O, and Eka is just I. Not every tala uses all three angas; only Jhampa among these uses the anudrutam.

The laghu is the flexible part. The number of beats in it is called its jathi:

So the same tala can have different lengths. Triputa with a 4-beat laghu (chatusra jathi triputa) is 4 + 2 + 2 = 8 beats; this is the famous adi tala. Triputa with a 3-beat laghu (tisra jathi triputa) is 3 + 2 + 2 = 7 beats. With seven talas and five jathis, there are 35 possible talas in this system.

In notation, the jathi is written as a small number beside the laghu sign: I₇ means a laghu of 7 beats. To find the total beats in any tala, simply add the angas. Misra jathi jhampa is written I₇ U O, so it has 7 + 1 + 2 = 10 beats.

How to count a laghu. Clap on the first beat, then touch the fingers one by one starting with the little finger: little, ring, middle, index, thumb. For a 7-beat laghu, after the thumb you continue back on the little finger and ring finger. Keep the hand movements small, even and clearly visible, and say the count softly while learning.

The sapta tala alankaras are a set of seven classic exercises, one for each of the seven talas. They are among the first things every Carnatic student learns, because they train two skills together: singing the swaras accurately and keeping tala steadily with the hand. In Class 7 you learned three of them. This year you learn the remaining four, beginning with jhampa.

The jhampa alankara is sung in misra jathi jhampa tala: I₇ U O, a total of 10 beats.

Each line of the alankara starts on a note and moves up through a fixed shape that fills the 10 beats; the next line repeats the same shape starting one note higher. After reaching upper Sa, the lines descend in the same way, mirror-fashion. Some beats hold a note longer, shown in notation by a comma, which means 'continue the previous note for one more unit'. Vertical bars | separate the angas and a double bar || marks the end of the cycle.

Why jhampa feels unusual. Most songs you know are in cycles of 4, 8 or 16. A cycle of 10 that divides as 7 + 1 + 2 feels uneven at first, and the single-beat anudrutam comes very quickly after the long laghu. The trick is to feel three landmarks: the clap at beat 1, the quick clap at beat 8, and the clap-wave at 9-10.

How to practise.

• First keep the tala alone, saying the beat numbers aloud, until the hand is automatic.
• Then say the swaras of one line in rhythm without singing, just speaking them.
• Then sing the line slowly with a tanpura or sruti box for pitch.
• Move to the next line only when the current one is accurate in pitch and time.
• Later, sing in second speed, two swaras per beat, keeping the hand at the same pace.

Judge yourself. Record one line and check: Does the last note of each line fall exactly on the wave at beat 10? Did the hand ever pause while you thought about a note? If so, slow down. The alankara is not about speed but about the hand and voice never losing each other.

The other three alankaras learned this year use triputa, ata and eka talas, each with a different jathi. Together they show how the same idea, a note-shape that climbs and then falls, can be fitted into cycles of very different length.

Tisra jathi triputa (I₃ O O = 7 beats). The laghu is clap and two finger counts, followed by two drutams. A line uses three notes, then two, then two: for example s r g | s r | g m ||. The next line starts on r: r g m | r g | m p ||, and so on up to upper Sa, then back down. Because the groups are 3 + 2 + 2, the pattern has a lilting, skipping feel.

Khanda jathi ata (I₅ I₅ O O = 14 beats). This is the longest of the four. There are two five-beat laghus followed by two drutams. Ata alankara uses many held notes (commas), so the voice must keep each held note steady and in tune without wobbling. A line begins s r , g , | s , r g , | m , | m , ||. Count carefully: each laghu has exactly five units.

Chatusra jathi eka (I₄ = 4 beats). The shortest tala: just one four-beat laghu, a clap and three finger counts. The line is simply s r g m ||, then r g m p ||, and so on. Its simplicity makes it ideal for practising at higher speeds.

How to practise all four. Learn one alankara per week. Begin each practice with the tala alone, then speak the swaras, then sing. Use small letters (s r g) or capitals as your book does; the dot or capital above marks upper Sa. When an alankara is secure in first speed, sing it in second speed and third speed as you did with adi tala. Keep a chart in your notebook with a tick for each tala and speed you have mastered.

Self-check. Ask a friend to watch only your hand while you sing. If they cannot tell where the cycle begins and ends, your tala is not clear enough. Make the claps firm and the waves visible.

A kriti is the most important composition form in Carnatic music. The one learned in this chapter, Sri Gananatham Bhajare, is by Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835), one of the Trinity of Carnatic music along with Tyagaraja and Syama Sastri. It is a prayer to Lord Ganesha, the leader of the ganas, whom devotees worship before any new beginning. Dikshitar signed his compositions with the word Guruguha, and you will find it in this kriti's madhyama kala passage.

The raga. The kriti is set in raga Ishamanohari. Before singing a composition, Carnatic students first sing the raga's arohana (ascent) and avarohana (descent):

The numbers show which variety of each note is used. R2, G3, M1 and D2 are the natural (shuddh) Re, Ga, Ma and Dha you know from Hindustani music, and N2 is the flat (komal) Ni. Notice the descent: after G3 it goes back up to M1 before reaching R2. This zig-zag, called a vakra (crooked) movement, is part of the raga's identity. If you sing straight down G R S, it will not sound like Ishamanohari.

The tala. The kriti is in rupaka tala, a cycle of 6 beats. In notation, each cycle is marked off with double bars, and commas show where a note is held.

How to learn it.

• Sing the arohana and avarohana slowly with a drone until the vakra turn feels natural.
• Keep rupaka tala with the hand and speak the words of the first line in rhythm.
• Learn the tune one line at a time, repeating each line several times.
• Pay attention to pronunciation; the words are in Sanskrit and each syllable must fall on the right beat.
• When the tune is secure, sing the line while keeping tala.

About the words. The kriti praises Ganesha as the lord of the ganas, worshipped by the gods, who is joined with divine energy and who brings joy through music and rhythm (nada and laya). You do not need to translate every word, but knowing the general meaning helps you sing with the right devotional feeling, calm and joyful rather than loud and hurried.

A kriti is built in sections, a bit like the mukhda and antara of a film song, but more formal. Knowing the structure helps you learn, remember and enjoy any kriti.

So the order of a performance is: pallavi → anupallavi → pallavi → charanam → pallavi. The repeated return to the pallavi binds the composition together and makes its main line memorable. It works like the chorus of a song that everyone remembers.

Madhyama kala. Many kritis by Muthuswami Dikshitar include a passage in madhyama kala, which is sung at twice the speed of the rest of the composition. The tala does not change; only the singer fits twice as many syllables into each beat. This is exactly the second-speed idea you practised with konnakkol and swaras. In Sri Gananatham Bhajare, the madhyama kala passage follows the pallavi and also contains Dikshitar's signature, Guruguha. It gives a burst of energy and shows the composer's skill with rhythm and words.

Sangatis. In a concert, singers often repeat a line several times with small variations in the tune, each a little more elaborate. These are called sangatis. Beginners usually learn the basic line first; sangatis come later.

How to learn a kriti section by section.

• Learn the pallavi thoroughly first. It will be sung many times.
• Learn the anupallavi, then practise going from anupallavi back to the pallavi without a break.
• Learn the charanam, then practise the return to the pallavi.
• Learn the madhyama kala slowly first, at the normal speed, and only then double it.
• Finally, sing the whole kriti in order while keeping tala.

Self-check. Can you say which section you are singing at any moment? Can you return to the pallavi smoothly, starting on the correct beat? Does the madhyama kala stay exactly twice as fast without the hand speeding up? These three questions tell you whether you have understood the form, not just the tune.

Moving north to Hindustani music, the raga studied in this chapter is Asavari, a serious, gentle and slightly sad raga often sung in the late morning. To know a raga, a Hindustani student learns a standard set of features, called its lakshan.

Small letters g, d, n stand for the komal notes.

What these words mean. A thaat is a parent scale of seven notes from which ragas are grouped; Asavari gives its name to its own thaat. Jati tells how many notes the raga uses going up and coming down: audav means five, shadav six, sampoorna all seven. Since Asavari uses five notes in ascent and seven in descent, it is audav-sampoorna. The vadi is the note the raga dwells on most, like the main character of a story, and the samvadi is its closest companion. The pakad is a short phrase that instantly identifies the raga, like a person's signature.

Time theory. Hindustani tradition links many ragas with a time of day or season, and Asavari belongs to the late-morning hours. Musicians feel that a raga's mood matches its time, though today ragas are also heard at concerts at any hour.

Asavari and Jaunpuri. These two ragas use almost the same notes and phrases, so beginners confuse them. They differ in small details of how certain notes are used in ascent, and listening to both side by side is the best way to sense the difference.

How to learn. Sing the aroh and avroh slowly with a tanpura, resting on komal Dha to feel its importance. Then repeat the pakad many times until you recognise it in recordings.

How do students remember all the rules of a raga? Hindustani music has a clever answer: songs that teach.

A lakshan geet is a song whose words describe the raga it is sung in. The Asavari lakshan geet, from the collection Kramik Pustak Malika by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, tells you in its own lyrics that Ga and Ni are left out going up, that Dha is the vadi and Ga the samvadi, and that the raga is complete in descent. So while you sing it, you are also reciting the raga's rulebook in its own tune. It has two parts: the sthayi (first part, in the lower and middle notes) and the antara (second part, rising to the upper notes).

The lakshan geet is set in teentaal, 16 matras:

Notice that the khali section uses the softer bols Tin and Ta. This helps you feel where you are in the cycle.

A sargam geet is a composition sung entirely with note names (Sa, Re, Ma...) instead of words. It trains you to know exactly which note you are singing. The Asavari sargam geet is in jhaptaal, 10 matras in sections of 2 + 3 + 2 + 3:

Reading Bhatkhande notation. Each box is one matra. A dash means the previous note continues. A sign ऽ under a syllable means the vowel is stretched. Two notes written together in one box share a single matra.

How to practise. Recite the theka with claps on X, 2 and 3 and a wave on 0. Then sing the sargam geet slowly, saying the note names clearly. Then learn the lakshan geet sthayi, then the antara. Finally, sing with a tabla or a tabla app. Self-check: name the vadi and samvadi using only the words of the lakshan geet; if you can, the song has done its job.

Two simple experiments can change the way you hear every piece in this chapter.

Experiment 1: changing the tempo. Sing any piece you have learned, such as the Asavari sargam geet or an alankara, first at a slow tempo and then at a fast tempo. Listen to how the mood shifts. At a slow laya (vilambit), the notes feel weighty and thoughtful; a raga like Asavari sounds calm and serious. At a medium laya (madhya), the music feels steady and flowing. At a fast laya (drut), the same notes become bright, energetic, even playful. In Hindustani concerts, a raga often begins slow and ends fast for exactly this reason: the mood grows from reflection to excitement.

When you change tempo, keep the tala steady at the new speed. A common mistake is to drift faster without meaning to. A metronome app set to a fixed number of beats per minute can help you test this.

Experiment 2: accompaniment. If you play an instrument, accompany a classmate who sings one of the chapter's compositions. Accompaniment means supporting the main performer, not competing with them. In Carnatic concerts the violin follows the singer's phrases and the mridangam supports the rhythm; in Hindustani concerts the harmonium or sarangi shadows the singer and the tabla keeps the theka.

Rules for a good accompanist:

• Play softer than the main performer.
• Listen constantly and follow the singer's speed; do not lead unless asked.
• Fill gaps lightly when the singer pauses, but stop when the singer resumes.
• Agree beforehand on the sruti (pitch of Sa), the tala and how the piece will end.

Even without an instrument, you can accompany by keeping tala clearly for the singer, or by playing a tanpura drone on an app.

Reflect and record. After each experiment, write two lines: How did the mood change with tempo? Did the accompaniment help or distract the singer, and why? Discussing these answers with your class trains your ear to notice what makes a performance work.

Much of the music Indians sing at home, in temples and on pilgrimages comes from the Bhakti movement, a great religious, social and literary movement that spread across India from about the 6th century CE, beginning with the Alvar and Nayanar saints of the Tamil region, and reached its peak between the 15th and 17th centuries CE.

Bhakti means loving devotion to God. Bhakti saints taught that anyone, whatever their caste, gender or wealth, could reach God through sincere love, and they spread this message in the languages of ordinary people rather than only in Sanskrit. Music was their main tool, because songs are easy to remember and can be sung together. This led to new musical forms such as bhajans and kirtans, simple devotional songs often sung in groups with a leader and chorus, accompanied by instruments like the manjira, kartal, dholak, khol and harmonium.

Purandara Dasa and Kanakadasa belonged to the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka. In Maharashtra, the Warkari pilgrims walk to Pandharpur every year singing the abhangs of saints such as Tukaram and Namdev, a living example of Bhakti music.

A bhajan by Tulsidas. In the bhajan beginning 'Thumak chalat Ramchandra', Tulsidas paints a picture of the infant Rama toddling along with his anklets jingling, laughing, running, tumbling to the ground, and being lovingly picked up by the queens of King Dasharatha. The poet says that the sight of the child's face fills him with joy. The bhajan turns a simple family scene into an act of devotion.

How to sing a bhajan well. Understand the meaning of every line first, so your voice carries the right feeling. Keep the tune simple and the words clear. Let the rhythm be gentle and steady; the joy of a bhajan comes from sincerity, not speed or loudness. In a group, follow the lead singer and repeat each line together.

Alongside the Bhakti movement, India was also shaped by Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, which took root in India in the medieval period. Sufi saints taught that God is reached through inner devotion, love and spiritual experience rather than outward ritual alone. They lived simply, welcomed people of all backgrounds, and saw music as a way of drawing the heart closer to God.

Among the best-known Sufi saints of India are Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, whose shrine (dargah) at Ajmer in Rajasthan is visited by millions of people of many faiths, and Baba Farid of Punjab, whose verses in Punjabi are also included in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Chishti order, to which both are linked, gave special importance to devotional music.

From this tradition arose the qawwali, a powerful devotional song form. The poet and musician Amir Khusrau, a disciple of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, is traditionally credited with shaping it. Qawwali continues to be widely performed, especially in Punjab and the western regions of India, at dargahs, festivals and in films.

Features of a qawwali.

• A lead singer and a group of chorus singers who repeat key lines.
• Strong hand-clapping by the group, adding rhythm and energy.
• Instruments such as the harmonium, tabla or dholak.
• A gradual build-up: it often starts slowly and grows faster and more intense, with repeated lines, so that singers and listeners are carried into a state of deep feeling.
• Poetry in Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, Hindi or Sindhi, often praising God, the Prophet or a Sufi saint.

Dama Dam Mast Qalandar. One of the most famous qawwalis, sung both traditionally and in modern versions, is a song of praise to the Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan in Sindh. Its repeated refrain, with its rolling, drum-like rhythm, invites everyone to join in, which is why it is sung at celebrations across the subcontinent.

Bhakti and Sufi together. Though they grew from different religions, both traditions spoke of love for God, equality of all people and the power of music. Some poets, such as Kabir, are loved by followers of both. Together they made devotional music one of India's most shared traditions.

Try it. In a group, learn the refrain of a qawwali. Choose a leader, let the chorus repeat each line, and add claps on the main beats. Start slowly and increase the tempo gradually, keeping everyone together.