In the context of Indian classical music, Gharanas indicate a comprehensive musicological ideology which directly affects the thinking, teaching, performance and appreciation of music. This ideology sometimes changes substantially from one gharana to another. And as a result different gharanas tend to have different ways of performing particular ragas although the essential nature of the raga is preserved in each Gharana. Every Gharana has its own distinct features. The Gharanas emerge from the creative style of a genius, who gives existing structures a totally new approach, form and interpretation. The new approach, form and interpretation apply to include the tone of the voice, the pitch, the inflexions and the intonations and the specific application of the various nuances. When this creative instigation of the artist becomes prominent for three generations, a gharana is said to be born. Read more about gharanas here. For now, let’s have a look at various gharanas of Indian classical vocal.
- Khayal Gharanas
- Dhrupad Gharana
- Thumri Gharana
Khayal Gharanas
The Khayal gharanas as the name suggests have a distinct styles of presenting Khayal. Each Khayal gharana has a distinct style of presenting the notes, tones and nuances. The various styles determine how much to emphasize and how to enunciate the words of the composition, when to sing the sthayi and antara, whether to sing an unmetered alap in the beginning, what kind of improvisations to use, how much importance to give to the rhythmic aspect and so on. Not strictly giving birth to its own style, an individual performer from a gharana may choose to get inspiration and include appealing stylistic aspects of another gharana in his or her gayaki. Some of the famous vocalists of Khayal gharana are Late Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Rajan & Sajan Mishra and Ustad Rashid Khan.
Dhrupad Gharanas
Known for being the oldest form of Indian classical music that exist today Dhrupad is also one of the strictest and rigid genre of Indian classical music. Not many performers therefore had the creative instinct to compliment this genre with various styles. The essence of Dhrupad as a genre and also as a prominent gharana lies in its literary excellence and poetic quality. The lyrics were merely used for rendering expression to the notes and rhythm. Dhrupad is the fine blend of the melody and the poetic qualities. Dhrupad gharanas carry forward this legacy by adhering to its structure (sthai, antara, sanchari and abhog) with grace. Some of the great names associated with this style of gharanas are Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, Gundecha Brothers, Ram Chatur Mallick, Siyaram Tiwari, and Vidur Mallick.
Thumri Gharanas
The essence of Thumri gharanas lies in its unique style of musically embellishing the lyrics to emotionally bring out the meaning of each word. For instance the Lucknow gharana presents intricately embellished yet delicate thumris that are known for their eroticism. And the principal feature of the Patiala gharana thumri is its incorporation of the tappa from Punjab region. It is with this tappa element that the Patiala gharana makes an unusual impact — departing from the khayal-dominated Benaras thumris and the dance-oriented Lucknow thumris. Some of the most popular artists of benaras thumri gharana are Siddheshwari Devi, Rasulan Bai, Badi Moti Bai, Mahadev Mishra, Girija Devi, while some of the famous names associated with patiala thumri gharana are Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Ali Baksh Khan.
Sources: Wikipedia, itcsra.org, culturalindia.net
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