| Ālāp and Gat-todā |
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| The instrumental traditions of the Hindustani saṅgīt paddhati arise from vocal traditions. The sections of instrumental performances, however, often have different names from the sections of the vocal performances that they reference. |
| One section that is found in both vocal and instrumental performances and which is common in principle to both north and south Indian classical music systems is the ālāp [Hindustani, "dialogue," "talk"]. The word, ālāp, refers both to the entire unmeasured "first movement" of a performance as well as to the opening unmeasured and unpulsed section. For some listeners, the ālāp is the most important part of the performance,
the part in which the rāg appears most clearly. |
| Very often, a second section is added to the ālāp. The joṛ [Hindustani, "pair"] is the part of an instrumental performance of ālāp in which a recurring and constant pulse dominates the music. Nevertheless, the music is still unmeasured; that is, no regular recurring pattern resembling a meter is present. |
| Sometimes the rhythm of the joṛ intensifies in a frenetic concluding section called the jhālā [Hindustani, "web"]. In this part of an instrumental performance, not only is a recurring pulse present, but the performer sets up a fast intricate rhythmic pattern on the drone strings (cikārī) and weaves the melody into that framework. |
| Within this first unmeasured movement of an instrumental performance, melodic progression emerges not only in terms of rhythmic density, but also as a growing ambitus of pitch. A rhythmic melodic conceit called a moharā [Hindustani, "opening" "something formed in a matrix"] punctuates this development. This is a musical phrase which — for a few seconds — gives the temporary notion of a pulse with notes that focus around the principal tonic. |
| The second "movement" of an instrumental performance is the gat [Hindustani, "form" "movement of the body in dance"]. The word gat refers to both the entire measured section of the performance as well as specifically to a precomposed melody which (most often) clearly shows the tāl and rāg and to which the performer will repeatedly return between improvisations. While the melodic soloist plays the gat, the drummer will commonly solo. Vice versa, when the melodic soloist is improvising, the drummer maintains the time with the ṭhekā. |
| Two standardized rhythmic patterns for gat are common. In Masītkhāni gat (gat in the style of Masit Khan) the mukhṛā ([Hindustani "face"] the beginning of a melodic composition, which is by definition the part leading up to the sam) of Masītkhāni gat begins on beat 12 in Tīntāl and cadences on the sam in a tihā'ī-like rhythm. In Rāzākhāni gat (gat in the style of Raza Khan) this gat and other fast-tempo gats tend to be less regular than Masītkhāni. |
| Gats are commonly composed of one or more sections, each of which will be in its own specific register. The main theme of the gat is the sthā'ī [Sanskrit "steady"] and is usually limited to the lower and middle registers (purvāṅg). The most common second section of a gat is the antara [Sanskrit "contrast"] which serves as a counter theme to the sthā'ī, usually exploring the middle and upper registers (uttarāṅg). |
| Explorations of the rāg, tāl, and the limits of the performer's technique occur in the toṛās [Hindustani, "an ornament for the wrists," "a bag containing one thousand rupees..., the match of a gun..., the piece of iron used for striking a piece of flint to create sparks"] that come between statements of gat. These improvisations (sometimes known as tān ["extension"]) usually exhibit the virtuosity of the performer. |
| After the melodic soloist has finished with his/her solo variations and improvisations, performances sometimes feature various kinds of interaction between performers, commonly the soloist and the drummer. Although conservative listeners often decry these exchanges as trite, they remain popular with many audiences. Perhaps the most notable of these is the sawāl-jawāb [Urdu, "question-answer"], a telescoping responsorial format. Sometimes this occurs between two instrumental soloists, one of whom states a musical line in one musical medium and the other repeating it, translating the musical line into the characteristic shape of his/her medium. The most common version of sawāl-jawāb is between a melodic instrumental soloist and a drummer. |
| Another way in which performers can interact in this section is the sāth saṅgat [Hindustani, "with company"] musical passages in which the drummer anticipates tār paran created by the melodic soloist. Tār paran [Hindustani, "excellent pattern"] rhythmically complex passages performed by an instrumentalist. |
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| ĀLĀP AND GAT-TOṚĀ IN PERFORMANCE |