Khyal Vocal Music India

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The North Indian music, also known as Hindustani, khyal is the most prominent vocal genre. Khyal; a Muslim word meaning “imagination”, is the most common vocal form in North Indian classical music at the present time. Some writers credit the invention of the khyal to the influence of the melismatic qawwali on drupad singers of the Mughal courts. Both khyal and dhrupad singing evolved in Gwalior, and there are many overlaps. In the khyal style there is one form; mundi dhrupad, that incorporates all of the features of dhrupad singing. Men most often sing khyal, accompanied by the tabla and tampura, or sometimes with an added melodic instrument such as the sarangi or harmonium. The sam is the most emphatic beat of the table, and is usually played at the beginning of a rhythm cycle and at other specific moments. The singer maintains this rhythm by coinciding the singing with the sam. In khyal singing, the sam may occur at the end of the mukhada (first melodic phrase). Many of the times the singer and tabla player do not consistently coincide their emphases, which sounds pretty odd to the average Western ear. Khyal has dominated the performing art in India for the past 150 years. Khyal is the genre of improvisational music, hence its study of artist's creative individuality and ability to render a unique khyal (imagination) at each performance. Despite the presumed freedom in khayal singing, it is structured upon three main characteristics; 1. the raga (melodic mode), the tala (meter), and the “cheez” (composition). 2. The types of improvisation which are acceptable for khyal such as alap, taan, sargam, etc. 3. The placement of these material for the creation of an aesthetically and technically balanced performance. Khyal is not only a distinguished, richly evolved improvisational music genre, but also a study of cultural history of India since the 13th century

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