Indian Musical Terms
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Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary.
g (G) – See also “safed panch). A pitch of the Western scale. Depending upon which octave one is considering, it may have the frequency of: 24.499Hz, 48.999Hz, 97.999Hz, 196.00Hz, 392.00Hz, 783.99Hz, 1568.0Hz, 3136.0Hz, 6271.9Hz, or 12544Hz.
g# (G#) – See “G-sharp”.
gb (Gb) – G-flat. See “F-sharp”.
g-flat – See “F-sharp”.
g-sharp – See also “kali char”). A pitch of the Western scale. Depending upon which octave one is considering, it may have the frequency of: 25.956Hz, 51.913Hz, 103.83Hz, 207.65Hz, 415.31Hz, 830.61Hz, 1661.2Hz, 3322.4Hz, 6644.9Hz, or 13290Hz.
ga – 1) The third note of the Indian scale (gandhar). (more info.) 2) A fundamental bol of both the tabla and pakhawaj. (more info.)
gab – The black application found on the centre of the drumskin for tabla, pakhawaj or other drums (a.k.a. “syahi”, “shai” and a host of other names.) (more info.)
gair – A folk dance of Rajasthan.
gajajhampa tal – An obscure tal of 15 beats.
gajalila tal – A rare tal variously described as 17 or 18 beats.
gajara – (lit. a small string of flowers in a women’s hair.) The braid of the tabla pudi. (more info.) (picture)
gajarisch tal – An obscure tal of 20 beats.
gamak – An ornament of the rag affected by deep oscillations of the main note, similar to vibrato only considerably deeper. (more info.)
gana – A song.
ganda bandhan – The ceremonial tying of thread around a new disciple’s wrist signifying the beginning of one’s discipleship.
gandhara – The third note of the scale (Ga). (more info.)
gandharagrama – (archaic) A parent scale from which numerous jatis (modal forms) were derived.
gandhari – A rare rag.
gandharva – The demigods who, according to mythology, were the original possessors of the celestial art of classical music. (more info.)
gandharva, bal – (1888-1967) The stage name for Narayan Shripad Rajhans who was a famouse singer and performer in Marathi theatre.
gandharva desh – Abode of the celestial beings.
gandharva veda – The science of music.
ganesh – The elephant headed God who removes obstacles, often considered the god associated with percussion.
ganesh tal – An obscure tal of either 18, 20 or 21 beats, formerly played on pakhawaj.
gangoly – O. C. Gangoly, a music scholar of the early part of the 20th century.
gara – A common rag.
gara ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gara. (more info.)
garba – A folk dance from Gujarat.
garugi panchak tal – An obscure tal of 15 beats.
garugi tal – An obscure tal of nine beats.
gatka – A folk dance utilising swords, daggers, or sticks performed in the Punjab.
gat – 1) A compositional type common in the Purbi style of tabla playing. (more info.) 2) The theme of an instrumental performance. (more info.)
gat kaida – In tabla a gat which is performed to a strict kaida format.
gati – (archaic) Tempo.
gatta – The wooden dowels in the lacing. (pictures)
gaud malhar – See “Gaur Malhar”.
gaud sarang – See “Gaur Sarang”.
gaudiya bani – See “goharbani”.
gauhar jan – Noted vocalist of the early 20th century. (more info.)
gaur malhar – a rag.
gaur malhar ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gaur Malhar. (more info.)
gaur sarang – A common rag.
gaur sarang ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gaur Sarang. (more info.)
gauri – (lit. “fair”) A rare rag.
gauri mela – An archaic name for Bhairav that was used in the 17th century. (more info.)
gautama – An early authority on music mentioned in old texts.
gawati – A rag.
gawati ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gawati. (more info.)
gayaka – A singer.
gayaki – Pertaining to singing or the song. (more info.)
gayaki style – Playing an instrument as though it were a voice. (more info.)
gaz – 1) The act of bowing as stringed instrument. 2) The kamaan or musical bow.
gazal – see “ghazal”.
ge – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
geendad – A folk dance of Rajasthan.
geet – A song. (more info.)
gejjai – See “ghungharu “.
getchu vadyam – A small hammered lute from South India. (more info.)
gha – A basic tabla bol of the left hand. (more info.)
ghada – See “matka”.
ghadiyal – A brass gong.
ghair-muradif – A ghazal which does not have its repeated words. (more info.)
ghan – A non-membranous percussion instrument (e.g., bells, manjira, jal tarang, etc.) (more info.)
ghanta patua – A folk dance of Odissa.
gharana – (lit. “house”) A particular sub-tradition or “school”. (more info.)
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gharanedar – A representative of a particular gharana or school.
ghasit (ghaseet) – A type of meend on stringed instruments. Where-as a typical meend on a sitar is affected by pulling the string laterally across the fret, the ghaseet is affected by sliding the finger down the string across multiple frets.
ghat tal – An obscure tal of eight beats.
ghatam – A large earthenware vessel which is played in south Indian performances. (more info.)
ghazal – A style of poetic recitation, today a style of song. (more info.)
ghe – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
ghi or – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
ghin – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
ghoraj – A bridge on a stringed instrument.
ghorakh kalyan – See “Gorakh Kalyan”.
ghudaj – See “ghoraj”
ghungharu – A collection of very small bells worn around the feet of a dancer. (more info.)
gi or – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
giddha – A folk dance of Punjab, generally performed by women.
gin – A tabla bol for the left hand. (more info.)
ginti tihai – A tihai commonly found in Kathak, based upon so many small iterations that numbers are used instead of bols.
girali – See “chutta”.
git – See “geet”.
gita govinda – The major work of ashtapadis by the 12th century poet Jaidev.
gita sutra sara – A book on Indian music published in 1855 by K. Banarji.
gitanugam – Any melodic instrument used for the accompaniment of a vocalist.
gittak – See “gatta”.
gobbi – A folk dance of Andhra Pradesh.
goga dhol – A kettle drum. (more info.)
gogona – A jaw harp used in the folk music of Assam. (more info.)
goharbani – A style of Dhrupad popularised by Tansen.
gol kathi – A dancing stick used in the folk music of Western India. (more info.)
gorakh kalyan – A rag.
gorakh kalyan ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gorakh Kalyan. (more info.)
ghoomar – A folk dance of Rajasthan.
gopal nayak – Musician in the court of Allaudin Khilji, and contemporary of Amir Khusru.
gopalan govender – See Govender, Gopalan.
gopichand – A one-stringed instrument from the Bengal region. (more info.)
gopika vasant – A rare rag.
gopuchcha yati – (Archaic)(lit. “a cow’s tail”) An ancient variety of rhythmic variation. It begins fast and gradually decreases tempo. (more info.)
gottuvadhyam – An instrument similar to a Saraswati vina except that it has no frets. It is played with a slide like a Hawaiian guitar. (more info.)
govender, gopalan – Noted South African mridangam player of the late 20th century. (more info.)
grah – 1) (ancient) The starting point of the composition. There are four types: sam, visham, atit, and anagat. (more info.) 2) (modern) The method of handling sam. (more info.)
grah tal – An obscure tal of nine beats.
graha bhedam – The South Indian equivalent of murcchana. The creation of a new scale by shifting the tonic of a pre-existing scale. (more info.)
grahagrah tal – An obscure tal of 20 beats.
grama – (lit. “A town”)(Archaic) . In the old jati system (before the introduction of rags), this described the starting position of a system of murcchana. (more info.)
granthee – A person in a Sikh gudwara who reads the Guru Granth Sahib.
gudri – The kundal or coiled rawhide circle to which the lacing of the tabla attaches. (more info.)
gujarat – A state in Northwest India.
gujarati – An Indo-European language found in the Indian state of Gujarat.
gujari todi – A common rag. (more info.)
gujari todi ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gujari Todi. (more info.)
gul – A flower.
gummeta – A folk drum of S. India. (more info.)
gun – Times (i.e., ekgun=single time, dugun=double time, tigun=triple time, etc.)(more info.)
gunkali – A rag.
gunkali ke filmi git – Film songs in rag Gunkali. (more info.)
gunkari – See “gunkali”.
guru – 1) A teacher. (more info.) 2) An archaic unit of time equal to two laghu. (more info.)
guru bhai – A fellow disciple under the teacher.
guru purnima – A day set aside to honour the guru.
guru-mukha-vidya – The class of knowledge which must be transferred to a student from the guru. (more info.)
guru-shishya-parampara – The lineage of teacher to disciple. (more info.)
guttila – A previous incarnation of Gautama Buddha in which he was a musician.
gwalior 1) A city in present day Madhya Pradesh which has historically been a seat of music. 2) The gharana from this city.
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