WHAT IS A GHARANA?

Hey guys! Before we write anything about instruments, we thought it's better to get the concept of Gharanas or a school of music clear. A Gharana is a system of social organizations or schools linking musicians or dancers apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular musical style. The word gharana comes from the Hindi word 'ghar' which is derived from the Sanskrit word Griha, which means 'house'. It refers to the place where the musical ideology originated.

VOCAL GHARANAS

Khayal Gharanas:

Khayal is a form of Hindustani Classical Music which is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the performer greater freedom of expression than Dhrupad. In Khayal, ragas are extensively ornamented, experimented, and the style calls for more technical virtuosity than intellectual rigour. The word 'Khayal' means imagination; it is a Persian word. The Gharana system was greatly influenced by the gradual fall of the Mughal Empire. There are around ten Gharanas which are popular; to name a few: Kirana, Jaipur-Atrauli, Gwalior, Agra, Patiala, Indore, Mewati and Rampur-Sahaswan. Details of each shall be posted another time!

A typical setup of Khayal concert featuring Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra on the vocals.

Dhrupad Gharanas:

Everyone of us, at least once in our lives must have heard of the word 'Dhrupad', and thought, "God, it sounds so serious!" The word 'Dhrupad' is of Sanskrit origin, derived from dhruva (immovable or permanent) and pada (verse). It is the oldest style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music. There are different Dhrupad Gharanas some of which are named after the location while some of which are named after the style or in other words, bani. To name a few Gharanas, Dagar, Vishnupur, Mewati, Darbhanga and Bettiah.

Thumri Gharanas:

The term "Thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb thumakna, which means "to walk with dancing steps so as to make the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is thus, connected with dance, dramatic gestures, mild eroticism, evocative love poetry and folk songs especially from Uttar Pradesh, though there are regional variations. Thumri is characterized by its sensuality, and by a greater flexibility with the raga. The Thumris are widely sung in majority of the Gharanas. In the Benares Gharana, the words in the text of a song are musically ornamented and decorated to bring out their meaning, while in the Lucknow gharana presents intricately embellished and delicate thumris that are explicit in their eroticism.

INSTRUMENTAL GHARANAS

Tabla Gharanas:

The Delhi gharana is the oldest Tabla gharana, the Ajrada gharana is closely associated with Delhi Gharana. Lucknow Gharana has rhythmic improvisations and developments through Kathak. Punjab Gharana which originally developed through its original Pakhawaj repertoire. It is popularized by Utd. Alla Rakha and his son, Utd. Zakir Hussain. Farrukhabad Gharana is the only Gharana which has roots of all the other Gharanas and it's the youngest of all: it showcases the other Gharana's main features.

Sitar Gharanas:

Etawah Gharana, popularized by Utd. Vilayat Khan, Utd. Shahid Parvez Khan, etc. It is also known as Imdadkhani Gharana in the honour of its founder, Utd. Imdad Khan.

Maihar Gharana, is widely popularized by Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia who is a flautist but learnt music under the great sitarist and surbahar player, Annapurna Devi, all across the world and many others. Several Khayal and Dhrupad Gharanas such as Indore, Mewati, Kirana, etc are also practiced on instruments.

Instrumental concert featuring Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pt. Vijay Ghate on Tabla.

DANCE GHARANAS

In Kathak performers today generally draw their lineage from four major schools of Kathak: the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, the Lucknow Gharana, the Benares Gharana (born in the courts of the Kachwaha Rajput kings, the Nawab of Oudh, and Varanasi respectively.) and the Raigarh Gharana (born in the court of Maharaja Chakradhar Singh of Raigarh.) The Lucknow Gharana remains the most popular throughout the country. However, in recent time the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana has caught up and today most performers throughout India perform techniques belonging to both styles. With different techniques and poses from other dance forms, the purity of the movements and gestures may be diluted or modified along with the contemporary trends. Raigarh Gharana is famous for its own distinctive composition and thousands of followers.

Sources: Wikipeadia http://www.surshringar.com/dhrupad/dhrupad-gharanas/

Photos from google photos.