MUSIC1300 - Quiz 3

khali

"empty" - deemphasized beat; (where you wave when keeping tala) - Here, musicians tend to play quieter notes

sam

"together" - emphasized beat of a tala - Here, musicians usually play important notes

tabla

A pair of drums found in Hindustani music from India.

jhala

A section (usually towards the end of a gat) marked by a sudden upward jump in tempo and intensity. It is a form of climax.

tumbi

A single-stringed instrument played in bhangra music

arranger

In Bollywood music, the person who writes instrument parts and/or programs electronic beats

playback singer

In Bollywood music, this person performs a film song in the studio, which is lip-synced by the actor

gharana

In Hindustani music, "household"- the stylistic lineage in which knowledge is aurally and orally transmitted from gurus/ustads to pupils

raga

In Indian classical music, a complete and self-contained melodic system that serves as the basis for all the melodic materials in any composition or performance created. It contains an identifying set of pitches, a unique repertoire of melodic ornaments and melodic motives, a system of rules and procedures, and extramusical associations such as time, mood, and season.

bollywood

Indian version of Hollywood (film industry), centered in Mumbai (formerly Bombay)

Hindustani

North Indian classical music - It is generally comprised of 3 layers: drone, melody, and rhythm

sitar

Plucked string instrument of Indian classical music—it is similar to a guitar, but has a longer neck, many resonating strings, moveable frets, and a distinctive bright timbre.

Anoushka Shankar

Ravi Shankar's daughter, sitar player

theka

The entire pattern or set of words (bols) for a given tala in classical Indian music. It is a rhythmic skeleton that outlines a tala

alap

The opening, non-metric section of improvisation of raga performance in Indian classical music. It begins slow and is improvised by the melodic soloist (e.g., the sitar player) with only a drone accompaniment. It is an exploratory journey through the raga's melodic essence and range of possibility. There is no drumming, no meter, no set compositions.

music director

The professional responsible for selecting, commissioning, and/or writing the music tracks for a Bollywood film

Ravi Shankar

Virtuoso sitar player of the 20th century; he influenced the Beatles.

bhangra (popular music)

a music genre that started in UK around the 1980s; It developed around the bhangra dance that Punjabi immigrants had brought with them, and incorprated disco, hip hop, Jamaican, and other elements of western popular music. Together with bhangra dance, it was broadcast to the global Punjabi diaspora and also popularized through Bollywood music.

jor

an intermediary section that serves as a musical bridge between the introductory alap that precedes it and the main section (the gat) that follows it in a standard raga performance. It is characterized by playing on the solo melodic instrument that is more rhythmically active, steady, and energetic than that heard in the alap. Despite the increased rhythmic regularity and activity of the jor, there is still neither a set metric cycle (tala) nor drumming accompaniment in this section.

algoza

double flute used for bhangra music

bhangra (dance)

it was first a dance in rural Punjab that was revitalized by college dance troupes who compiled different dance forms under one name; the instruments dhol, tumbi, and algoza were usually danced to.

dhol

large barrel drum played w/sticks played in Bhangra

tanpura

stringed instrument that plays the drone in Hindustani music

tala

the concept of rhythm in Hindustani music: It involves a metric cycle where there can be inner divisions of even groupings (such as 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 in the tala tintal) or uneven groupings (such as 3 + 2 + 3 + 2 in the tala jhaptal). Furthermore, each tala has an associated theka which gives varying degrees of emphasis (such as sam and khali) to certain beats.

gat

the section of a raga performance that is marked by the arrival of drums (usually tabla). A melodic composition is typically presented here.

Zakir Hussain

world's most famous tabla player