Gharana


In Dhrupad and Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. A gharānā also indicates a comprehensive musicological ideology. This ideology sometimes changes substantially from one gharānā to another.

Vocal gharanas

Khyal gharanas

The gharana system in khyal was rooted in the guru-shishya tradition and was similar to the Dhrupad Bani system. The gharana system was greatly influenced by the gradual fall of the Mughal Empire.
The gharanas have distinct styles of presenting the khyal — how much to emphasize and how to enunciate the words of the composition, when to sing the sthayi and antara, whether to sing an unmetered alap in the beginning, what kinds of improvisations to use, how much importance to give to the rhythmic aspect, and so on. However, an individual performer from a gharana may choose to borrow appealing stylistic aspects of another gharana in his or her gayaki. There are exactly ten prominent khyal gharanas, and they are:
GharanaFounding ArtistsApproximate founding dateFamous ExponentsFeatures
Qawwal Baccho ka GharanaAmir Khusrau, Mian Samat Bin Ibrahim13th CenturyMian Tanras Khan, Naseeruddin Sami, Bahauddin Qawwal, Fareed Ayaz Abu MohammedAkaar Alaap, Taan, sargam, emphasis on Raag Bahar
Gwalior GharanaNathan Pir Baksh, Hassu Khan, Haddu Khan, Nathu KhanMid-16th CenturyVishnu Digambar Paluskar, Omkarnath Thakur, Ghulam Hassan Shaggan, Malini Rajurkar, Veena SahasrabuddheBol-baant, bol-taan, no sargam, wide range in taans, alankarik taans, descending sapaat taans, roughly similar emphasis on melody and rhythm, preference for simple ragas, repertoire of bandishes, variety of taans
Agra GharanaGhagge KhudabakshMid-19th centuryFaiyaz Khan, Jitendra AbhishekiCloser to dhrupad with nom-tom type alap and other elements, rhythmic play, frequent use of tisra jati in teentaal, emphasis on voice culture to achieve wide range and powerful throw of voice, bol-baant, bol-taan, rare use of sargam, slower taans, use of jabda taan, repertoire of traditional and self-composed bandishes
Kirana GharanaAbdul Karim Khan, Abdul Wahid KhanLate 17th centurySawai Gandharva, Bhimsen Joshi, Roshan Ara Begum, Prabha Atre, Hirabai Barodekar, Gangubai HangalSlow-tempo raga development, emphasis on melody, long and sustained pitches, usually traditional ragas, use of sargam, very little bol-baant, clarity of text pronunciation, use of some Carnatic ragas and raga features, emphasis on vocal as opposed to instrumental form
Bhendi Bazaar GharanaChhajju Khan, Nazeer Khan, Khadim Hussain KhanLate 19th centuryAman Ali Khan, Anjanibai MalpekarEmphasis on breath control to be able to sing long passages in a single breath, use of merukhand for extended alaps, use of gamak taan and sargam, use of some Carnatic ragas
Jaipur-Atrauli GharanaAlladiya KhanLate 19th centuryKishori Amonkar, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande, Mallikarjun MansurRepertoire of rare and complex ragas, based on Agra gharana, use of aakaar for badhat, heavy use of teentaal, rupak, jhaptaal and ada-chautaal, rhythmic play, use of bol-baant and bol-taan, rippling taans, heavy emphasis on taans
Patiala GharanaBade Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Baksh KhanLate 19th centuryBade Ghulam Ali Khan, Vasantrao DeshpandeEmphasis on voice development, roughly similar emphasis on melody and rhythm, bol-baant-like sargam with occasional tonic transpositions, occasional use of bol-taan, variety of taans, fast sargam and taan patterns, may or may not include antara, influence of tappa style
Rampur-Sahaswan GharanaInayat Hussain KhanMid 19th centuryRashid Khan, Ghulam Mustafa Khan Emphasis on melody, bol-taans, sargam taans, sapaat taans
Indore GharanaAmir KhanMid 20th centurySlow-tempo and leisurely raga development, improvisation mostly in lower and middle octaves, tendency towards serious and expansive ragas, emphasis on melody, judicious use of pause between improvisations, bol alap and sargam using merukhand patterns, sparing application of murki, use of kan swaras in all parts of performance, controlled use of embellishments to preserve introspective quality, rare use of tihai, careful enunciation of text, may or may not include antara, multiple laya jatis in a single taan, mixture of taan types in a single taan, known for ruba'idar tarana
Mewati GharanaGhagge Nazir KhanMid 19th centuryJasraj, Kala Ramnath, Sanjeev AbhyankarEmphasis on melody, known for bhajans, sapaat taans and gamak taans, use of sargam
Sham Chaurasia GharanaMiyan Chand Khan, Miyan Suraj KhanLate 16th centurySalamat Ali and Nazakat Ali KhanEmphasis on layakari using bol-taan and tihai, fast sargam and taan patterns

Dhrupad gharanas

In the Benares gharana, the words in the text of a song are musically embellished to bring out their meaning, while the Lucknow gharana presents intricately embellished and delicate thumris that are explicit in their eroticism. The principal feature of the thumri of the Patiala gharana is its incorporation of the tappa from the Punjab region. It is with this tappa element that the Patiala gharana makes its impact, departing from the khyal-dominated Benaras thumris and the dance-oriented Lucknow thumris.

Instrumental gharanas

Tabla gharanas

The following are the six widely accepted gharanas :
In Kathak performers today generally draw their lineage from three major schools of Kathak: the Jaipur gharana, the Lucknow gharana and the Banaras gharana ; there is also a less prominent Raigarh gharana which amalgamated technique from all three preceding gharanas but became famous for its own distinctive compositions.
The Lucknow gharana remains the most popular throughout the country. However, in recent times the Jaipur gharana has caught up and today most performers throughout India perform techniques belonging to both styles. With amalgamation of the techniques and poses from other dance forms.