Dadra
दादरा
Thumri's close relative, sung in six or eight beats around a returning refrain
Dadra is a semi-classical Hindustani vocal form allied to thumri, sung to the six-beat dadra tala or eight-beat kaherva, with tight phrases that return to the refrain.
History & Evolution
Aneesh Pradhan calls dadras a subset of the thumri genre, and the form's history runs with thumri's. From the late 19th century Banaras developed the bol banao thumri, a word-led style that drew on local Bhojpuri folk culture. Its eastern manner of singing thumri and dadra is called the purab ang.
Siddheshwari Devi (1908 to 1977), a leading singer of the Banaras gharana (a school of style passed from teacher to student), recorded dadras in ragas Gara and Bhairavi. Girija Devi (1929 to 2017), of the same gharana and the senior exponent of purab ang thumri, sang dadra and kajri that The Tribune calls Banarasi in character. Rasoolan Bai recorded a fast dadra to dholak accompaniment.
Singers from other traditions took up the form too. Begum Akhtar (1914 to 1974) mixed dadra and ghazal on her first HMV record in 1927, and her dadra "Hamri atariya pe aao sanwariya" drew repeated applause on her concert tours of 1954 to 1961. The khayal singer Faiyaz Khan (1886 to 1950) recorded a fast dadra, and Kumar Gandharva and the dhrupad singer Vidur Mallick also recorded dadras.
- 19th Century
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Thumri family roots
Thumri, the family to which dadra belongs, is a clear genre by the 1830s and rises at the Awadh court of Wajid Ali Shah, who reigned from 1847 to 1856. Tawaifs, courtesan musicians, sing it most widely.
- Early 20th Century
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First Recordings
The Gramophone Company of India issues commercial records of thumri and ghazal from 1903. Begum Akhtar's first recording, which the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts dates to 1927, mixes dadra with ghazal.
- Mid-20th Century
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Radio and concert hall
Concert halls and radio studios replace the mehfil, a private gathering for invited listeners, and courtesan singers remake themselves as concert artists. In 1944 Begum Akhtar records a dadra at All India Radio, Lucknow.
- 2019-20
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Formal Teaching
CBSE's 2019-20 senior secondary syllabus asked for a composition in sadra or dadra and recitation of the dadra theka, and a University of Delhi course teaches dadra together with thumri and tappa.
Technical Aspects
Dadra and Kaherva Talas
Dadra tala has six matras (beats) in two equal vibhags (sections) of three. Beat one is sam, the first beat of the cycle, marked with a clap; beat four is khali, the "empty" section, marked with a wave of the hand. One common theka, the drum-syllable pattern that defines a tala on the tabla, runs dha dhin na | dha tin na, though the syllables vary between teachers. Drummers play it at medium or fast tempo. Some musicians call the faster form khemta, and others keep the name dadra.
The other usual cycle for dadras is kaherva, which has eight beats. As in thumri, a dadra includes a laggi: after a verse the tabla or dholak player breaks into quicker, varied patterns, at times moving from dadra tala into kaherva before coming back. Rasoolan Bai's fast dadra with dholak shows this switch. Beyond the song form, dadra tala runs through regional folk music, from Rajasthani maand to Bengali baul and the kajri of Uttar Pradesh.
Ragas Used in Dadra
Ragas (melodic frameworks, each with its own notes and phrases) common in dadra include Khamaj, Kafi, Pilu and Bhairavi, and Gara also appears on record. Khamaj carries many dadras, and singers of different traditions have recorded it: Latafat Hussain Khan of the Agra gharana, the dhrupad singer Vidur Mallick and Kumar Gandharva. Begum Akhtar recorded Kafi dadras, the Banaras singer Mahadev Prasad Mishra a Pilu dadra, and Siddheshwari Devi dadras in Gara and Bhairavi. Zila Kafi, a light variant close to the textbook raga, carries dadras too; the sitarist Nikhil Banerjee played it in dadra tala on the sitar.
As in thumri, a singer may step outside the raga for a moment to serve the words. The step should stay brief and should never wander at random between ragas. The University of Delhi's course on semi-classical forms pairs thumri, dadra and tappa with the same four ragas and with the talas dadra, kaherva, addha and deepchandi.
How Dadra Sounds
The sthayi, the opening line of the song, works as a home base. The singer makes short excursions from it and lands back on it, and the tala cycle stays intact through every departure. Thumri leaves a singer freer to elaborate before coming back. With fewer beats to fill, Aneesh Pradhan argues, dadra keeps its melodic lines short and brings voice and drum into conversation more often.
Singers also use the words as rhythm. Siddheshwari Devi shaped her melodic ideas in the eastern style and used the words of the text to syncopate, placing accents against the beat. According to the writer and broadcaster Jameela Siddiqi, dadra texts often open in Braj Bhasha, an older literary form of Hindi, and may continue with Urdu couplets.
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Dadra and Kaherva
Dadra study starts from raga and tala: one university course on semi-classical forms asks for at least six years of training, or an understanding of shruti, svara, raga and tala. Begin by keeping time in dadra tala, clapping the first beat and waving on the fourth, then recite its theka at an even pace. Add the eight-beat kaherva next, since many dadras use it.
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Raga Vocabulary
Learn ragas common in dadra: Khamaj, Kafi, Pilu and Bhairavi. Sing each raga's ascent, descent and main phrases until its movement feels secure. Then listen to dadras in each raga and mark where the singer steps outside the raga for a word and where the line comes back.
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Repertoire
Learn complete dadra compositions, verse by verse, and follow how each verse moves the story on. Practise short excursions from the sthayi, the opening line, that come back to the refrain while the rhythm holds. Build a small repertoire across Khamaj, Kafi, Pilu and Bhairavi.
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Ornamentation
Practise murki and khatka, quick turns of a few notes that a national school syllabus lists among the ornaments of Hindustani singing. Work on them at medium and fast tempo. Keep them short in a fast dadra, which leaves little room for elaboration, and let them open out when the tempo slows.
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Listening and Performance
Listen to dadras by Banaras singers and by khayal singers side by side, using the recordings named on this page, and compare a fast dadra with a slower one. Notice where the laggi comes and how the singer returns to the refrain. Then prepare a dadra as the lighter closing piece of a recital.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I learn dadra singing online with a live teacher?
Dadra lessons with KalaSudha run online, live and one-to-one with a vetted teacher. A dadra is a semi-classical song allied to thumri, and the tighter of the two: its melody stays close to the refrain.
Singers usually set a dadra to the six-beat dadra tala, so your Foundation stage starts there. You clap the first beat, wave on the fourth, then recite its theka, its fixed drum pattern, at an even pace. The eight-beat kaherva comes next. In our courses, your teacher closes each topic after reviewing your work, and workshops and summer camps run where enough learners sign up.
Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!