Indian classical music glossary for beginners

A raga is the melodic framework of Indian classical music: a set of notes and the way the melody rises and falls through them. Its signature phrase, called the pakad in Hindustani music, identifies it. A raga also carries a mood (rasa), and in Hindustani music often a time of day.

Musicians compose in a raga and improvise inside its rules. Yaman, for example, is an evening raga that uses the sharp fourth, teevra Ma.

Hindustani and Carnatic music are the classical traditions of north and south India. Both build on raga, the melodic framework, and tala, the rhythmic cycle, but each has its own forms and instruments.

In a Hindustani performance, musicians improvise on the raga around a composition (bandish) and often speed up as they go. A Carnatic concert centres on the kriti, a composed song, with improvisation around it, and its pulse stays steady.

The north groups ragas under 10 parent scales, called thaats; the south uses 72, called melakartas. Typical instruments are the sitar and tabla in the north and the veena and mridangam in the south.

A gharana is a school of Hindustani classical music: a style that teachers hand down to disciples, often within one family, over at least three generations. Most gharanas are named after a place, such as the Gwalior and Agra gharanas.

Each gharana has its own sound and way of improvising. Tabla players and Kathak dancers have gharanas too, such as the Farrukhabad gharana of tabla. Carnatic musicians speak of a bani, a musician's individual style.

A tanpura is a long-necked, unfretted lute that plays a steady drone behind a singer or instrumentalist. It usually has four metal strings, tuned to the tonic (Sa) and generally the fifth (Pa).

The tonic is the soloist's chosen base pitch, and every accompanist tunes to it. The tanpura is played to keep that pitch sounding under the melody. Each string meets a slightly curved bridge over a thin thread, and that contact makes the overtone-rich sound called jawari. Carnatic musicians call the instrument the tambura.

A baithak is a small, seated gathering for Indian classical music, with the audience close to the musicians. The word means "sitting".

KalaSudha builds its concerts on the baithak model. At short range you hear the detail of a raga: the finger on the string and the fingertip on the tabla skin.

In the UK, KalaSudha presents London Ragas, a monthly baithak in London whose venue varies: see where to hear a baithak in London. For seating, see Is seating allocated?

At your first Indian classical concert with KalaSudha, expect about 2 to 2½ hours in all: two halves with a short interval between them. The classical raga set comes first.

• Arrive at the door time on the event page to hear the alap, the raga's slow opening: see when to arrive.
• Seating depends on the venue: see Is seating allocated?
• Switch your phone off or to silent before the music starts; photos and short clips are welcome at the end.
• Clap at the end of each piece. A soft "wah" at a striking moment is welcome, but stay silent while musicians tune.

You can follow the music without knowing any ragas: see Will I follow it?

A good first Indian classical concert in the UK is a KalaSudha baithak, such as London Ragas in London, or a KalaSudha concert in your own city. A baithak is a small concert where you sit close to the musicians.

A KalaSudha concert lasts about 2 to 2½ hours, in two halves with an interval. You need no background: you do not have to know the raga, the melodic framework of a piece, to follow your first concert. The KalaSudha events listing shows the concerts on sale.

Yes. You do not need to recognise a raga or count a taal to follow a Hindustani (North Indian) classical concert.

A raga performance opens with the alap, a slow section with no pulse. In instrumental music the jor then brings in a steady pulse, and when the tabla enters with the composition, the rhythm takes hold.

Come at the door time so you hear the opening alap. New to the format? Read what a baithak is and when to arrive. Going to a dance evening? Read what Kathak is.