What is the difference between Hindustani and Carnatic music?

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.