Ghazal
ग़ज़ल
Urdu and Persian couplet poetry, sung to a raga or to a tune composed for it
The ghazal is a form of independent Urdu and Persian rhyming couplets, sung in Hindustani music as a light classical genre that sets poets such as Ghalib and Mir to melody.
History & Evolution
The ghazal began inside the qasida, the long Arabic ode. The name first meant the ode's opening passages on love and the beloved (nasib), and later any poem on love, wine or spring. Persian poets of the Seljuk period made it a free-standing form signed with the poet's pen name, and the Turkish scholar Halûk İpekten places its height with Salman and Hafiz. Sufi poets such as Attar and Rumi used it to write of divine love.
How the ghazal became a sung form in India is disputed. Grove credits Amir Khusrau with establishing ghazal singing around 1300. The ethnomusicologist Gordon Thompson treats most genres credited to Khusrau as myth, and an IGNOU unit dates ghazal as a musical form to the 18th-century court of Muhammad Shah. In the 20th century, women of courtesan (tawaif) lineage moved their performances from salons and courts to gramophone records, radio, theatre and film. Ghazals were a favourite in films of the 1940s and 1950s, and composers such as Madan Mohan specialised in them.
- Up to c. 1300
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Literary Origins
Arabic poets write the first ghazals as love passages inside longer odes. Persian poets make the ghazal a poem in its own right, and Grove credits Amir Khusrau with establishing it as a sung form in South Asia around 1300.
- Late 17th to 19th Century
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Urdu Flowering
Vali Deccani (1667-1707) writes an Urdu divan that surprises Delhi, where Urdu, then called rekhta, still counted as a lesser literary language. Mir Taqi Mir (1722/23-1810) leaves six Urdu divans and Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869) writes in Urdu and Persian. Singers later set Mir's and Ghalib's ghazals many times.
- Mid-20th Century
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Modern Era
Begum Akhtar (1914-1974), trained in the Patiala and Kirana gharanas, wins fame for ghazal, thumri and dadra. In 1972 the Sangeet Natak Akademi gives her its award for Hindustani Vocal Music.
- Late 20th Century
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International Reach
Mehdi Hassan (1927-2012), from a family of dhrupad musicians, sets verses by Faiz and Ahmad Faraz and tours abroad. Ghulam Ali first performs in India in 1980. Jagjit and Chitra Singh win a mass audience with The Unforgettables (1976 or 1977).
Technical Aspects
Couplet Structure
A ghazal is a chain of couplets, each called a sher (plural ash'ar), and each line of a couplet is a misra. Every sher carries its full sense, so the poem may change subject from one couplet to the next. In concert a singer picks four or more couplets from a longer poem, and a line of the opening couplet returns as a refrain.
Rhyme and Refrain
The qafiya is the rhyme every second line repeats. The radif is a word or phrase repeated unchanged after it, and some ghazals have none. The matla, the opening couplet, rhymes in both lines, and the maqta, the closing couplet, carries the poet's pen name (takhallus). Metre (bahr), radif and qafiya together make up the zamin (ground) of a ghazal.
The Mehfil and Accompaniment
In a mehfil (mahfil), a gathering for music, listeners applaud with wah-wah (bravo). Jameela Siddiqi writes that by tacit agreement the most classical rendition pairs one voice with tabla and one melodic instrument, ideally a sarangi, now more often a harmonium. The melodic instrument shadows the singer and fills the gaps between couplets.
精进之路
循着这条系统的路径，精通这一艺术门类
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Urdu diction and the poem
Learn to pronounce Urdu with care and to read each poem for its meaning before you sing it. Ghazal singers put the words first: Ghulam Ali has spoken of the long training it takes to pronounce Urdu well, and Mehdi Hassan studied Urdu poetry so that he could fit verses to melody. Begin with poets such as Mir, Ghalib and Faiz.
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Voice and Pitch
Train your voice to hold pitch. Ghulam Ali counts hitting the right notes among the skills that take a ghazal singer long training. Many leading ghazal singers were well versed in Hindustani classical music. Practise with a drone and check each note against it.
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Raga, tune and rhythm
Learn how a ghazal melody is built. A composer may base it on a raga, a melodic framework with its own notes and phrases, or on a tune composed for the poem. Mehdi Hassan set one Ahmad Faraz ghazal for the film Muhabbat in raga Yaman. IGNOU describes Dadra, of six beats, and Kaharwa, of eight, as talas (rhythmic cycles) much used in light music.
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Interpretation
Work on how each couplet sits in its melody; the Couplet Structure section explains the form. Farida Khanum credits Mehdi Hassan with bringing a classical, dhrupad-based approach to ghazal singing. Jagjit Singh said he chose simple poems, set them to simple tunes and added Western instruments to suit modern taste. Hear one ghazal sung by each, then note where each stretches or repeats a line.
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Performance Practice
Study recordings by Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh, and rehearse with harmonium or sarangi and tabla. The historian Saleem Kidwai recalls Begum Akhtar's skill before live mehfil (gathering) audiences, often without a microphone, built on years of singing and on understanding the poetry. Sing for small gatherings to learn how listeners respond.
常见问题
Where can I learn ghazal singing online with a live teacher?
For ghazal singing online, KalaSudha pairs you with a vetted teacher for live one-to-one lessons. The ghazal is a poem of independent rhyming couplets, above all in Urdu and Persian, and in Hindustani music the light classical genre that sets them to melody.
In a sung ghazal the words lead. Your Foundation stage starts with careful Urdu pronunciation and with reading each poem for its meaning, from poets such as Mir and Ghalib. In our online academy, 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!