Aalap
The slow unfolding of a raag at the start of a performance, without taal, swara by swara.
Aaroh
The way a raag climbs from Sa to taar Sa: which swaras it uses going up, and in what order.
Andolan
A slow, gentle swing of a swara towards its neighbour, as komal Re and Dha sway in raag Bhairav.
Avartan
One whole cycle of a taal, from sam round to the next sam.
Avaroh
The way a raag comes down from taar Sa to Sa.
Bandish
A composition: in vocal music the song a khayal is built on, in instrumental music its gat.
Bol
A syllable that names a stroke of the tabla or the pakhawaj: Dha, Dhin, Na, Tin. The bols of a theka can be said aloud as well as played.
Jati
How many swaras a raag uses going up and coming down: audav (five), shadav (six) or sampurna (all seven).
Khali
The empty vibhag of a taal, marked 0 and shown with a silent wave of the hand. On the tabla its bols are closed, the bayan's bass left out, so the cycle can be heard.
Komal
Soft: a swara a semitone lower than its shuddh form. Re, Ga, Dha and Ni can be komal.
Laya
Tempo: how fast the matras go. Vilambit is slow, madhya medium, drut fast.
Layakari
Playing two, three or four times as many notes or bols to each matra (dugun, tigun, chaugun) while the taal keeps its pace.
Matra
A beat of a taal.
Meend
A glide from one swara to another, through all that lies between: on the bansuri, made by slowly uncovering or covering the holes. Meend gives this app its name.
Nyas
A swara a raag's phrases come to rest on.
Pakad
A short phrase that catches a raag: hear it and you know which raag it is.
Prahar
A watch of three hours. The day and the night have four each, and raags are sung and played in the prahar that suits them.
Raag
A melodic framework: its swaras, how it climbs and falls, its phrases, its important swaras and its hour. More than a scale, less than a tune.
Riyaz
Practice: daily, patient, and for life.
Sam
The first matra of a taal's cycle, marked X: where it begins, and where phrases, taans and tihais land.
Samvadi
The second most important swara of a raag, after the vadi, usually a fourth or a fifth away from it.
Saptak
The seven swaras from Sa to Ni, and the octave they span: mandra (low), madhya (middle) and taar (high).
Shuddh
Pure: a swara in its natural place.
Swara
A note: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha or Ni, and the komal and tivra forms of five of them.
Taal
A cycle of matras, its vibhags marked by claps and waves, played on the tabla as its theka.
Tali
A clap: the sign at the start of a vibhag that is clapped, numbered 2, 3, 4… after sam.
Thaat
A parent scale of seven swaras; Bhatkhande sorted the raags of Hindustani music into ten of them.
Theka
The tabla's basic pattern for a taal, one bol to each matra.
Tihai
A phrase played three times so that its last stroke falls on sam, or on another chosen matra.
Tivra
Sharp: Ma raised a semitone above its shuddh form. Ma is the only swara that can be tivra.
Vadi
The most important swara of a raag, the one it returns to and dwells on.
Vibhag
A section of a taal: its matras grouped, each group begun with a clap or a wave.