Saturday, June 2, 2007

The alap and the jor evolve into the gat or bandish, the fixed compositions of the raag. The gat is divided into two parts called vilambit and drut. Vilambit is set to a slower tempo, while drut is the fast composition. Here the drums enter with the rhythmic structure of the gat and its time cycle, the taal. Here the musician improvises on a variety of taans (musical phrases in different speeds) and todas (a combination of plucked passages). The step-by-step acceleration of the rhythm in the gat finally culminates in the jhala, the final movement and the climax of the raag. Here the music becomes more and more playful and exciting.

No comments: