The three most important genres of Hindustani vocal music are: dhrupad, khayaal, and Thumri(ThumRee). This article is an attempt to describe the differences(or similarities) between these genres. Most of the material is from Bonnie Wade's excellent book - "Music in India: The Classical Traditions," Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1987. [The cover price of the book is Rs. 200]

Dhrupad

Dhrupad is the oldest and perhaps the grandest form of Hindustani vocal music. It is said to have descended from an older form called the prabandha (nonexistant today) and adapted for court performance during the reign of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior. dhrupad has been in decline since the 18th century.

Dhrupad (the song)
A dhrupad is composed in a particular raaga and taala and has a text. The composition consists of two parts: sthaa'ee (steady) and antaraa (intermediate) [Note: actually there are two more parts, sanchaaree and aabhog which are rarely sung today]. The antaraa is composed so that it blends into the sthaa'ee both rhythmically and melodically. The dhrupad texts can be devotional or panegyrics.

Dhrupad (the performance)
A dhrupad performance includes improvisation and a dhrupad (the song). The performance sequence is -- improvisation-(sthaa'ee- antaraa-sthaa'ee)-imrpovisation. The improvisation that precedes the dhrupad is called the aalaap. This unmetered exposition of, the raaga begins at the Sa of the middle register. The descent and ascent of the raaga are ever so slowly explored with the ultimate aim of reaching the Sa in the upper register and beyond. At the end of each "melodic thought" the singer comes back to the tonic via a musical phrase called the mohRaa. This phrase also helps provide a sense of temporal variation in an otherwise free and unmetered melody. As the aalaap proceeds the free melody begins to crystallize into a more purposeful rhythm. When the singer feels that he has explored the raga sufficiently he moves without pause into the second part of the aalaap called the nom-tom aalaap where a definite rhythm is established through the use of repeated pitches and vocables.

The aalaap then gives way to the dhrupad which is where the pakhaavaj comes in since the dhrupad is metered. The sthaa'ee is presented in its entirety and then, using the sthaa'ee text the melody is improvised (the first phrase of the sthaa'ee is used as the cadence phrase). The antaraa is then presented and its text is used to further imrpovise the melody (the first phrase of the antaraa is used as the cadence phrase). After the singer returns to the sthaa'ee he begins a lengthy improvisation of the sthaa'ee till the end of the preformance. The types of improvisation are called bolbant (play on words) and boltaans.

There are a couple of interesting things to note - 1) during the aalaap the pakhaavaj player will occasionally tap (very quitely) the drum when the tonic occurs in the mohRaa, and 2) most dhrupad compositions do not being at count 1 of the taala cycle. The dhrupad starts several counts before and the pakhaavaj player joins in at count 1.

Taala
Chautaal (12 beats)is the most commonly used tala for a dhrupad.

Performers
A dhrupad recital typically consists of one or two male vocalists accompanied by a tanpura and pakhaavaj. In a live performance the aalaap-dhrupad sequence lasts an hour or more.

The only exponents (as far as my familiarity goes) of this genre of music are the Dagar brothers (Rajasthan) and Pandit Ram Chatur Mullick (West Bengal).

Dhammar

This genre is similar to dhrupad and like the dhrupad has a very lengthy aalaap. The text in a dhamaar is mostly about the playful Krishna(especially at Holi). dhamaars are almost always in dhamaar taal (14 beats).

Khayaal

This is the most prominent genre of Hindustani (vocal) music. Its origins are somewhat of a mystery. Some people trace its origins to "Sadarang" Nyaamat Khan - a beenkaar in the Mughal court of Muhammad Shah "Rangila".

Khayaal (the song)
A khayaal is also composed in a particular raaga and taala and has a text. The text is very brief. The composition again consists of two parts: sthaa'ee and antaraa. The khayaal texts range from praiseof kings or seasons, description of seasons to the pranks of Krishna, divine love, sorrow of separation, etc. The texts contain rhyme, alliteration, and play on words.

Khayaal (the performance)
A khayaal performance is of two types: baRaa khayaal and chhoTaa khayaal each of which has a two-part (sthaa'ee + antaraa) composition (cheez) and extensive improvisation. BaRaa and chhoTaa khayaals are distinguished from each other by the speed at which they are performed - baRaa khayaal is performed in vilambit laya (slow tempo) or madhya laya (medium tempo) and chhoTaa khayaal is always in drut (fast tempo).

In a khayaal performance, unlike a dhrupad, there is no long unmetered aalaap (the Agra gharana being an exception). The exposition of the raga is very short and normally lasts no more than five minutes. Since the cheez is metered and sung immediately, all improvisation is metered and accompanied by tablaa. The presentation of the cheez varies from artist to artist. The two typical sequences are - 1) sthaa'ee-antaraa-sthaa'ee-improv. and 2) sthaa'ee-improv.-antaraa-improv.-sthaa'ee-improv. (in this the antaraa is sometimes omitted)

The first phrase of the sthaa'ee (or the antaraa) is called the mukhRaa. This vital phrase serves as the cadence phrase and remains intact during the improvisation. The melody of the baRaa khayaal is relatively unimportant compared to the text, taala and the mukhRaa.

The improvisation in baRaa khayaal is pretty much like the aalaap in dhrupad except that it is metered. However, the singer does not establish the rhythm. This is done by changing syllables off the counts, saying words indistinctly, and by singing many pitches to the same syllable. This is where the mukRaa becomes very important. The cheez text is used in the improvisation (instead of vocable syllables). This is called bolaalaap. Sometimes only vowels are used in the improvisation. This is called aakaar. As the performance progresses, the rhythm is established by injecting taans and sargam into the improvisation.  

The chhoTaa khayaal is very rarely a distinct entity. It follows the baRaa khayaal in the same raaga but in a different taala. There is no break between the two and the accelerated phase of the baRaa khayaal blends into the chhoTaa khyaal. Improvisation still continues in this phase. The text sung is usually different from the baRaa khayaal. The characteristic of this part of the performance is the contant acceleration and inclusion of a lot more taans, and repetition of the mukhRaa of the sthaa'ee.  

Some singers substitute taraanaa for chhoTaa khayaal during the performance. The major difference between chhoTaa khayaal and taraanaa is that there is no text (verse or prose) in a taraanaa but vocables form the text of a taraanaa. The characteristic is the syllable ta occurs on count 1 of the taal. Some people say that the vocables of a taraanaa are words of mystic poetry.  

Taala
Teentaal, tilvaaRaa taal, jhaptaal, jhoomraa taal, ektaal are the commonly used talas in a baRaa khayaal performance. teentaal and ektaal are the taalas used most often in chhoTaa khayaal.  

Performers
A khayaal recital typically consists of one or two male/female vocalists accompanied by sarangi and/or harmonium, taanpura and tablaa. A typical live performance lasts about 30-45 minutes.  

There are a number of gharanas associated with this genre of music and the artistes are too numerous to name here. The gharana list posted on SCI should be of some use.  

Thumree

Thumree originated from Lucknow and Benares in the 19th century. This genre is considered to be "light classical" music. Thumrees are composed in lighter raagas and have simpler taalas. There is no aalaap-type improvisation in this genre.  

Thumree (the song)
Thumree, as in the other genres, is composed in raaga and taala and the text has a sthaa'ee and one or more antaraas (one is the norm). The text of a Thumree is usually romantic (amorous) and refer to "the beloved" (may or may not be Krishna). Unlike a khayaal, the text is pronounced very clearly during the performance and the emotions expressed in the text are brought out musically. Thumree (the performance)
The performance sequence is sthaa'ee-improv. (middle and upper registers)-antaraa-imrpov. Another distinguishing characteristic of a Thumree is that after the antaraa has been introduced partially, the singing stops and the tablaa takes over. This is called a laggee where the count is always double no matter what the original taala is. After the laggi, the sthaa'ee is briefly sung and a second antaraa is introduced. A Thumree performance at its fastest speed does not reach the furious climax of a khayaal.  

Taala
Deepchandi, jaT, panjaabee, and kaharvaa are the taalas that are used most often in Thumrees.  

Performers
A Thumree recital typically consists of one or two male/female vocalists accompanied by sarangi and/or harmonium, taanpura, and tablaa. A Thumree is usually performed as the last item of a khayaal concert. Thumree performances are very short compared to khayaal.

Dadra

Daadra is another genre of "light classical" music. It bears a close resemblance to the Thumree. The texts are as amorous as those of Thumrees. The major difference is that daadras have more than one antaraa and are in daadra taala. Singers usually sing a daadra after a Thumree.  

 
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