Raag Malkauns - Shafqat Ali Khan

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Classical Indian Vocals - Shafqat Ali Khan : Event hosted by the Canada Pakistan Association at University of Ottawa , Alumni Theatre, 2009 - 12:00, 16:00, 21:54, tabla: 25:00 .

Khyal (or Khayal ) is the modern genre of  classical singing in  North India. Its name comes from an Arabic word meaning "imagination". It is thought to have developed out of the qawwal singing style. It appeared more recently than dhrupad , is a more free and flexible form, and it provides greater scope for improvisation . 

Khyal bases itself on a repertoire of short songs (two to eight lines); a khyal song is called a bandish. Every singer generally renders the same bandish differently, with only the text and the raga remaining the same. The compositions cover diverse topics, such as romantic or divine love, praise of kings or gods, the seasons, dawn and dusk, and the pranks of Krishna, and they can have symbolism and imagery . The bandish is divided into two parts — the sthayi (or asthayi) and the antara. The sthayi often uses notes from the lower octave and the lower half of the middle octave, while the antara ascends to the tonic of the upper octave and beyond before descending and linking back to the sthayi . The singer uses the composition as raw material for improvisation, accompanied by a harmonium  playing off the singer's melody line, a set of tabla, and a drone in the background. The role of the accompanist playing the melody-producing instrument is to provide continuity when the singer pauses for breath, using small variations of the singer's phrases or parts thereof.

A typical khyal performance uses two songs — the bada khyal or great khyal, in slow tempo , comprises most of the performance, while the chhota khyal (small khyal), in fast tempo , is used as a finale and is usually in the same raga but a different rhythmic pattern. The songs are sometimes preceded by improvised "alap"  to sketch the basic raga structure without drum accompaniment; alap is given much less room in khyal than in dhrupad. Uploaded by "tasawwuf".

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