Gwalior Gharana - school of classical music :

The Gwalior Gharana is one of the oldest Khyal Gharanas. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the great Mughal emperor Akbar. The favorite singers of  patron of the arts, such as Miyan Tansen, first amongst the vocalists at the court, came from the town of Gwalior. During the time of Mughal kings Ustad Naththan Pir Bakhsh and his maternal grandsons were the legendary Haddu, Hassu and Natthu Khan.The main musician in the court at the time was Ustad Bade Mohammad Khan who was famous for his taanbaazi. Both Ustad Bade Mohammad Khan and Ustad Naththan Pir Bakhsh belonged to the same tradition of Shahi Sadarang.

History :

The Gwalior Gharana evolved during the time of the Mughal Empire (1526CE – 1857 CE). Among the early masters (ustad) were Naththan Khan, Naththan Pir Bakhsh and his grandsons Haddu, Hassu and Natthu Khan.The head musician in the imperial court was Bade Mohammad Khan, who was famous for his taan bazi style. Both Bade Mohammad Khan and Naththan Pir Bakhsh belonged to the same tradition of Shahi Sadarang (also known as Nemat Khan, dhrupad singer and veena player in the court of Mohammad Shah (1702 CE – 1748 CE).

Another of the brothers' students was a Muslim dhrupad and dhamar singer from Amritsar, Banne Khan (1835 – 1910). He teaches for a time in Punjab and Sindh and then takes a musical position at the court of Nizam of Hyderabad. Banne Khan's pupils included his cousin, Amir Khan (also known as "Meeran Bukhsh Khan"), Gamman Khan, Bhai Atta, Ali Bukhsh (also known as "Kale Khan"), Mian Qadir (sarangi), and Bhai Wadhava (also known as Bhai Wasawa).

On 19 August 1922, Amir Khan performed at the second annual celebration of the independence of India. He became a mentor to a singer from Afghanistan, also performing at the celebration. This was the singer, Qasim Afghan ("Qasimju") (born 1878, Kabul).[8] Amir Khan was appointed as a musician at the court of Maharajadhiraj Maharawal (Sir Jawahir Singh) of Jaisalmer (1914 – 1949). Amir Khan was also a teacher of Seth Vishandas of Hyderabad in Sindh near Karachi and Mahant Girdharidas of Bhuman Shah, Punjab.

Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (1893 – 1989) was a musician of the Gwalior gharana heritage. His father, Shankarrao Pandit was a student of Haddu Khan, Nathu Khan and Nissar Hussain Khan, Nathu Khan's son. Krishnarao Shankar Pandit practiced Khayal, Tappa and Tarana singing as well as layakari.

In 1914, Krishnarao Shankar Pandit opened a school in Gwalior, the Shankar Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. In 1921, he was awarded the title Gayak Shiromani at the All India Congress. Pandit became the court musician to Madhavrao Scindia of Gwalior; the State Musician of Maharashtra, an emeritus professor at Madhav Music College, Gwalior and an emeritus producer at All India Radio and Doordarshan. For his contribution to the world of classical music, he received awards including the Padma Bhushan in 1973 and the Tansen Award in 1980. The students of Krishnarao Shankar Pandit included his son, Laxman Krishnarao Pandit, Sharadchandra Arolkar, Balasaheb Poochwale, and his granddaughter Meeta Pandit.

Features :

A distinguishing feature of the gharana is its simplicity, and one means to this is the selection of well-known ragas so that the listener is saved the effort of trying to identify the raga. While the khyal singer does include "Raga Vistar" (melodic expansion) and "Alankar" (melodic ornamentation) to enhance the beauty and meaning of the raga, there is no attempt to include the "Tirobhava" (using melodic phrases to obscure the identity of the raga) feature in the interest of adding interest or mystery to the listener's experience.

The singing itself places Bandish (the composition) at the heart of the presentation because of the gharana's belief that the full melody of the raga and guidance on its singing is provided by the bandish. The asthayi section is sung twice before the antara, to be followed by swar-vistar in medium tempo. This slow rendition of the notes is known as the Behlava, and is sung from Ma in the lower register to Pa in the higher register, following the pattern of the Aroha (ascent) and Avaroha (descent) of the raga. The behlava is divided into the asthayi (from Ma to Sa) and antara (from Ma, Pa, or Dha to Pa of the higher register). The Dugun-Ka-Alap follows in which groups of two or four note combinations are sung in quicker succession but the basic tempo remains the same.

Bol-baant, bol-taan, no sargam, wide range in taans, alankarik taans, descending sapaat taans, roughly similar emphasis on melody and rhythm, preference for simple (as opposed to compound) ragas, repertoire of bandishes, variety of taans The Bol-Alap is next in which the different words of the text are sung in different ways, to be followed by Murkis in which notes are sung with ornamentation to a faster pace. Bol-Taans entail the formation of melodic sequences with the words of the song. The other Taans, including the Gamak, follow.

The Sapat Taan is important to the Gwalior style and refers to the singing of notes in a straight sequence and at a Vilambit pace. Both Dhrupad and Khyal singing evolved in Gwalior and there are many overlaps. In the khyal style there is one form, Mundi Dhrupad, that incorporates all the features of dhrupad singing but without the Mukhda.

Common ragas include Alhaiya Bilawal, Yaman, Bhairav, Sarang, Shree, Hameer, Gaud Malhar, and Miya Ki Malhar.