1. There were two main kinds of in the early nineteenth century: the , which focussed on a highly flexible melodic interpretation of the text; and the which specialized in rhythmic manipulations of melody and text. Whereas the popular had more commonly been set in shorter structures of six (), seven () and eight counts the used for compositions comprised mainly fourteen or sixteen counts (see Figure 5). As Manuel has shown (145-52), little separates fourteen- from sixteen-count , and since performance practice used to favor their flexible rhythmic interpretation they may in fact have been one and the same thing. Confusingly, both are called or (latterly) , and is another word sometimes encountered.

  2. Structural evidence suggests few differences between of eight and sixteen counts (see Figure 6). In essence they all move in pitch from low to high, or from (full) to (empty), and back again. The quality of fullness is conveyed by the presence of the bass drum, which is represented by voiced syllables such as the phonemes and ; emptiness is suggested by the absence of the bass, and the corresponding unvoiced syllables such as and . First, these are not additive structures but rather divisive, based on their internal hierarchy: all of these sixteen-count could be, and indeed often are, counted as eight or four beats, and the eight-count varieties as four or two beats. Second, these are not quantitative structures but rather qualitative, based on the means they use to realize this: their variable pitch, stress, and timbral qualities can be seen to follow almost identical patterns of organization, which I have tried to show by vertical alignment. One notes the -oriented changes in pitch, a strategy that highlights the tendency for the all-important (the only surviving Arabic/Persian term among Sanskrit ones) to fall halfway through the patterns. When conceived as fours the final prepares the return to with a contrasting musical signal. Since greatest contrast is achieved through pitch differentiation, the fourth often includes the return of the bass drum. Sometimes, too, contrast is conveyed by density: a cadential flourish of more rapid strokes.

  3. If we observe Figure 6 closely, the folk/popular-derived and might not look very much alike in all their details, but they do share certain structural properties: they move from to using sequences of that are almost identical in their pitch and stress contours. Their similarities become even more apparent when examined in relation to the slower is a folk dance from Rajasthan/Punjab) which, it could be argued, combines the cadential features of both the others. In turn, 's relationship to the stately (a hill fortress in the Punjab) and the primary of ( is a folk dance from the Punjab hills) is unmistakeable. and are really varieties of the same thing, but with different rhythmic emphases within the : both disguise the pulse, especially when the former is played in the now extinct (limping) style (see Manuel 149-50). The purpose of such rhythmic ambiguity is probably to accommodate irregular melodic phrasing through sensitive accompaniment, and an important contributor to this is the variable-pitch stroke (Stewart 368). And thus one sees the connection between these and , which also has the delightful name of "the donkey's tail ": mimics accurately elements of pitch and stress not immediately obvious in the notation.


  4. The distinctly swinging, lilting was one of the direct precursors of , and even Bhatkhande referred to the latter as (11). The other was known as , or simply , and was notated by Imam in the mid-nineteenth century (190). The name also appeared regularly on early twentieth-century recording labels, in fact much more so than the term (see Kinnear 1994). Although means "slow", these early recordings show that its pace was what we would now think of as (medium-fast tempo): roughly 200 beats per minute. Recorded tabla accompaniments from this era show a strong tendency to integrate the rhythmic features and stroke patterns of both and . Fast 's indebtedness to is undeniable, since it tends to use the recited phrase rather than the more cumbersome that is more suitable at slower speeds. Fast also mimics effectively the "" (footwork) patterns of the kathak dancer. Fast is nearly always reverted to at the conclusion of a where, in the past, the singer and/or members of the dance troupe were expected to dance in quick tempo as the final refrain of the song was repeated.