Therefore, this article will talk about the general concepts of Alankars. It will also list the some common alankars in use today and provide their meaning. Subsequent posts shall pick up one of the types and explain in detail with examples and frequency analysis of the examples to better understand the concept and visually view the ornamentation in use!
The word "Alankar" means ornamentation. Of course in our context, we use alankars to decorate the musical notes or swars. How do we do that? Remember from our first article that our music is "analogue" in that that our notes are not staccato notes (in Raag music). So every note being sung is in "some way" connected to the note sung previous to this one and the note to be sung after this. This "some way" is actually decorating the note in question and there are many ways to do this in Hindustani Classical Music. Some earlier works suggest that Hindustani Classical Music had 33 different types of Alankars. Much few are in regular use today.
The importance of Alankars in Raag music cannot be overemphasised. Though we are yet to discuss about Raags as a topic, it is assumed that readers would be aware of the basic concept. There are some Raags that share the same set of swars, but it is the use of Alankars decorating some notes in a particular way that distinguish Raags sharing the same notes. Apart from this use of Alankars, they are often used by vocalists (and instrumentalists) to bring about different colours to their presentations. Thus in some situations use of Alankars are 'mandated' due to the rules of a Raag, and in some other cases it is the mastery of the performer to use them to bring about a flavour or colour to the presentation. It must be emphasised here that overuse or incorrect use of Alankars can be jarring. It requires great skill (as a vocalist or instrumentalist) to use Alankars and a sense of music education as to when and where to use it or not use it. This is one of the reasons why learning classical music under the guidance of a 'guru' is very essential.
Below is a table of Alankars commonly in use today. Please note that the list is not exhaustive or the meanings to be taken as the final definition of the Alankars.
Some rich information about Alankars are found at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, here. It has an exhaustive list with examples of each.
I will take up a few types in the subsequent articles and discuss in details about them.
