Tarana: A Musical Language Rooted In Rhythm And Melody

Language is a defining attribute that distinguishes us from other species on the planet. It is a source of human creativity, cultural enrichment, and complex social structure.
Different people have many different ways of speaking, which are more or less similar to one another; an arbitrarily chosen collection of word sequences is as much a language as any other. But language can be a fascinating phenomenon, as one can experience a range of emotions simply by listening to random sounds emanating from a source.
Music, for example, is often regarded as a profound language, as it can evoke powerful emotions with or without words. One such expression in the domain of Indian Classical music is Tarana which uses syllables in the form of a musical language tied in with melody and rhythm, allowing musicians to move beyond the restrictions that literal language may pose.
The fast-paced composition of Tarana uses wordless syllable clusters such as dhim, tana, nom, tadare, tadani, tom, tanom, and so on for lyrics inspired by the bols of a tabla or a pakhawaj. It may also be possible that the use of such syllables was inspired by those used in alaap. Also, it is believed that the Persian and Arabic phonemes may have influenced the formation of the musical language.
Ustad Amir Khan, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ustad Rashid Khan are some of the most well-known singers who didn't only achieve great mastery of the form, but also contributed to its evolution.
Interestingly, Tarana was invented by Amir Khusrau, the stalwart responsible for establishing the foundation of many other forms of Hindustani Classical Sangeet.
Tarana, as a form, best represents the vocalist's urge to move away from song-text structure and into the realm of instrumental music. Ustad Amir Khan has been the greatest exponent of Tarana in the history of the Hindustani Sangeet.
Rajat Kapoor has even made a fantastic film on the art form titled "Tarana." It is a great portrayal of the musical form in the context of Hindustani Classical Sangeet; providing a visual and auditory experience of the beauty of Tarana, and showcases its power to evoke emotions in listeners.
Also read: Ustad Noor Baksh : The Benju Maestro from Balochistan
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