Skip to content

Module 1: Orientation · Lesson 2

Carnatic and Hindustani music

Confidence: high Last verified:

Two classical traditions of one subcontinent

India has two main classical music traditions: Carnatic music in the south and Hindustani music in the north. Both are fully developed systems, and neither is a simpler or lesser version of the other.

What they share

They grow from the same old roots. Both use the ideas you will learn in this site:

  • a home note, the Tonic , and notes measured from it (Shruti , Swara );
  • the Raga as the melodic framework;
  • the Tala as the rhythmic cycle;
  • ancient Sanskrit treatises such as the Natya Shastra and the Sangita Ratnakara as shared ancestors. Both traditions treat the Sangita Ratnakara as an authority (the NIOS textbook places it at the end of the ancient period, before the two separated).

How they differ, in broad strokes

Over several centuries the two traditions moved apart, in the different cultural and historical settings of the north and the south. The differences below are common generalisations, and individual musicians and schools vary.

TopicCarnaticHindustani
WhereSouth IndiaNorth India
Composed songsA large repertoire of fixed songs by named composers sits at the centre of the concertCompositions (such as khyal) are used too, and a performance often begins with a free elaboration of the raga (alap)
RagasOrganised in the 72-parent (melakarta) schemeGrouped by a “thaat” system (Bhatkhande); some scales have counterparts under different names (NIOS gives Bilaval as the Hindustani equivalent of Sankarabharanam)
TalaCounted with a distinct set of cycles such as the 8-beat Adi talaHas its own set of cycles

Because the two traditions name and group their ragas differently, never assume that a raga name or scale means the same thing in both.

Why this matters for you

You do not need to know anything about Hindustani music to follow this site. The point to take away is that some words, such as raga, tala and swara, are used in both traditions, and it is the Carnatic meaning that this site teaches.

References for this page

Type at least two letters. Try a raga name, a tala, or a word like "gamaka".