Megh Malhar - Volume 4

Khyal (often spelled khayal) is the principal improvisatory vocal genre of North Indian (Hindustani) classical music. The word means “imagination,” and the style celebrates inventive melodic expansion within the strict grammar of raga and tala. A typical performance centers on two compositions (bandish): a slow, expansive vilambit or bada khyal followed by a fast drut or chhota khyal. Singers develop the raga through alap-like vistaar (melodic elaboration), bol-alap and bol-bant (text-based improvisation), sargam passages (solfège), and taans (fast, cascading runs) that culminate on the sam (downbeat). Khyal emphasizes microtonal nuance and vocal ornamentation—meend (glides), andolan (slow oscillations), gamak (heavy shakes), and intricate layakari (rhythmic play). It is accompanied by a tanpura drone, tabla in a chosen tala (often teentaal, ektal, or jhoomra), and a melodic support instrument such as sarangi or harmonium. Over the last two centuries, distinct gharanas (schools) have shaped its aesthetics, including Gwalior, Agra, Kirana, Jaipur-Atrauli, Patiala, Mewati, and Rampur-Sahaswan.