Tappas: A gift from the gharana vocalists of India

The tappa lyric with its narrative of love, separation and union, is intricately woven with the melodic line that displays dramatic twists and turns on vowels and consonants.

Tappa, one of the Hindustani music forms, is said to have its origins in the songs of the camel-drivers from Punjab.  Ghulam Nabi, a musician in the court of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah of Awadh (1775-1797), incorporated elements of these songs and created the tappa form as we now know it.  In fact, many traditional tappas have been composed by Ghulam Nabi in dialects of Punjabi and his pseudonym Shori Miyan appears in the song-text.


The tappa lyric with its narrative of love, separation and union, is intricately woven with the melodic line that displays dramatic twists and turns on vowels and consonants. The unpredictable quality of these melodic patterns is created by the quicksilver taans or swift phrases.  Taans are employed in khayal too, but the tappa taans are quite different as will be evident from the tracks that are included here.  Their cascading effect is at times broken midway by a long sweep over several melodic intervals only to be followed by quick patterns again.  The emphasis is on an intelligent use of the swift melodic phrases, rather than on a display of technical virtuosity.  Tappas are set to taals like Punjabi, Pashto, and Sitarkhani, and the compositions and elaboration display rhythmic dexterity that is not mathematically quantifiable but is more a matter of creating a melodic-rhythmic tension and a quick resolution.

Tappas have been primarily presented by Gwalior and Banaras gharana vocalists. Today, we listen to tracks performed by those representing the Gwalior lineage.

We begin with a recording of a Doordarshan television programme from 1976 that included tappa and tarana.  Here, Sharad Sathe, one of the seniormost Gwalior vocalists today and a repository of several hundred compositions, and Sarla Bhide, essentially a thumri specialist, present tappas in this programme.  Sharad Sathe also sings a tapkhayal, a hybrid form that includes aspects of tappa and khayal, and Sarla Bhide sings a tapthumri, yet another compound form bringing together tappa and thumri.

Suhasini Mulgaonkar - Tappa/Tarana (1976)
The next track features Laxman Krishnarao Pandit, another doyen of the Gwalior gharana.  He sings a tappa in raag Kafi in the sixteen count Sitarkhani also called Addha taal.

Pt Laxman Krishnarao Pandit - Tappa, raag Bhairavi – Kaafi
We end with a tappa in raag Bhairavi sung by Malini Rajurkar.  It is set to the sixteen matra Sitarkhani taal.  She ends with a tarana in the same raag set to a fast-paced sixteen count Teentaal.

Pandita Malini Rajurkar - Tappa/Tarana , Raga Bhairavi – Lal Wala Joban
See Tappa Raaj Bhairavi here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNECzIclyV4#t=30)

We meet next week with the Banaras vocalists presenting the tappa form.