Ghaseet
Ghaseet is a technique of plucking a note and then, within the
resonance generated, gliding the other hand along the string over
the frets (on the sitar) and along the steel plate (in the case of
the sarode). A Ghaseet is fast paced and differs only in speed from
other alankars in the Meend category. Ghaseets are often played in
jod ang.
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Instrumental |
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Ghaseets on the sitar |
 |
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These are ghaseets on the sarode played in the
jod ang. |
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ITC SRA Guru Manilal Nag plays ghaseets on the sitar
in raga Puriya Dhanashri. |
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Soonth
Just as the ghaseet relates to instrumental music, the Soonth is a
fast paced (basic) meend employed by vocalists. This usually comes
into play in the latter part of the alaap-vistaar, after the pace
picks up.
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Dhrupadiya Falguni Mitra sings Soonths
spanning 4 to 5 notes, P S, G
 , D G, G
N G, S P etc., together with other meends. |
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Sargam
Meends
Any Meend can be sung by the vocalist in aakars, bols of the bandish
or in Sargams.
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Vocal |
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Shrutiji sings several meends in
Mian-ki-Malhar in sargams. For sargam meends, it is important to
know which swar is to be pronounced and which ones are to be
hidden. |
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Guru Ajoy Chakrabarty sings some fluid long
sargam meends in raga Megh. |
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Meends in Dhrupad
It is often said that pure unadulterated meends are best sung by
dhrupadiyas because khayaliyas sometimes succumb to their creative
urge and employ other alankars in the slow preliminary alaap
portions of a recital. Undoubtedly a meend is the strongest weapon
in the dhrupadiya’s armoury.
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Falguni Mitra sings a short alaap
in Raga Bihag. |
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In contrast to the very slow meends in the
above rendition, Falguni Mitra sings Soonths, which are the fast
meends illustrated earlier. These span 4 to 5 notes, P S, G
, D
G, G N G, S P etc. |
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