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TheAlap (/æˈlɑːp/;Hindustani:[aːˈlaːp]) is the opening section of a typicalNorth Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops araga. Indhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompanied (except for thetanpuradrone), and started at a slow tempo.For people unfamiliar with the raga form, it introduces thethaat to the listener. It defines the raga, its mood, and the emphasized notes and notes with a secondary role.
Instead of wholly free improvisation, many musicians perform alap schematically, for example by way ofvistar, where the notes of the raga are introduced one at a time, so that phrases never travel further than one note above or below what has been covered before. In such cases, the first reach into a new octave can be a powerful event.
In instrumental music, when a steady pulse is introduced into the alap, it is calledjor; when the tempo has been greatly increased, or when the rhythmic element overtakes the melodic, it is calledjhala (dhrupad:nomtom). The jor and jhala can be seen as separate sections of the performance, or as parts of the alap; in the same way, jhala can be seen as a part of jor.[1]
Severalmusicologists have proposed much more complicated classifications and descriptions of alap. In the same way as traditional four-part compositions have asthai,antara,sanchar andabhog, some treat alap with a four-part scheme using the same names.Bengali researcher Bimalakanto Raychoudhuri in hisBharatiya Sangeetkosh suggests classification both by length (aochar being the shortest, followed bybandhan,kayed andvistar) and by performance style (according to the four ancientvanis or singing styles –Gohar,Nauhar,Dagar andKhandar), and proceeds to list thirteen stages:
Even though Raychoudhuri admits the 13th stage is wholly extinct, as we see we are in jhala already at the fourth stage; the sthai-to-abhog movement is all part of the first stage (vilambit). Stages six and up are for instrumentalists only. Other authorities have forwarded other classifications. For example, when alap is sung with lyrics or at least syllables, as indhrupad, it is calledsakshar as opposed toanakshar.[citation needed]