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ALAP - FREE ELABORATION UPON THE RAG

by David Courtney working tools


The alap is a to­tally rhythm­less style based upon a free elabor­ation upon the rag.  It is us­ually the introductory sec­tion.  The alap may vary in length from a few se­conds to over an hour.  It is in this sec­tion that a rag is explored comp­letely.

There are seve­ral types of alap.  When­ever there are no words or bols, it is called anakshar alap.  When­ever words or bols are used it is re­fer­red to as sakshar alap.  It is very com­mon to use words of the sub­sequent song or in some cases ge­ne­ral pur­pose words such as anantha, hari, om, or narayan.

Although alap does not have a wide pop­ular ap­peal, it is still con­si­dered the mark of proper training.  Where other forms of the song allow some latitude in the inter­pretation of the rag, the alap requires strict adherence to the rules.  This requires a firm know­ledge, therefore the exe­cu­tion of alap is very dif­fi­cult.

The vocal alap will al­ways be accompanied by some in­stru­ments.  The tanpura is al­ways pres­ent.  Other in­stru­ments may also be used.

 

 

Common Instruments to Accompany the Alap


 

Selected Video

 

 

 


 

© 1998 - 2021 David and Chandrakantha Courtney

For comments, cor­rections, and sug­gestions, kindly contact David Courtney at [email protected]