Dhrupad / ध्रुपद
- Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of music in the Hindustani musical tradition in India.
- Its name, from dhruva-pada, simply means "refrain", and today denotes both a form of poetry and a style of music in which the poetry is sung.
- Like all Indian classical music, dhrupad is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga, and each raga is an intricate framework of melodic rules. What sets dhrupad apart from other styles are long elaborate alaps without drum accompaniment, with a slow and deliberate melodic development, gradually developing an accelerating rhythmic pulse.The composition is sung to the rhythmic accompaniment of a pakhavaj , mridangam , or dholak and not tabla as in Khyal.
- The 18th Century saw the beginning of a great decline of dhrupad singing. A new genre, khyal, gained popularity at dhrupad's expense.