Hindustani vocal music or Bhartiya Shastriya sangit or the north Indian style of Indian classical music is practiced throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. It is a tradition that originated in Vedic ritual chants and has been evolving since the 12th century, primarily in what is now North India.
Earlier, Hindustani vocal music was not available to everyone and was confined to high society people like the ruling, administrative and business class only but because of two musicians & scholars: V. N. Bhartkhande & V.D. Paluskar, today it easily available to the common man.
One possible classification of ragas is into “melodic modes” or “parent scales”, known as thaats, under which most ragas can be classified based on the notes they use. Thaats may consist of up to seven scale degrees, or swara. Hindustani classical musicians name these pitches using a system called Sargam, the equivalent of the Western movable dosolfege.
The Hinduastani classical music concepts: Shruti, Swara, Alankar, Raga, Tala, Thaat and Gharana.
The Generes – Hindustani Classical: Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khyal, Tarana, Sadra and Semi classical: Thumri, Dadra, Qawwali, Ghazal, Bhajans (devotional), Chaiti, Kajri.
The Thaats: Bilaval, Khamaj, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairav, Bhairavi, Todi, Purvi, Marwa and Kalyan.