Like the ragas, of which there are hundreds in Hindustani music, there are also dozens of gharanas. For want of a better word,you can say types of singing/playing instrumental music.

Every gharana has its own distinct features. The main area of difference between gharanas is the manner in which the notes are sung/played. The concept of a guru-shishya leads to the development of gharanas.

They emerge from the creative style of a genius, who gives existing structures a totally new approach, form and interpretation.

The new approach, form and interpretation apply to include the tone of the voice, the pitch, the inflexions and the intonations, and the specific application of the various nuances. The concept of hereditary gurus was not  confined to vocal music alone. Hence there are also gharanas in instrument music.

While there are nearly 30 known gharanas, the oldest of them owes its existence to the descendants of Tansen (1506-1589) the most important icon of  Hindustani music.

Like most religions, which believe in God, his prophets and his apostle, most Hindustani musicians believe in Mian Tansen and the miracles he is supposed to have performed just by singing.

They also believe that the Gwalior Gharna descended from Tansen’s son Bilas Khan and the members of the Beenkar Gharna descended from Tansen’s daughter Saraswati and her husband Rajput Beenkar Mishri. 

Gwalior Gharana is the oldest among all the Khayal Gayaki (vocal) styles. The distinctive feature of this style of singing, has been noted as its lucidity and simplicity.

Agra Gharana places great importance on developing forcefulness and deepness in the voice so that the notes are powerful and resonant.

In the Kirana Gharana style of singing, the swara is used to create an emotional mood by means of elongation and use of Kanas.

The most distinctive feature of the Jaipur Gharana can be best described as its complex and melodic form, which arises out of the involutedly and undulating phrases that comprise the piece.

In the Rampur Sahaswan Gharana, there is a stress on the clarity of swara and the development and elaboration of the raga is done through a stepwise progression.

The highlights of Delhi Gharana are pleasing exponency (vistaar) and exquisite compositions. Patiala Gharana is regarded as an offshoot of the Delhi Gharana. The Patiala Gharana is characterised by the use of greater rhythm play and by layakari with the abundant use of Bols, particularly Bol-tans.

The most distinctive feature of the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana is the presentation of Khayal, using Akar. There is a stress on breath-control and singing of long passages in one breath is highly regarded in this Gharana.

The Benaras Gharana evolved as a result of great lilting style of khayal singing known by Thumri singers of Benaras and Gaya. The Mewati Gharana gives importance to developing the mood of the raga through the notes forming it and equal importance to the meaning of the text.

Now that in the modern world, fusion music is the order of the day, the question arises as to whether we can fuse one gharana into another one. The answer is yes and no!  The ‘No’s say “Hamare gharane me ye hota hai. Aise hi karna chahiye” (In our gharana it is done like this.This is how it should be done.) It is a fact that the desire to learn more gharanas does become a disability.

Many purists claim that the new generation, often ends up confused as a result of straddling more than one gharana at a time.

“Different gharanas have often contradictory techniques. It is important to grow up and be proficient in one style under a single guru.”

The ‘yes’s query that if a musician clings to a single gharana, how will he grow? The famous maestro Bhaskarbuwa had received musical instruction from ustads of three gharanas of which Khansaheb Alladiya Khan had been one.

Ustad Amir Khan’s renderings were a mixture of the ‘Jaipur’, ‘Kirana’ and ‘Bhendi Bazzar’ gharana styles. During his concerts, lovers of different gharanas could find something to their liking, and hence his experiment became quite successful.

The correct answer could be, that while your own gharana induces in you a sense discipline, responsibility to practice music in specified norms with zeal and honesty, it should never inhibit you to imbibe the finer nuances of other gharanas.

Today’s a new generation of vocalists are in an era when the distinction between gharanas are not as marked as in earlier years, because of an environment that fosters the cross-fertilization of ideas from different gharanas.