Kirtan are Hindu Vaishnav devotional songs which employ an "improvisatory technique known as akhar (textural elaboration on the existing words of a poem), [which] lengthens the original song into a more complex structure" (Saaduddin 1980:114). The thematic material of Kirtan most often relates to the God Krishna and his consort Radha.

Boatmen Songs

The word bhatiali is possibly derived from the Bengali word bhati or bhatti meaning 'downstream' (Choudhury 1985:32) and this genre of music was traditionally sung and played by Bengali boatmen of the Gangetic delta. Saaduddin writes that the music of this genre is "metrically fluid, non-rhythmic. . . in a slow tempo [the] melodies have a plaintive quality including long held notes [tan- here the word is used in a slightly different manner from its from its application in the 'classical' tradition] on a particular syllable (Saaduddin 1980:114)."

The urban interpretation of this "can be heard in a different style, with lively rhythm" (Ibid.:ll4). Salil Choudhury describes the metre of bhatiali as "loose 4/4 common time or dhima kaharva [slow eight beat rhythmic cycle] (Choudhury 1986:32). Sarigan (from the word sari meaning oars) is "sung during boat racing . . . fast triplets or drut dadra [quick tempo six beat rhythmic cycle]" (Ibid.:32).

The word sari also means "a row, a line, a range, a column, a series" (Samsad 1979:1213) and therefore may refer to the row of boats at the start of the race. Bhaowaiya is a secular genre that bears some resemblance to bhatiali.

Mystic Music

Baul gan derives its name from the mystical religious sect (Bauls) of south central Bengal (Flora 1973:552; Saaduddin 1980:114). "Baul songs have a distinct melodic style, with large intervallic skips and lilting rhythms derived from the singer's dancing and the syncopated 6/8 metre" (Saaduddin 1980:112).

In addition to the 6/8 lopha-dadra Charles Capwell has noted the use of the 4/4 karpha (Capwell 1986:118). In the performance of Baul gan the change from metered rhythm to parlando rubato and change of metre (tal pherta) is occasionally found (Ibid.:118). Capwell also notes the use intermittent use of phrasing typical of bhatiyali in baul gan (Ibid.:130).

Baul gan uses:

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