What is taan?

Taan means fast melodic passage / improvised vocal phrase. It originates from the Sanskrit word ‘tan’. Like an alaap (slow methodical progression of notes in a raga), it is sung in the ‘aakar’. The order mostly followed in the singing of ragas is: alaap, bolalaap, boltaan finally followed by taan.  Alaaps are sung taking into cognizance raagniyam (rules of singing a composition) vadi, samvadi, swarlagaav (adherence) etc which give badhat (develop) to the rendition of ragas to create the vaataavaran (ambience) for the specific raga. The raga is always rendered in the order mentioned above. Taans are generally rendered at the end. Voice training is a must and indispensable for effective rendering of Taans. A singer who can effectively render Taans is known as a ‘Tanait’. Through the medium of  Taan, a rendition can be made unique and interesting. Laya is the praan (essence / life) of a Taan. A Taan emanating from the same group of swars, can be made to sound different with bal (emphasis / stress / accentuation) on different swars. The alaap is sung in vilambit laya (slow tempo) and the Taan in drut laya (fast tempo). In Taankriya  2 , 3 ,4 ,8 swars are used in one matra to achieve Layakaari (rhythmic variation / improvisation).