Tarana

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Tarana is a type of composition in Indian classical vocal music in which meaningless syllables are used in a medium-paced (madhyalay) or fast (drut lay) rendition. It was invented by Amir Khusro and now is common all over India.

Most of the syllables used are those from tabla; many singers often recite full compositions (e.g. tihais, gats, tukdas) within the body of the tarana. Certain syllables are used because they sound more pleasing than others, for example "tarana" "tananare" "yalali".

The structure consists of a main melody, usually short, repeated many times, with variation and elaboration at the perfomer's discretion. There is a second contrasing melody, usually with higher notes, which is introduced once, and goes back to the main melody.

The south Indian form of it is called tillana or thillana and is widely used in dance performances.