Hindustani : North Indian music is popularly known as Hindustani music. Hindustani Music has never been really unified, many styles and genres have been developed and encouraged by a family system called Gharana or Family. The names of the gharanas are almost always derived from a geographical location. The word "Gharana" literally means "house" and it implies the house of the teacher. Each Gharana has preserved its own tradition of music and the musical compositions. Each Gharana has got a particular discipline, system and style. The gharanas were entrusted with the duty of maintaining a certain standard of musicianship.

Carnatic : South Indian Music is called Carnatic music. This "temple music", whether vocal or instrumental, is always directed to a Hindu god. Being also the music of religious dance, it has needed rhythms both light and complex. Carnatic music is nearly totally unified and the different schools are based on the same ragas (about 300 different ragas), same solo instruments, mainly the veena, flute, violin and same rhythm instrument, the mridangam and the ghatam.
Carnatic music is more an achievement of individual styles rather than a music from schools, such as can be found in the North.

Folk : Folk music, on the other hand, has different forms depending on the region it belongs to. With flexibility in its expression, it is not bound by laws or any set pattern. Folk music has its peculiar expressions and emotions and has established a tradition of its own.

"Jor" begins with the added element of rhythm which (combining with the weaving of innumerable melodic patterns) gradually grains in tempo and brings the raaga to the final movement.

"Jhala" is the final movement and climax. It is played with a very fast action of the plectrum which is worn on the right index finger.

"Gat"is the fixed composition. A gat can be in any Taala and can be spread over from 2 to 16 of its rhythmic cycles in any tempo, slow, medium or fast.

A Gat (for a fixed composition), whether vocal or instrumentaal, has generally two sections. The first part is called "pallavi" - South Indian term - or "asthayi" - North Indian term - which opens the composition and is generally confined to the lower and middle octaves. The following part of the composition is called the "anupallavi" (or antara) which usually extends from the middle to upper octaves. In South Indian music further melodic sections called "charana" follows the "anupallavi."

Shishiya is the student.

In the Indian musical tradition, the transmission of music from is primarily "oral" in the sense that the teaching takes place in a scenario of the Guru singing (or playing an instrument) and the sisya or student learning by listening.

Typically, even in the recent past, the sisya would leave his parents' home and stay with, serve and learn from his chosen Guru, in the pursuit of musical knowledge. In this kind of learning, the student sisya is almost always in a continuous state of learning - while listening to his Guru practice or while he teaches other sisyas, while accompanying him on the tambura during a concert and while listening to the Guru taalk about and discuss musical nuances (theoretical and performative) with various other people. This methodology of teaching, which is unique to this country, is what is called sampradaya and has been coming down the ages being handed over from teacher to student in an unbroken tradition. The method is predominantly one of assimilation by listening, conditioning, repetition, practice, intuition and contemplation. Finally after all the teacjing it was upto the student to "discover" the raag for himself.