Taan (music)

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Taan (Hindi: तान, Urdu: تان) is a technique used in the vocal performance of a raga in Hindustani classical music. It involves the improvisation of very rapid melodic passages using vowels, often the long "a" as in the word "far", and it targets at improvising and to expand weaving together the notes in a fast tempo. It is similar to the technique ahaat, used in Arabic music, or like an arpeggio in Western music.^[1]

The murki, a type of ornamentation, is a swift, short and taan-like movement that is heavily used in thumri.