The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c9.196

c9.196

Very similar to javadis are songs called Pathams; they are exclusively love songs, and are sung largely both in the native drama and by Nautch girls. The music is very much varied, and the performers frequently leave the air and improvise cadences and embellishments, rejoining the melody at will. The tempo is slower than that of javadis, and is varied according to the expression the singer wishes to put into the words; the tâla is generally irregular, a mixed time of 3/4 and C is the commonest.