Keerthana is known by many names - Dasapada, Devaranama, Divyanama. This form was popularized by various Haridasa-s, primarily Shri Purandara Dasa. Each Keerthana is set to a particular Raaga and Taala.

Keerthana starts with an opening refrain or Pallavi. Then there are two or more Charana-s. First Pallavi in sung, followed by Charana-s. After each Charana, Pallavi is sung again.

Geetha is an old form of compositions and probably evolved even before keerthana format. Now it is primarily used for learning classical music. The first composition one learns as a student is geetha.

Geetha is a very simple composition in terms of raga and tala. The older compositions only have pallavi and charana-s, while the newer ones may have anupallavi as well. There are some special types of compositions called lakshana geetha. They describe the lakshana i.e. characteristics of a raaga and they are composed in the raaga they are describing.

Geetha-s of Shri Purandara Dasa - Shri Ganapathe and Kereya Neeranu Kerege Challi are the first compositions that are usually learnt by students.

Raaga: malahari
Taala: tishra tripuTa
Composer: Purandara Daasa
Language: Kannada

Pallavi

Hariya karunadolaado bhaagyava
Hari samaarpanemaadi badukiro

Charana 1

Kereya neeranu kerege challi
Varava padedavarante kaaniro

Charana 2

Shree purandara vittahala raaya
Charana kamalavanambi badukiro

Keerthana form of composition evolved into Krithi form and came to be fully established by the Trinity of composers, Muthuswamy Dheekshithar, Shyama Shastry and Thyagaraja. In addition to Pallavi and Charana, krithi has Anupallavi, which comes just after Pallavi. A Krithi is set to a particular Raaga and a particular Taala.

A krithi starts with Pallavi, which is usually in the lower register. Pallavi usually has two lines of lyrics. The lines are usually sung in various ways. Anupallavi follows pallavi and is usually in the higher register. Anupallavi is also sung in various ways. Thus, Raaga is introduced to the listener in both the registers. Pallavi is usually sung again after anupallavi. Then one or more Charana-s follow. Each Charana is usually has 4 lines of lyrics. Finally charana usually contains Mudra or the signature (or pen-name) of the composer.

There are some Krithis which do not follow these rules strictly. Some krithis of Muthuswami Dikshitar have only two sections, the Pallavi and the Anupallavi, where the Anupallavi is called Samashti Charanam. Example: Anandamritakarshini in raga Amritavarshini. These probably reflect a period when the Krithi form was still developing. Some of Tyagaraja’s krithis have multiple Charanams set to different raaga-s. Some krithis have Chithaswara and matching lyrics. In some krithis Solkattu is used in place of Chithaswara. Some Charana-s can be faster than the rest of the krithi.

The lyrics of the krithi are usually devotional in nature. Since the trinity composed almost entirely devotional krithi's, composers after them have continued the tradition. Infact, krithi-s incorporate all the three important parts of carnatic music - Raaga, Taala and Bhava.

Raaga: Aabheri
Taala: Aadi
Composer: Tyaagaraaja
Language: Telugu

Pallavi

Nagumomu ganaleni najaali telisi nanu brovaga rada shree raghuvara nee

Anupallavi

Nagaraajadhara needu paraivaara lella ogibodhana jese vaaralu gaare yitu lundudure

Charana

Khagaraaju nee yanati vini vega chanaledo gaganaani kilaku bahu durambaninaado

Varna is similar to krithi, with a few differences. It is used as a concert opener and usually studied before studying a full fledged krithi. This form was also perfected during the trinity period(18th-19th century).

Varna consists of two parts -

• Purvanga - consisting of three sections - pallavi, anupallavi and muktayi or chitta swara.
• Uttaranga - consisting of the Charana and the Charanaswara-s.

The pallavi and anupallavi, usually consisting of two lines each, are sung consecutively, followed by the Chittaswara. Then Purvanga is repeated, in multiple speeds, before going on to the Uttaranga. Charana has only one line with lyrics followed by four or more charana swara-s. The Uttaranga can also be rendered in multiple speeds.

There are two types of varna. Tana Varna is used in music concerts and has lyrics only in the pallavi, anupallavi and the charana. Pada varna is mainly used in dance and has lyrics in pallavi, anupallavi, charana, charana swara and chittaswara.

Raaga: Kamaas
Taala: Aadi
Composer: H.N. Muttayyah Bhaagavatar
Language: Sanskrit / Kannada

Pallavi

Maate malayadvaja pandya samjate matanga vadana guha

Anupallavi

Shatodhari shankari chamundeshvari chandrakaladhari thaye gauri

Muktaayi swara saahitya

Data sakala kalaa nipuna chatura data sulabha hridaya madhura vachana
Data sarasa ruchiratara svara laya geeta sukhada nija bhaava rasika vara data mahishura nada nalvati shree
Krishna rajendrara thaye sada pore mahite harikesha manohare sadaye

Charana

Shyame sakala bhuvana sarvabhaume shashi mandala madyage

Swarajathi are similar to krithi-s and contain Swara and Jati (i.e. rhythmic solfas).

Thillana-s are the carnatic counterpart of Hindustani Tarana. They consist of short lyrics and the rest of the composition has meaningless syllables like nadru, deem, dirana. It is closely associated with dance. Several tillanas composed by post trinity composers are available. Modern composers like Lalgudi Jayaraman, M Balamuralikrishna and Chitravina Ravikiran have also composed several popular thillana-s. These are normally sung towards the end of a concert.

The tillana consists of the usual three sections: Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charana. Pallavi and Anupallavi usually comprise swaras and jatis, while Charana comprises lyrics followed by passages of swara and jatis.