Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (madhya laya) or fast (drut laya) rate.
[further explanation needed] In modern times, the singer Amir Khan helped popularize it and researched its origins and the syllables used.
[citation needed] The tarana may include a Persian quatrain, and may use syllables from sitar or tabla such as "dar-dar" or "dir-dir"; singers might recite full compositions (e.g. tihais, gats, tukdas)[further explanation needed] within the body of the tarana.
Thakur Jaidev Singh, a commentator on Indian music, said: [Tarana] was entirely an invention of Khusrau...
True, Khusrau had before him the example of Nirgit songs using śuṣk-akṣaras (meaningless words) and pāṭ-akṣaras (mnemonic syllables of the mridang)...