Gharana is a system of social organization

In Hindustani music , a gharānā is
a system of social organization
linking musicians or dancers by
lineage or apprenticeship, and by
adherence to a particular musical
style. A gharana also indicates a
comprehensive musicological
ideology. This ideology
sometimes changes substantially
from one gharana to another. It
directly affects the thinking,
teaching, performance and
appreciation of music.
The word gharana comes from
the Hindi word 'ghar', which
means 'family' or 'house'. It
typically refers to the place
where the musical ideology
originated; for example, some of
the gharanas well known for
singing khyals are: Agra, Gwalior,
Indore, Jaipur, Kirana, and
Patiala.
Vocal gharanas
Khyal gharanas
The gharana system in khyal was
rooted in the guru-shishya
tradition and was similar to the
Dhrupad Bani system. The
gharana system was greatly
influenced by the gradual fall of
the Mughal Empire, which forced
musicians to move from Delhi to
princely states such as Gwalior,
Lucknow, Hyderabad, Patiala and
Rampur.
The gharanas have distinct styles
of presenting the khyal — how
much to emphasize and how to
enunciate the words of the
composition, when to sing the
sthayi and antara, whether to
sing an unmetered alap in the
beginning, what kinds of
improvisations to use, how much
importance to give to the
rhythmic aspect, and so on.
However, an individual performer
from a gharana may choose to
borrow appealing stylistic aspects
of another gharana in his or her
gayaki.