In Carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

 pallavi is the thematic line of a song. It is usually one cycle long and repeated twice in order to give the percussionist the idea of the chosen taalam. Sometimes it is repeated a few more times using different phrases of the Rāga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

m to which the song is set.

The life of the song, the word pallavi consists of a wide range of items that are considered as a single item:

• pa is derived from padam which means word
  Word
  In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
  
   or phrase
  Phrase
  In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
  
  ;
• lla comes from layam which means poetry
  Poetry
  Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
  
   or rhythm
  Rhythm
  Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
  
  ;
• vi is from vinyasam which means imagination
  Imagination
  Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
  
  

In Carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

, pallavi also forms a part of a special type of rendition called Rāgam Thānam Pallavi

Ragam Thanam Pallavi

Ragam Thanam Pallavi is a form of singing in Carnatic music which allows the musicians to improvise to a great extent. It is one of the most complete aspects of classical music, demonstrating the entire gamut of talents and the depth of knowledge of the musician. It incorporates raga alapana,...

. Rāgam in this context is the initial ālāpana of chosen rāga

Raga

A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...

m (elaboration and exploration of its scale). Thānam is elaboration of the rāgam using percussion syllables. Pallavi, a single line of one tālam

Tala (music)

Tāla, Taal or Tal is the term used in Indian classical music for the rhythmic pattern of any composition and for the entire subject of rhythm, roughly corresponding to metre in Western music, though closer conceptual equivalents are to be found in other Asian classical systems such as the notion...

cycle duration, is chosen for further elaboration of the rāgam in different speeds, octaves, rāgam phrases, etc.

The Pallavi is mainly presented as the piece-de-resistance of the concert. In the Mysore-Bani style of concert presentation usually the Raga-Tana-Pallavi is presented in the same raaga as of the Varnam with which the concert is started