Gharana is used in Hindi and Urdu to refer to the core component in the organizational structure of North Indian (or Hindustani) music and dance, in other words a family of hereditary occupational specialists. Traditionally the gharana is headed by an authoritative musician-teacher called the Khalifa, and comprises members related by blood and/or musical knowledge (talim).

It is linked to the very ancient concept of the Guru-Shishya Parampara (linage of teacher /disciple) but with some interesting modern twists.

The names of the gharanas are almost always derived from the city, district or state that the founder lived in. Two examples are the Gwalior Gharana (vocal) or the Farukhabad Gharana (tabla). Most of the gharanas today are not more than 100-300 years old. The modern gharanas are generally traceable to the period when the Mogul empire collapsed. Gharanas are found throughout the North in every field of dance, vocal and instrumental music. They tend to be distinct among themselves. That is to say that you generally do not find tabla players saying that they are from a vocal gharana or a vocalist claiming to come from a kathak gharana.