What happens in the alap?

The soloist explores the raga slowly, with no pulse

Where does bhangra come from?

The Punjab, in India and Pakistan

Indian classical music is built on a raga: a set of notes with its own shape, mood and often a time of day. A raga is like a scale and a melody idea at once.
The rhythm follows a tala: a cycle of beats that repeats. Teental has 16 beats. The first beat of the cycle is the sam, where performers often meet up.
A drone plays under the music, often on the tanpura, holding the main notes of the raga.
Instruments: sitar (a long-necked plucked instrument with sympathetic strings), sarod, bansuri (bamboo flute), sarangi (bowed) and tabla (a pair of drums: the small dayan and the larger bayan).

Alap: slow, with no pulse. The soloist explores the notes of the raga over the drone.
Jor: a steady pulse begins, still without drums, and the music speeds up.
Jhala: fast and exciting, with rapid strumming of the drone strings.
Gat (or bandish when sung): a composed melody with the tabla joining in the tala. Much of the performance is improvised.

Bhangra began as folk dance music in the Punjab (in India and Pakistan), danced to celebrate the harvest at Vaisakhi.
Its heart is the dhol, a big double-headed drum played with two sticks, playing the chaal rhythm. The tumbi (a one-string plucked instrument) plays catchy riffs. Singers and dancers shout calls such as "hoi!".
British bhangra (from the 1980s, by Punjabi communities in the UK) mixed bhangra with pop, hip hop, reggae and electronic dance music: drum machines, synthesisers, samples and Punjabi lyrics.
To tell them apart: a drone, raga and tabla mean Indian classical; a pounding dhol, tumbi and party shouts mean bhangra.

Raga: The set of notes, mood and melody shape that Indian classical music is built on.
Tala: A repeating cycle of beats in Indian music.
Sam: The first beat of the tala cycle.
Drone: Long held notes underneath the music.
Sitar: An Indian long-necked plucked instrument with sympathetic strings.
Tabla: A pair of Indian hand drums.
Alap: The slow, free opening of a raga performance with no pulse.
Dhol: A large double-headed drum played with sticks in bhangra.
Tumbi: A one-string plucked instrument used in bhangra.

What is a raga?: The set of notes, mood and melody shape a piece is built on: Some ragas are for a particular time of day.
What is a tala?: A repeating cycle of beats: Teental has 16 beats.
What is the sam?: The first beat of the tala cycle: Performers often meet up on it.
Which instrument usually plays the drone?: Tanpura: It holds the main notes of the raga.
What is the tabla?: A pair of Indian hand drums: The dayan and the bayan.
What happens in the alap?: The soloist explores the raga slowly, with no pulse: It opens the performance.
Which section of a raga performance is fast and exciting, with rapid strumming?: Jhala: It comes before the gat.
Where does bhangra come from?: The Punjab, in India and Pakistan: It celebrated the harvest.