Without notation, a convention common to Western classical music, khayal has been passed down entirely through oral and aural practice. Across generations, this tradition has relied on master-student relationships built on trust and a consistent practice of refining the ear, voice, and heart, allowing khayal to persist into our present moment.

The Saami brothers, guided by Naseeruddin Saami, the last living master of the 49-note microtonal vocal scale (shrutis), belong to a musical past that can be traced back to 13th-century Delhi, filled with echoes of melodies emanating from the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya’s shrine. Their ancestor was Miyan Samit bin Ibrahim, the one and only disciple of Amir Khusro. Together, they blended Persian melodic modes, Arabic maqaam, Turkish musical elements, and South Asian traditions to create khayal, and its devotional offshoot, qawwali.