Gamak is among the most muscular of melodic ornaments: a vigorous, often rapid oscillation around a note, lending it weight and gravity. Where a meend is a smooth glide and an andolan is a gentle sway, a gamak is forceful — sometimes a heavy shake spanning a whole interval.
It is central to the grave style of dhrupad, where booming gamaks on the lower notes are a hallmark, and to deep, serious raags like Darbari. On instruments like the sarod and been, gamak gives the sound its characteristic power.
Gamak is one of the named varieties of alankar (ornament) and a clear marker of a performer's command and a gharana's style.