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Tala (music)

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North Indian hand drum (dholak, a taal (clap) instrument)

Tāla, Taal or Tal (Sanskrit tālà, literally a "clap", also transliterated as "tala") 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 of usul in the theory of Ottoman/Turkish music.

Rhythm in Indian music performs the function of a time counter. A taal is a rhythmic cycle of beats with an ebb and flow of various types of intonations resounded on a percussive instrument. Each such pattern has its own name. Indian classical music has complex, all-embracing rules for the elaboration of possible patterns, though in practice a few taals are very common while others are rare. The most common taal in Hindustani classical music is Teental, a cycle of four measures of four beats each.

A taal does not have a fixed tempo and can be played at different speeds. In Hindustani classical music a typical recital of a raga falls into two or three parts categorized by the tempo of the music - Vilambit laya (Slow tempo), Madhya laya (Medium tempo) and Drut laya (Fast tempo). In Carnatic Music, there are five categories of tempo namely - Chauka (1 stroke per beat), Vilamba (2 strokes per beat), Madhyama (4 strokes per beat), Dhuridha (8 strokes per beat), Adi-Dhuridha (16 strokes per beat). But, although the tempo changes, the fundamental rhythm does not.

Each repeated cycle of a taal is called an avartan. A tala is generally divided into sections (vibhaags), not all of which may have the same number of beats.

The most common instrument for keeping rhythm in Hindustani music is the tabla, while in Carnatic music, it is the mridangam (which is also transliterated as mridang).

Tāla in Carnatic music

Carnatic music uses various classification systems for the specification of tālas. The Suladi Sapta Tāla system has become universally accepted as the standard, while others such as the Chapu, Chanda and Melakarta Tāla system are also in regular use. According to the Suladi Sapta Tāla system, there are seven families of tālas, each of which can incorporate one of five jatis. A tāla cannot exist without reference to one of the jatis, thus allowing thirty-five possible tālas as described by the tāla-jati definition. (Note: For convenience, the term 'tāla' is commonly used to denote the tāla-jati.)

Each tāla cycles through a particular number of beats called aksharas, with a complete cycle forming an avartana.

Strokes in tāla

The tāla of a particular musical piece is indicated visually by using a series of rhythmic hand gestures performed against the thigh while in a seated cross-legged position (the traditional sitting position for Indian Classical Music). The hand gestures are called kriyas and are defined by the angas (or limbs) of the tāla.

The Suladi Saptha Tāla system uses three of the six angas in different arrangements. The three angas are detailed below.

  • An anudhrutam is a single beat, notated 'U'. An anudhrutam stroke consists of a downward clap of the open hand with the palm facing down.
  • A dhrutam is a pattern of 2 beats. This is notated 'O' and consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by a second downward clap with the palm facing up.
  • A laghu is a pattern with a variable number of beats, 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9, depending on the jati chosen. It is notated 'l' and consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by counting the fingers from little finger to thumb in order and back again after reaching the thumb depending on the jati chosen.

Jatis

Jati Number of Aksharas
Chaturasra 4
Thisra 3
Khanda 5
Misra 7
Sankeerna 9

Tāla Families

The seven Tala families and the number of aksharas for each of the 35 talas is tabulated below.

Tala Anga Notation Tisra Chatusra Khanda Misra Sankeerna
Dhruva lOll 11 14 17 23 29
Matya lOl 8 10 12 16 20
Rupaka Ol 5 6 7 9 11
Jhampa lUO 6 7 8 10 12
Triputa lOO 7 8 9 11 13
Ata llOO 10 12 14 18 22
Eka l 3 4 5 7 9

For example, one avartana of khanda-jati rupaka tala comprises a 2-beat dhrutam followed by a 5-beat laghu. An avartana is thus 7 aksharas long.With all possible combinations of tala types and laghu lengths, there are 5 x 7 = 35 talas having lengths ranging from 3 (Tisra-jati Eka tala) to 29 (sankeerna jati dhruva tala) aksharas.

Each tala family has a default jati associated with it; the tala name mentioned without qualification refers to the default jati. For instance:

  • Dhruva tala is by default chaturasra jati dhruva tala
  • Matya tala is chaturasra jati matya tala
  • Rupaka tala is chaturasra jati rupaka tala
  • Jhampa tala is misra jati Jhampa tala.[1]
  • Triputa tala is thisra jati triputa tala
  • Ata tala is kanda jati ata tala
  • Eka tala is chaturasra jati eka tala

Chaturasra jati khanda-jaati Rupaka tala has 7 aksharam, each of which is 4 maatras long; each avartana of the tala is 4 x 7 = 28 matras long. For Misra-gati Khanda-jati Rupaka tala, it would be 7 x 7 = 49 maatra.

In practice, only a few talas have compositions set to them. The most common tala is Chaturasra-nadai Chaturasra-jaati Triputa tala, also called Adi tala (Adi meaning primordial in Sanskrit). From the above tables, this tala has eight aksharams, each being 4 svarams long. Many kritis and around half of the varnams are set to this tala. Other common talas include:

  • Chaturasra-nadai Chaturasra-jaati Rupaka tala (or simply Rupaka tala).[1] A large body of krtis is set to this tala.
  • Khanda Chapu (a 10-count) and Misra Chapu (a 14-count), both of which do not fit very well into the suladi sapta tala scheme. Many padams are set to Misra Chapu, while there are also krtis set to both the above talas.
  • Chatusra-nadai Khanda-jati Ata tala (or simply Ata tala).[1] Around half of the varnams are set to this tala.
  • Tisra-nadai Chatusra-jati Triputa tala (Adi Tala Tisra-Nadai).[1] A few fast-paced kritis are set to this tala. Note that, as this tala is a twenty-four beat cycle, compositions in this tala theoretically can, and sometimes are, sung in rupaka tala.

Sometimes, pallavis are sung as part of a Ragam Thanam Pallavi exposition in some of the rarer, more complicated talas; such pallavis, if sung in a non-Chatusra-nadai tala, are called nadai pallavis. In addition, pallavis are often sung in chauka kale(slowing the tala cycle by a magnitude of four times), although this trend seems to be slowing.

Nadai

The number of maatras in an akshara is called the nadai. This number can be 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9, and take the same name as the jatis. The default nadai is Chatusram:

Nadai Maatras Phonetic representation of beats
Tisra 3 Tha Ki Ta
Chatusra 4 Tha Ka Dhi Mi
Khanda 5 Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta
Misra 7 Tha Ki Ta Tha Ka Dhi Mi
Sankeerna 9 Tha Ka Dhi Mi Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta

Eduppu Ela or Start point

Compositions do not always begin on the first beat of the tala: it may be offset by a certain number of matras or aksharas or combination of both to suit the words of the composition. The word Talli, used to describe this offset, is from Tamil and literally means "shift". A composition may also start on one of the last few matras of the previous avartanam. This is called Ateeta Eduppu.

Taal in Hindustani Music

See also: Taals in Sikh Kirtan

Taals have a vocalised and therefore recordable form wherein individual beats are expressed as phonetic representations of various strokes played upon the tabla. The first beat of any taal, called sam (pronounced as the English word 'sum' and meaning even or equal, archaically meaning nil) is denoted with an 'X'. The first beat is always the most important and heavily emphasised. It is also the point of resolution in the rhythm. A soloist has to sound an important note of the raag there, and the percussionist's and soloist's phrases culminate at that point. A North Indian classical dance composition must end on the sam.

The beats of a taal are divided into groups known as vibhaags, the first beat of each vibhaag usually being accented. It is this that gives the taal its unique texture. For example, Rupak taal consists of 7 beats while the related Dhamar taal consists of 14 beats. The spacing of the vibhaag accents makes them distinct, otherwise one avartan of Dhamar would be indistinguishable from two of Rupak or vice versa.[2] The first beat of any vibhaag is accompanied by a clap of the hands when reciting the taal and therefore is known as tali (or hand clap).

Furthermore, taals have a low point, known as khali (empty), which is always the first beat of a particular vibhaag, denoted in written form with '0' (zero). The khaal vibhaag has no beats on the bayan, i.e. no bass beats this can be seen as a way to enforce the balance between the usage of heavy (bass dominated) and fine (treble) beats or more simply it can be thought of another mnemonic to keep track of the rhythmic cycle (in addition to Sam). In recitation the Khaali vibhaag is indicated with a sideways wave of the dominant clapping hand (usually the right) or the placing of the back of the hand upon the base hand's palm in lieu of a clap making an "empty/nil" sound. The khali is played with a stressed syllable that can easily be picked out from the surrounding beats.

Hindustani Taals are typically played on tabla or pakhavaj. The specific strokes and the sound they produce are known as bols. Each bol has its own name that can be vocalized as well as written. Examples of bols may be heard in External Links below. The beats following the first beat of each vibhaag are indicated with digits that are greater than 0, 'X' representing the first beat - Sam, the '0' Khali (empty clap) and each number an individual consecutive beat). Rupak, almost uniquely, begins with the khali on Sam. Some rare taals even contain a "half-beat". For example, Dharami is an 11 1/2 beat cycle where the final "Ka" only occupies half the time of the other beats. Also note, this taal's 6th beat does not have a played syllable - in western terms it is a "rest".

Common Hindustani taals

Some taals, for example Dhamaar, Ek, Jhoomra and Chau talas, lend themselves better to slow and medium tempos. Others flourish at faster speeds, like Jhap or Rupak talas. Trital or Teental is one of the most popular, since it is as aesthetic at slower tempos as it is at faster speeds.

Various Gharanas (literally "Houses" which can be inferred to be "styles" - basically styles of the same art with cultivated traditional variances) also have their own preferences. For example, the Kirana Gharana uses Ektaal more frequently for Vilambit Khayal while the Jaipur Gharana uses Trital. Jaipur Gharana is also known to use Ada Trital, a variation of Trital for transitioning from Vilambit to Drut laey. There are many taals in Hindustani music, some of the more popular ones are:

Name Beats Division Vibhaga
Tintal (or Trital or Teental) 16 4+4+4+4 X 2 0 3
Jhoomra 14 3+4+3+4 X 2 0 3
Tilwada 16 4+4+4+4 X 2 0 3
Dhamar 14 5+2+3+4 X 2 0 3
Ektal and Chautal 12 2+2+2+2+2+2 X 0 2 0 3 4
Jhaptal and Jhampa 10 2+3+2+3 X 2 0 3
Keherwa 8 4+4
Roopak 7 3+2+2 X 2 3
Dadra (or Dhadra) 6 3+3 X 2

Additional Talas

Rarer Hindustani talas

Name Beats Division Vibhaga
Adachoutal 14 2+2+2+2+2+2+2 X 2 0 3 0 4 0
Brahmtal 28 2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2 X 0 2 3 0 4 5 6 0 7 8 9 10 0
Dipchandi 14 3+4+3+4 X 2 0 3
Shikar 17 6+6+2+3 X 0 3 4
Sultal 10 2+2+2+2+2 x 0 2 3 0

[2]

Rarer Carnatic talas

Other than these 35 talas there are 108 so-called anga talas. The following is the exhaustive pattern of beats used in constructing them.

Anga Symbol Aksharakala Mode of Counting
Anudrutam U 1 1beat
Druta O 2 1 beat + Visarijitam (wave of hand)
Druta-virama (OU) 3
Laghu (Chatusra-jati) l 4 1 beat + 3 finger count
Laghu-virama U) 5
Laghu-druta O) 6
Laghu-druta-virama OU) 7
Guru 8 8 A beat followed by circular movement of the right hand in the clockwise direction with closed fingers.
Guru-virama (8U) 9
Guru-druta (8O) 10
Guru-druta-virama (8OU) 11
Plutam ) 12 1 beat + kryshya (waving the right hand from right to left) + 1 sarpini (waving the right hand from left to right) - each of 4 aksharakalas OR a Guru followed by the hand waving downwards
Pluta-virana U) 13
Pluta-druta O) 14
Pluta-druta-virama OU) 15
Kakapadam + 16 1 beat + patakam (lifting the right hand) + kryshya + sarpini - each of 4 aksharakalas)

Compositions are rare in these lengthy talas. They are mostly used in performing the Pallavi of Ragam Thanam Pallavis. Some examples of anga talas are:

Sarabhanandana tala

8 O l l O U U)
O O O U O) OU) U) O
U O U O U) O (OU) O)

Simhanandana tala : It is the longest tala.

8 8 l ) l 8 O O
8 8 l ) l ) 8 l
l +

Another type of tala is the chhanda tala. These are talas set to the lyrics of the Thirupugazh by the Tamil composer Arunagirinathar. He is said to have written 16000 hyms each in a different chhanda tala. Of these, only 1500-2000 are available.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d A practical course in Karnatik music by Prof. P. Sambamurthy, Book II, The Indian Music Publishing House, Madras
  2. ^ a b Kaufmann(1968)

(International) Literature

Kaufmann, Walter (1968), The Ragas of North India, Calcutta: Oxford and IBH Publishing Company.

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