HINDUSTANI TALA SYSTEM

      INDIAN TAAL SYSTEM

The richness and diversity of our traditional indian music is well known to all.as we know that our indianmusic is originated from THE VEDAS which is generally based on two elements : SWAR and TALA.both elements have same importance in music.HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC is known for its tradition of 'GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA'.it is basically a system in which a guru(teacher) shares his/her knowledge to shishya (students).it is different from the learning system running present time.this culture creates a gratitudinal feeling in students towards their gurus.in the learning process a question often occures in student's mind that 'which one has more importance in music?....... swar or tala?....the answer to this question is 'both of them have same value beacause if  learners have less command over swar or tala, they might get troubled while performing.tala runs in a continuous loop of matras while the swar is responsible for the melody . If a performer miss a single matra, they may get run over it and if they touch a wrong note or shruti ,the soul of the composition might get lost and the audience would not be possitively affected by the performance. Therefore, it is mendatory for a performer to be well trained and have comand over swar and tala.in this blog we will discuss about tala.

WHAT IS TAAL(ताल)?

Taal is a rhythmic cycle with a certain number of beats/matras(मात्रा). In Hindustani music system the minimum number of beats/matras used in a taal is 6 beats(मात्रा) called dadra taal and the highest number of matras in a taal is brahma taal(ब्रम्ह ताल) which is of 28 matras. teental is a common taal which is used in most of the classical bandishes.teentaal is a 16 beat cycle which has 4 sections of 4-4 beats.

ORIGIN OF TAAL system-

The concept of tala is originated from the vedic time .it is as old as the hindustani music.we found in our text from the old books that hindustani music can be classified in two categories,

1.Anibaddha sangeet(अनिबद्ध संगीत)-Music that is not bound is called Anibaddha sangeet.For example- the independent form of Anibaddha sangeet is alaap(आलाप).

2.Nibaddha sangeet(निबद्ध संगीत)-the concept of tala is introduced along with this term Nibaddha(निबद्ध) which means bound-बंधा हुआ. overall meaning of this wors is 'music which is bound'.

TAAL DAS PRAAN(ताल के 10 प्राण )

10 souls of taal have been found in ancient books these are important factors for taal .let us know about 10 souls of taal.

1.kaal(काल)

2.maarg(मार्ग)

3.kriya(क्रिया)

4.Ang(अंग)

5.Grah(ग्रह)

6.Jaati(जाति)

7.kala(कला)

8.Laya(लय)

9.Yati(यति)

10.Prastaar(प्रस्तार)

1.kaal( काल )-   generally, the meaning of 'kaal' is 'time' but in music 'the activity of measurement of time is called taal.' In music we use both our hands to clap and the time period during one clap is considered as Kaal.

2.Marg(मार्ग)- the meaning of marg is 'way/रास्ता'.it is generally considered as 'distance between two places.' Similarly in music ,the marg means 'total length of a taal'.there are 3 maarg provided by an ancient musicologist acharya bharat:

1.chitra(चित्र )

2.vaartic(वार्तिक )

3.dakshin(दक्षिण )

One more marg has been added by Sharangadev:

4.Dhruva maarg(ध्रुवमार्ग )

Acharya matang has decribed one more maarg ,

i.e.  5.Shunya maarg(शून्य मार्ग )

3.Kriya(क्रिया )- while producing a taal we usually clap using both of our hands .on first we touch our palms and produce hiting sound ,on second we keep our hands apart .these two process in a clap are called kriya(क्रिया ).there are 2 types of kriya which are given as follows:

* Sashabda kriya (सशब्द क्रिया )-when hands hit each other with palms and produce a sound of clap.it has 4 types:

a.Dhruva(ध्रुव )

b.Shamya( शम्या )

c.taal( ताल  )

d.Sannipata( सन्निपात )

* Nishabda kriya ( निशब्द क्रिया )-when both hands becomes apart from each other after a clap.it also has 4 types:

a.Avaap(आवाप )

b.Nishkaam( निष्काम )

c.Vikshep( विक्षेप )

d.Pravesh( प्रवेश )

4.Ang(अंग )- tools for calculation of kaal are ang.angas are used to create structure of taal. these are 7.

a.anudruta(अणुद्रुत )  U

b.druta(द्रुत)  O

c.drutaviram(द्रुतविराम )  ¿

d.laghu(लघु )    |

e.laghuviram(लघुविराम )    `|

f.guru(गुरु )  S

g.pluta( प्लुत )   `S

f.kaalpada( काकपद  )   +

5.Grah ( ग्रह )-  the verbal meaning of this term is to 'recieve/ग्रहण करना'.the point at which the taal takes the bandish is called grah sthan(ग्रह स्थान).the point at which taal meets bandish can be different .For example: sometimes a bandish starts from the 1st matra of taal or vice versa.therfore,a grah can be of two kinds:

a.Sam grah- when a bandish starts from the 1st matra of a taal, it is called sam grah.

b.Visham grah-  when a bandish starts from any other matra rather than sam ,it is called visham gram. it has 2 kinds:

   1.Atita grah(अतीत ग्रह )- when bandish starts  after the sam.

   2.Anagat grah(अनागत ग्रह )-when bandish starts  before the sam arrives.

6.Jaati(जाति )-  this term is used to categorise the taals in indian music.the hindustani taals as well as carnatic taals are categorised according to the jaatis.according to Sangeet Ratnakar and Natyashastra taals have been categorised only in two jaati: 

1.tisra- taals of 6,12,18,24 matras 

2.chaturasra- taals of 4,8,16,32 matras

 presently there are 5 jaatis which are primarily used in carnatic taal padhati.Taals categorises according to 5 jaatis in hindustani system of taal :

1.tisra-Dadra(6),Ektaal(12), Chaartaal(12)

2.chaturasra-keherwa(8),teentaal(16),tilwada(16)

3.khanda-jhaptaal(10),sooltaal(10)

4.mishra- roopak(7),tivra(7),ada-chautaal(14)

5.samkirna- mattataal(9)

7.kala(कला)-  the bol of taal on 1 matra of a taal can be defined by kala.in carnatic system kala can be 3 types:

a.ekkala(एक्कला)- there is one bol of taal on one matra.for example- धा, धि, ना, ति, गे।

b.dwikala(द्विकला)- there is two bols on one matra.for example- तिट ,धाती , तिना , कत्ता।

c.chatushkala(चतुष्कला)- there are 4 bols on one matra.for example- तिरकिट, गदिगन , धाधातिट।

8.laya(लय)-   a uniform motion of time in music is called laya. Our universe is bound with laya.indian music has two basic things:taal and laya.it is of three types in hindustani music-

a.vilambit(विलम्बित )- a laya two times slower than the madhyalaya is called vilambit laya.it is used in bada khyal ,dhrupad,dhamar, masitkhani gat etc.

b.madhya(मध्य)- it has a suitable flow of time.usually we can say a medium tempo of rhythm is called madhyalaya.it is used in chota khayal, sitarkhani gat etc.

c.drut(द्रुत)- a laya two times faster than the madhya laya is called drut .it is used in tarana,drut khyal ,rela  etc.

 

9.Yati(यति )-  a classical bandish is always bound to a laya but it looses its beauty if its is performed in different laya rather than its actual laya.keeping this thing in mind we can create difference in speeds of bandishes.in general ,yati is a term used to describe the shape of a rhythemic pattern in bandish. It is of 5 types:

a.Sama yati- when the vishranti kaal of bols is uniform and the speed of laya doesn't change,it is called sama yati.

b.Strotogata yati- when a bandish starts from vilambit and reach to sam with drut laya,there would be strotogata yati.

c.Gopucchha yati- when a bandish starts from drut laya and achieve madhyalaya in its middle time and achieve vilambit laya on its last and reach to sam ,it is called gopucchha yati.

d.Mridunga yati- there are two types of mridunga yati:

1.when a bandish/composition starts with madhyalaya, changes in vilambit in its mid section and achieve drut laya at the end and reach to sam.

2.it also has three categories:

a.madhyalaya in begining and end , vilambit in middle section.

b.Drut in begining and end,vilambit in middle section.

c.Drut in the begining and end ,madhyalaya in middle section.

e.Pipalika yati- it has 3 categories:

a. Madhyalaya in starting,drut in middle section and madhyalaya at the end.

b.vilambit in starting,madhyalaya in middle and vilambit at the end.

c.vilambit in starting,drut in middle and vilambit at the end.

10.Prastaar(प्रस्तार )- the meaning of prastaar is 'to expand/विस्तार'. when we expand peshkar,kayda,rela applying paltas,this process is called prastaar.similarly when a vocalist expands the raga ,it is termed as prastaar.prastaar is usually a helps to create new bols in taal .

PRACTICAL ASPECT OF TAAL AND VARIOUS TERMS RELATED TO IT-

Most commonly , a tala in hindustani classical music is played on tabla(an indian instrument with two small drums).there is one more traditional instrument which has been in use since the begining is   MRIDANGAM(used in carnatic music) / PAKHAWAJ(an instrument with double headed drum). these 2 instruments are basically used for classical music but some other forms of music as loksangeet and semiclassical require a very popular instrument dholak.talas which are  played on tabla, pakhawaj and dholak are different from each other .For example-

Dadra and keherwa  are mostly used in loksangeet thats why Dholak is suitable for these talas while ektala,teentala,roopak etc. are mostly used for classical music such as Khayal therefore these are played on tabla and pakhawaj talas are sooltaal,tivra,chautaal ,dhamar taal etc.which are for dhrupad and dhamar.the music in early days was much more intense in comaprison to the present time.jaati gayan was popular in ancient time.grama ragas became popular after jaati gayan (30 grama ragas were originated from 18 jaatis).for these popular forms of music in ancient time there found 5 ancient talas in our vedic culture of music.these were:

1-Chachatput(चचत्पुट)

2-Chaachput(चाचपुट)

3-Shatpitaputrak(षटपितापुत्रक)

4-Sampakveshtaak(सम्पकवेष्टाक)

5-Udghatt(उद्घट्ट)

In ancient times, there were some popular music forms like prabandh ,jati ,geeti etc and the above  5 taals were also mentioned in our traditional books of classical music of india .after the evolution of music we have so many HINDUSTANI TALAS but in carnatic systems of music there are only 7 main talas   which are called sapta vedic talas. With these 7 talas 175 talas have been created .on the other hand in hindustani taal system ,there are so many talas which have individual charachteristics as roopak, jhaptaal, dadra, keherwa,teentaal, tilwada, deepchandi, pancham sawari, ektaal, ada-chautaal , jhoomra,chaartaal, brahmataal, laxmitaal,tivra,sooltaal and many more.

The hindustani and the carnatic talas systems are as follows:

HINDUSTANI SYSTEM OF TALA

Talas have individual charachteristics in hindustani classical music/North indian classical music.minimum and maximum number of matras known are 6  matra ( tala dadra)and 28 matra (brahma tala) 

respectively. here is a list of talas with their structure :

TALAS FOR TABLA( बंद बोल की तालें)-

 1.Dadra(6 beat)-

धा धी ना |धा तू ना

×              0

2.Roopak(7 beat)-

ती ती ना | धी ना | धी ना

0              2         3

3.keherwa(8 beat)-

धा गे न ति | न क धि न

×                0

5.Jhaptaal(10 beats)-

धी ना | धी धी ना | ती ना | धी धी ना

×          2             0          3

6.Ektala(12 beats)-

धिं धिं|धागे तिरकिट|तू ना |कत्  ता|धागे तिरकिट|धी ना

×         0                 2       0           3                 4

7.Deepchandi(14 beats)-

धिं धिं s|धा गे तीं s|ता तीं s|धा गे धिं s

×           2              0          3

8.Ada-chautaal (आड़ा चौताल,  14 beats)-

धीं  तिरकिट| धीं ना  | तू ना | क  त्ता  |तिरकिट धीं

×                  2         0         3          0     

|ना धीं | धी ना

4          0

9.Teentaal(16 beat)-

धा धिं धिं धा |धा धिं धिं धा |धा तिं तिं ता |ता धिं धिंधा

 ×                  2                  3                 4

TALAS FOR PAKHAWAJ(खुले बोल की तालें)-

1.taal tivra(तीव्रा, 7 beats)-

धा दीं ता | तिट  कत  | गदि  गन

×               2               3

2.Sooltaal(सूलताल,10 beats)-

धा धा | दीं ता  | किट  धा  | तिट  कत | गदि गन

×          0          2              3             0

3.Chautaal(चौताल,12 beats)-

धा धा | दीं ता | किट  धा | दीं ता | तिट कत | गदि  गन

×         0         2             0          3             4

4.Gaj-jhampa(गजझम्पा,15 beats)-

धा धिं नक तक|धा धिं नक तक|धिं नक तक किट |तक गदि 

×                      2                     0                          3

गिन

 

5.Dhamar taal ( 14 beats)-

क  धि  ट  धि ट |धा  s | ग  ति  ट  | ति  ट  ता  s

×                       2        0              3

CARNATIC SYSTEM OF TALA-

A famous composer Purandara das was said to be the man who framed his compositions in 7 talas in carnatic sangeet . these became popular as sapta vaidik talas. these are:

1.Dhruvtaal(ध्रुवताल)

2.matha taal(मठताल)

3.roopak taal(रूपक ताल)

4.Jhampa taal(झंपा ताल)

5.Triput taal (त्रिपुट ताल)

6.Atha taal (अठ ताल)

7.Ektaal(एकताल)

 6 symbols which are used to write the structure of  talas in carnatic system of music are given below:

TALA/MATRA           :                        SYMBOL

                                                               

1.Anudrut/viram(अणुद्रुत/विराम)/ 1  :         U

2.drut(द्रुत)/2                                   :       O   

3.laghu(लघु)/4                              :        |

4 .Guru(गुरु)/8                              :        S

5.pluta(प्लुत)/12                           :        3

6 .kaakpada(काकपद)/16            :        ×

Here, LAGHU is important one which decides the jaati of a taal. jaati of taal depends upon the matras if laghu which changes accordingly,

According to PANCHAJAATI BHEDA  the matras of laghu are changeable which creates 5 jaatis.these are:

1.trayashra(त्रयश्र)-          3 matras of laghu

2.chaturashra(चतुरश्र)-   4 matras of laghu

3.khanda(खंड)-              5 matras of laghu

4.mishra(मिश्र)-             7 matras of laghu

5.samkirna(संकीर्ण)-    9 matras of laghu

The above mentioned panchajaatis creates 35 talas .we can get by applying these 5 jaatis on 7 saptavaidik talas.lets see how?...

First we see the structures of saptavaidik talas by applying the symbols -

1.dhruvataal-             | O |  |

2.matha taal-            |  O   |

3.roopak taal-          |  O

4.Jhampa taal-        | U  O

5.Triput taal-           | O O

6.Atha taal-            |  |  O O

7.Ektaal-                 |

Now, Lets pick DHRUVATAAL and applying all 5 jaatis one by one, we get-

1.druvataal in trayasra jaati-

   Since ,     laghu(  |   ) = 3 matras

 

Therefore,  | O |  |   = 3+2+3+3 = 11 matras

2.dhruvtaal in chaturasra jaati-

 Since,        laghu(  |   ) = 4 matras

Therefore,  | O |  |   = 4+2+4+4= 14 matras

3.dhruvataal in khanda jaati-

Since,        laghu(  |   ) = 5 matras

Therefore,  | O |  |   = 5+2+5+5= 17 matras

4.dhruvataal in mishra jaati-

Since,        laghu(  |   ) = 7 matras

Therefore,  | O |  |   = 7+2+7+7= 23 matras

5.dhruvataal in sankirna jaati-

Since,        laghu(  |   ) = 9 matras

Therefore,  | O |  |   = 9+2+9+9= 29 matras

We can apply the same process which is mentioned above on each taal from saptavaidiktalas.this will give 35 taal.Apart from the 5 jaatis of Laghu( | ) ,there are 5 speeds(गति) in carnatic system.after applying the 5 speeds and 5 jaatis of laghu on saptavaidik taals we get total 175 taals .

    (7 talas × 5 jaatis ×5 gati =  175 talas)

The five gatis of laghu with their symbols are as follows:

1.trayashra gati- it is denoted by  'त-कि-ट '

2.chaturasra gati- it is denoted by 'त-क-दि-मि'

3.khanda gati- it is denoted by 'त-क -त -कि -ट'

4.mishra gati- it is denoted by 'त-क-दि-मि-त-कि-ट'      

5.samkirna gati- it is denoted by 'त-क-दि-मि-त-क -त -कि -ट '

 

NOTE: the matras of laghu variate in 'PANCHAJATI BHEDA' but in 'PANCHAJATIGATI BHEDA' matras of all anga changes according to panchagati.

HINDUSTANI VS CARNATIC TAAL:

 There are many differences and similarities when we compare both of the systems.

1. Except the taal roopak(7 matra taal,begins with a khali) of hindustani system, all the talas both in carnatic and hindustani system start with Sam(taali on the first matra of a taal).

2.There is no KHALI(खाली) in carnatic taal system.

3.matras of laghu changes according to jaatibheda.

4.if we pick an odd matra taal say roopak(7) ,the structure of taal in carnatic would always start from 4 to 3 but just opposite in hindustani.For example:

Taal roopak(7)

In hindustani the structure would be as follows,

   1 2 3      4  5      6  7

ती ती ना | धी ना | धी ना

But in carnatic system, it would be as follows:

1    2   3   4    5   6   7

ती ती ना धी  | ना धी ना

5.Taals in hindustani system are independent but in carnatic system of taal there are 175 taals created from saptavaidik taals.

CONVERSION OF CARNATIC TAAL TO HINDUSTANI SYSTEM:

Taals in carnatic system can be converted into hindutsani system.here we will see the conversion of saptavaidik taals to hindustani system.

Lets apply chaturasra jaati for all taals.

1.dhruvataal(   | O | | =14 matra )

 

 1  2  3  4  |  5   6  |  7  8  9  10 | 11  12  13  14

×                 ²            ³                   ⁴

2.matha taal(   | O | = 10 matra  )

1  2  3  4 |  5  6  |  7  8  9  10

×                ²          ³

3.roopak taal (   | O = 6 matra )

1  2  3  4 | 5  6

×               ²

4.Jhampa taal (   |  U  O = 7 matra )

1  2  3  4 |  5   |  6  7  

×                ²       ³

5.triput taal (   | O O =8 matra  )

1  2  3  4  |  5  6  |  7   8

×                 ²          ³

6.Atha taal (   | | O O= 12 matra  )

1  2  3  4 |  5  6  7  8  |  9  10  |  11   12

×                ²                  ³             ⁴

7.Ektaal (    | = 4 matras  )

1   2    3    4  |

×