What is Raga?
Raga: its structural features
Raga classification
Ragamala
Ragas in performance
Talas in performance

Talas in performance

All the recordings in this collection have rhythm accompaniment on tabla. A composition in Hindustani music is set to a particular rhythm cycle (tala), which consists of a fixed number of time units or counts (matras) and is made up of two or more sections. The first beat of each section is either stressed (shown by a clap of the hands) or unstressed (shown by a wave of the right hand).

Among the talas which are in common use, the sixteen-beat tintal (or trital: 4+4+4+4) is perhaps the most popular today. Other common talas are:

dadra - six counts: 3 + 3
rupak - seven counts: 3 + 2 + 2
kaharva - eight counts: 4 + 4
jhaptal - ten counts: 2 + 3 + 2 + 3
ektal and chautal - twelve counts: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
dhamar - fourteen counts: 5 + 2 + 3 + 4
dipchandi - fourteen counts: 3 + 4 + 3 + 4
addha tintal or sitarkhani - sixteen counts: 4 + 4 + 4 + 4
Several of these are represented on the recordings. For instance, Hariprasad Chaurasia plays a composition in medium-fast jhaptal in raga Bhupal todi, and a composition in fast ektal in raga Bhupali. In Jaunpuri and Sindhura, Buddhadev DasGupta demonstrates the progression of tempo in a performance by playing first a gat in (medium) slow tintal and then a composition in fast tintal to conclude.

The drum syllables of the tabla (or other percussion instruments) are known as bols ('words'). These are memorised and can be spoken, and refer to the patterns of drum strokes. The basic bol pattern which characterises a tala is known as the theka. The sam is the first beat of the cycle, whereas the beat which serves as its counterbalance is called khali. Generally, the khali is in the middle of the cycle, except in the case of rupak, where it falls on the first beat. The visible characteristic of the khali is that it is shown by a silent wave of the hand. The sam is often shown by an especially emphasised clap. The pattern for medium-fast tintal is shown as follows:
count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1
bol dha dhin dhin dha dha dhin dhin dha dha tin tin ta ta dhin dhin dha dha
. clap clap wave clap clap
. sam . khali . sam
notation x + 0 + x
The tempo (laya) at which a composition is performed is specified in relative terms: vilambit (slow), madhya (medium) and drut (fast). As the performance progresses, the speed of rendition goes on increasing. In layakari ('playing with rhythm'), rhythmic variations are introduced with reference to the basic tempo. The simplest form of layakari involves playing at various tempos such as daidh (one and a half times the original speed), dugun (double speed), tigun (three times the original tempo) and chaugun (four times as fast). In more complex layakaris, off-beat movements and mixed tempos are used, and in vocal music, the words can be spaced in different ways over the rhythm cycle. A currently popular feature of a raga performance is the tihai, a pattern that is repeated three times and ends on sam or on the mukhda. In many of the recordings a tihai is employed to end the recital and bring the raga to a close.
What is Raga?
Raga: its structural features
Raga classification
Ragamala
Ragas in performance
Talas in performance