Hindustani Talas

Talas 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 tala, 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. A soloist has to sound an important note of the raga 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 tala are divided into groups known as vibhagas, the first beat of each vibhaga usually being accented. It is this that gives the tala its unique texture. For example, Rupak tala consists of 7 beats while the related Dhamar tala consists of 14 beats. The spacing of the vibhaga accents makes them distinct, otherwise one avartan of Dhamar would be indistinguishable for two of Rupak or vice versa.[2] The first beat of any vibhaga is accompanied by a clap of the hands when reciting the tala and therefore is known as tali (or hand clap).


Furthermore, talas have a "missing" beat, known as khali (empty), which is always the first beat of a vibhaga, denoted in written form with '0' (zero). The khali beat acts as a mnemonic aid in recognising the approach of sam and keeping track of the tala cycle. In recitation it 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. 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 vibhaga 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 talas

Some talas, 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 laya. There are many talas in Hindustani music, however only a few are in common use:
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
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               2   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

Tihai

The tihai (pronounced tee-'high) is a polyrhythmic device originating from Indian classical music. The basic format of the tihai is 3 equal repetitions of a rhythmic pattern, interspersed with 2 equal rests, and all five components adding up to the number of beats in the phrase. Typically this rest period is emphasized with either a bol significantly louder that the rest of the pattern, or by understating a bol (with silence or flat note).

If the phrase is sixteen beats long, the outline of a tihai might look like: 4 2 4 2 4. Each "4" represents a pattern that is four beats long and each "2" represents a rest that is two beats long (4+2+4+2+4=16). The start of the next phrase is exactly on the downbeat. Another example is a 2 5 2 5 2 in a sixteen beat phrase. Two beats of rhythm with five beats of rest between.

In a 10 beat taal, such as Jhaptaal, the tihai may be structured as 6 1 6 1 6 1 ( this last beat falling on the sum).

Tihai's may be employed in any length of phrase as long as the rules are followed.:
1.There must be three groupings of playing, all of equal length
2.These must be alternated with 2 groupings of rest, both of equal length
3.The pattern must land the player back on the sum-- ready to start the next phrase.