Glossary · glossary · 1 min read
Tali
ताली; a clapped beat
Tali is a beat marked with a clap when you count a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, by hand. You meet it when learning to count cycles, such as teentaal, which has claps on beats 1, 5 and 13.
By John, Music lover from Bangalore · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 29 Sept 2026
Tali
Tali is a beat marked with a clap when you count a taal by hand. A taal is a repeating rhythmic cycle. Its pattern of claps and waves gives the cycle its shape, helping you feel where you are as you count.
In teentaal, a cycle of 16 beats, you clap on beats 1, 5 and 13. On beat 9, you wave instead. That wave is called khali. Counting with these gestures is how students learn to feel the cycle before an instrument is present.
Where you will hear and use Tali
Those claps mark tali, a beat shown with a clap when you count a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, by hand. You will use tali when learning to count a cycle and feel your place within it.
The claps work alongside khali, the beat marked with a wave. Together, the clapped and waved beats give each taal its shape. Students use this hand pattern to learn where they are in the cycle, rather than only counting numbers.
Keep going
- Taal for beginners: teentaal, keherwa and dadra with clap patterns · A taal is a repeating rhythmic cycle: count 16 beats for teentaal, eight for keherwa, and six for dadra. For teentaal, clap on 1, 5 and 13, wave on 9; for keherwa, clap on 1, wave on 5; for dadra, clap on 1, wave on 4.