Taals

• explainer · 7 min

  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.

• reference · 4 min

  Teentaal: the 16-beat cycle of Hindustani music

  Teentaal is a 16-beat Hindustani rhythmic cycle counted in four groups of four, with claps on 1, 5 and 13, and a wave on 9. Its theka, or basic tabla stroke pattern, is dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha.

• reference · 4 min

  Rupak: the 7-beat taal that starts on khali

  Rupak is a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, with seven beats grouped 3 + 2 + 2. Its opening closed strokes make sam, the first beat, sound light; this beat is khali, marked by a wave, rather than tali, marked by a clap.

• reference · 4 min

  Keherwa: the 8-beat taal of film songs, bhajans and folk

  Keherwa is an eight-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged as 4 + 4. To recognise it, listen for two groups of four, a lighter second half, and the recurring drum pattern: dha ge na ti | na ka dhin na.

• reference · 3 min

  Jhaptaal: the 10-beat taal

  Jhaptaal is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, with ten beats. Its four vibhags, or divisions, follow 2 + 3 + 2 + 3, alternating two-beat and three-beat groups.

• reference · 4 min

  Ektaal: the 12-beat taal of khayal

  Ektaal is a twelve-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, divided into six two-beat sections called vibhags. Its stretched beats let the tabla player elaborate the stroke pattern in vilambit (slow-tempo) bada khayal, the slow opening composition of a khayal performance.

• reference · 3 min

  Deepchandi: the 14-beat taal of thumri

  Deepchandi is a fourteen-beat taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, divided into groups of 3 + 4 + 3 + 4. Its held beats leave room for the word-centred, ornamented singing of thumri, a light classical vocal form.

• reference · 3 min

  Dadra: the 6-beat taal

  Dadra is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, with six beats grouped as 3 + 3. Keherwa has eight beats, so listen for the return to beat 1 after six or eight beats to tell them apart.

• reference · 3 min

  Chautaal: the 12-beat taal of dhrupad

  Chautaal is a twelve-beat rhythmic cycle used in dhrupad, a musical form, and played on the pakhawaj, a barrel drum. Ektaal also has twelve beats, but uses a tabla drum pattern and places its waves on beats 3 and 7, rather than 5 and 9.

• reference · 3 min

  Misra chapu and khanda chapu: the 7 and 5 beat Carnatic talas

  Chapu talas are quick Carnatic rhythmic cycles counted with claps rather than finger counts. Misra means seven, counted as 3 + 4 or 3 + 2 + 2; khanda means five, counted as 2 + 3.

• reference · 3 min

  Bhajani and dhumali: the bhajan and qawwali cycles

  Bhajani and dhumali are eight-beat thekas, or drum patterns, sharing keherwa’s repeating rhythmic cycle of two groups of four. Bhajani has a swinging feel in bhajans and other devotional songs, while dhumali brings a busier drive to qawwali, folk and light songs.

• reference · 4 min

  Adi taal: the 8-beat cycle of Carnatic music

  Adi taal, also called adi tala, is an eight-beat repeating rhythmic cycle and the most common tala in Carnatic music. Count it with a clap, three finger counts, then a clap and wave twice, grouping the beats as four plus two plus two.