Adi taal: the 8-beat cycle of Carnatic music

Adi taal

Count from one to eight, then begin again. That is the basic cycle of adi taal, also called adi tala, the most common tala, or repeating rhythmic cycle, in Carnatic music. Each beat is called an aksharam.

Those eight beats form three groups: four plus two plus two. The first group is a laghu, a unit counted with a clap and finger counts. Here it lasts four beats. Each remaining group is a drutam, a two-beat unit counted with a clap and a wave.

Eight beats grouped as four plus two plus two

Those three groups have names: one laghu followed by two drutams. A laghu is the opening group, which has four beats in adi taal. A drutam is a two-beat group. Each beat is called an aksharam, so the whole cycle has eight aksharams.

• Beats 1 to 4 form the laghu: a clap followed by counts on the little, ring and middle fingers.
• Beats 5 and 6 form the first drutam: a clap and a wave.
• Beats 7 and 8 form the second drutam: another clap and wave.

How to count adi taal by hand

Count aloud from one to eight as you make these hand movements. Each number marks one aksharam, or beat.

• 1: Clap.
• 2: Count on your little finger.
• 3: Count on your ring finger.
• 4: Count on your middle finger.
• 5: Clap.
• 6: Wave your hand.
• 7: Clap.
• 8: Wave your hand.

The clap and three finger counts make the laghu, the four-beat group here. A drutam is a two-beat group marked by a clap and a wave. You make two drutams to complete the cycle.

Chatusra nadai means four pulses per beat

Keep the hand count moving and say “one, two, three, four” evenly within each beat. These smaller pulses do not replace the eight beats. They fit inside them.

Nadai means the subdivision of a beat into smaller pulses. Chatusra nadai means four pulses per beat, the usual subdivision in adi taal. Each aksharam, or beat, holds four pulses, so the eight-beat cycle contains 32 pulses.

Two kalai doubles the count

Now give each hand movement two counts instead of one. This is two kalai, a way of counting in which each beat is doubled. Compositions in adi taal are often described this way. The cycle is then counted as 16, while the hand pattern stays the same.

The grouping is still four plus two plus two hand movements. Doubling each movement gives eight counts for the first group, then four for each of the next two groups.

Adi taal compared with keherwa and 4/4

Back at the eight-beat count, adi taal loosely matches keherwa, a Hindustani eight-beat rhythmic cycle, or two bars of 4/4, each containing four beats. These comparisons help with counting, but they do not make the patterns identical.

In keherwa, clap on beat one and wave on beat five. In adi taal, count clap, little finger, ring finger, middle finger, clap, wave, clap, wave. The same eight beats have different hand patterns.

Practise with the BeatRootRaga metronome

Set the BeatRootRaga metronome to Keherwa (8), an eight-beat cycle, for practice. It has no Carnatic hand-count mode, so use the clicks to keep time while your hand marks adi taal.

• Count beats 1 to 4 with a clap, then touch your little, ring and middle fingers in order.
• Count beats 5 and 6 with a clap and a wave.
• Count beats 7 and 8 with another clap and wave. Repeat the cycle.