Taal for beginners: teentaal, keherwa and dadra with clap patterns

A taal is a repeating rhythmic cycle

Count four beats, then another four, until you reach sixteen. Start again at one. That repeating span is a taal, a rhythmic cycle with a fixed number of beats. This example is teentaal, whose sixteen beats form four groups of four.

The groups give the cycle its shape. In teentaal, clap on beats one, five and thirteen, but wave on nine. The wave marks khali, the empty section, rather than another clap. This contrast helps you feel where you are within the cycle, not just how many beats have passed.

Beat one is sam, the arrival point where melody and drum meet. Reaching sixteen is not the whole task: listen for how the music returns to one. The cycle also has a theka, a basic drum pattern that spells out its shape.

A Western time signature tells you how many beats are in a bar. A taal also identifies the internal groups, the arrival point and a drum pattern. Think of it as a repeating route through the beats, rather than a beat total alone.

The words for beats, groups and drum patterns

Count “1, 2, 3, 4”. Each beat is a matra. A group of beats within the cycle is a vibhag. In teentaal, the 16 beats form four vibhags of four beats each.

The first beat is sam, the arrival point where melody and drum meet. Listeners often mark it with a nod or clap. When you finish counting a cycle, the next beat brings you back to sam.

Khali is the empty section, marked with a hand wave rather than a clap. In teentaal, that wave comes on beat 9. The contrast between clapping and waving helps you feel your place in the cycle.

Say “Dha” or “Dhin”. Each is a bol, a spoken syllable for a tabla stroke. A theka is the basic drum pattern that spells out the taal, built from these bols. Tabla players learn patterns by speaking them first.

How to count and clap teentaal

Now stretch the count to 16. Teentaal is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, with four equal groups of four beats: 4 + 4 + 4 + 4. Each group is a vibhag. Speak one bol, a syllable for a tabla stroke, on each beat.

• Beats 1 to 4: 1 Dha, 2 Dhin, 3 Dhin, 4 Dha. Clap on 1, the sam, or first beat and point of arrival.
• Beats 5 to 8: 5 Dha, 6 Dhin, 7 Dhin, 8 Dha. Clap on 5.
• Beats 9 to 12: 9 Dha, 10 Tin, 11 Tin, 12 Ta. Wave on 9 to mark the khali, the empty section.
• Beats 13 to 16: 13 Ta, 14 Dhin, 15 Dhin, 16 Dha. Clap on 13.

Together, these syllables make the theka, the basic drum pattern that spells out the taal. After beat 16, return straight to beat 1 and clap again. Keep counting through the wave: khali marks a section, not a pause in the cycle.

How to count and clap keherwa

Keherwa has eight beats, grouped 4 + 4. This taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, has two sections called vibhags. Clap on beat 1, the sam or first beat. Wave on beat 5 to mark the khali, the empty section. After beat 8, return to 1 and clap again.

The theka, the basic drum pattern, is Dha Ge Na Ti | Na Ka Dhi Na. Each spoken syllable is a bol, a syllable for a tabla stroke. Pair each beat below with its syllable.

• First group: 1 Dha, 2 Ge, 3 Na, 4 Ti. Clap on 1.
• Second group: 5 Na, 6 Ka, 7 Dhi, 8 Na. Wave on 5.

Count aloud from 1 to 8 with those two gestures. Then replace the numbers with the syllables, keeping one syllable on each beat. Your clap falls on Dha. Your wave falls on the Na that begins the second group. Repeat without pausing after beat 8.

How to count and clap dadra

Now try a six-beat cycle. Dadra is a taal, a repeating rhythmic cycle, arranged as 3 + 3. Each beat is a matra, and each group is a vibhag. Count “1 2 3 | 4 5 6”, then return to 1. The vertical line marks the split between groups.

• 1: Dha. Clap here.
• 2: Dhin. Keep counting.
• 3: Na. Finish the first group.
• 4: Dha. Wave here.
• 5: Tin. Keep counting.
• 6: Na. Finish the second group, then return to 1.

The theka, or basic drum pattern, is “Dha Dhin Na | Dha Tin Na”. Each spoken syllable is a bol, representing a tabla stroke. Speak one bol per beat while your hand marks the two groups. Practise speaking, clapping and waving together before adding a recording.

Your clap marks sam, the first beat and point of arrival. Your wave marks khali, the empty section. Both groups begin with Dha in this theka, but their hand gestures differ. Keep the wave on 4 rather than turning it into another clap.

Laya means tempo and the sense of time

Keep the same dadra pattern, but leave more space between each count. You still have six beats, just a slower cycle. This is a change in laya, meaning tempo and, more broadly, the sense of time.

• Vilambit means slow.
• Madhya means medium.
• Drut means fast.

A taal, or rhythmic cycle, keeps its beat count at any laya. Dadra stays at six beats, keherwa at eight and teentaal at sixteen. Going faster brings the beats closer together. Going slower spreads them apart, without adding beats or changing their groups.

A slow teentaal cycle in a classical performance may take half a minute. A fast one may take only a few seconds. Both still contain sixteen beats. Listen for the whole cycle returning, rather than assuming that a longer stretch of time must contain more beats.

Taals used in film songs and ghazals

Count 1, 2, 3, 4, then 5, 6, 7, 8. That is the frame of keherwa, a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, heard in many film songs and ghazals. Its two groups of four give you a pattern to follow: clap on 1 and wave on 5.

If you usually play a Western 4/4 groove, keherwa can feel close to familiar ground, with a lighter second half. It also appears in many bhajans and folk songs. Keep all eight beats in view rather than stopping your count after the first four.

Dadra is another cycle heard in many ghazals. Its six beats fall into two groups of three, giving a swaying feel rather than keherwa’s groups of four. Western musicians may hear it as 6/8. Both cycles belong in your listening practice for ghazals.

Teentaal’s main place here is Hindustani classical music, where it is the most common taal. Its 16 beats form four groups of four. You can hear it at slow, medium and fast tempos, with the same count throughout.

How to find the first beat and clap with a recording

Start without a recording. Speak the theka, the basic drum pattern, while keeping a steady count. Its syllables are bols, spoken names for tabla strokes. Try keherwa: Dha Ge Na Ti | Na Ka Dhi Na. Say one syllable per beat, clapping on the first Dha and waving on the Na after Ti.

• Keherwa: count 1 to 8 in two groups of four. Clap on 1 and wave on 5, then start again.
• Dadra: count 1 to 6 in two groups of three. Clap on 1 and wave on 4.
• Teentaal: count 1 to 16 in four groups of four. Clap on 1, 5 and 13. Wave on 9.

Now play a recording. Listen for the singer's line landing with a strong drum stress. Treat that as a possible sam, the first beat and point of arrival. Test the counts above. Notice which count repeatedly returns to that arrival, then keep its claps and waves going as the recording plays.