Tala (music)

This article is about meter in classical Indian music. For other uses, seeTala (disambiguation).

Talarefers to musical meter in classical Indian music. Above: a musician using small cymbals to set thetala.

Atala(IASTtāla) literally means a 'clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure'.It is the term used inIndian classical musicsimilar tomusical meter,that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time.The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or the other hand, verbally, striking of smallcymbals,or apercussion instrumentin theIndian subcontinentaltraditions.Along withragawhich forms the fabric of a melodic structure, thetalaforms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music.

Talais an ancient music concept traceable toVedicera texts ofHinduism,such as theSamavedaand methods for singing the Vedic hymns.The music traditions of the North and South India, particularly theragaandtalasystems, were not considered as distinct till about the 16th century. There on, during the tumultuous period of Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Thetalasystem of the north is calledHindustaani,while the south is calledCarnaatic.However, thetalasystem between them continues to have more common features than differences.

Talain the Indian tradition embraces the time dimension of music, the means by which musical rhythm and form were guided and expressed.While atalacarries the musical meter, it does not necessarily imply a regularly recurring pattern. In the major classical Indian music traditions, the beats are hierarchically arranged based on how the music piece is to be performed.The most widely usedtalain the South Indian system isAdi tala.In the North Indian system, the most commontalaisteental.

Talahas other contextual meanings in ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. For example, it meanstrocheeinSanskrit prosody.

Etymology

Tāla(ताळ) is a Sanskrit word,which means 'being established'.

Terminology and definitions

According to David Nelson, an ethnomusicology scholar specializing in Carnatic music, atalain Indian music covers "the whole subject of musical meter".Indian music is composed and performed in a metrical framework, a structure of beats that is atala.Thetalaforms the metrical structure that repeats, in a cyclical harmony, from the start to end of any particular song or dance segment, making it conceptually analogous to meters in Western music.However,talashave certain qualitative features that classical European musical meters do not. For example, sometalasare much longer than any classical Western meter, such as a framework based on 29 beats whose cycle takes about 45 seconds to complete when performed. Another sophistication intalasis the lack of "strong, weak" beat composition typical of the traditional European meter. In classical Indian traditions, thetalais not restricted to permutations of strong and weak beats, but its flexibility permits the accent of a beat to be decided by the shape of musical phrase.

Painting depicting the Vedic sage-musician Narada, with atalainstrument in his left hand

Atalameasures musical time in Indian music. However, it does not imply a regular repeating accent pattern, instead its hierarchical arrangement depends on how the musical piece is supposed to be performed.A metric cycle of atalacontains a specific number of beats, which can be as short as 3 beats or as long as 128 beats.The pattern repeats, but the play of accent and empty beats are an integral part of Indian music architecture. Eachtalahas subunits. In other words, the larger cyclictalapattern has embedded smaller cyclic patterns, and both of these rhythmic patterns provide the musician and the audience to experience the play of harmonious and discordant patterns at two planes. A musician can choose to intentionally challenge a pattern at the subunit level by contradicting thetala,explore the pattern in exciting ways, then bring the music and audience experience back to the fundamental pattern of cyclical beats.

Thetalaas the time cycle, and theragaas the melodic framework, are the two foundational elements of classical Indian music.Theragagives an artist the ingredients palette to build the melody from sounds, while thetalaprovides her with a creative framework for rhythmic improvisation using time.

The basic rhythmic phrase of atalawhen rendered on a percussive instrument such astablais called atheka.The beats within each rhythmic cycle are calledmatras,and the first beat of any rhythmic cycle is called thesam.An empty beat is calledkhali.The subdivisions of atalaare calledvibhagasorkhands.In the two major systems of classical Indian music, the first count of anytalais calledsam.The cyclic nature of atalais a major feature of the Indian tradition, and this is termed asavartan.Bothragaandtalaare open frameworks for creativity and allow theoretically infinite number of possibilities, however, the tradition considers 108talasas basic.

History

The roots oftalaand music in ancient India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism. The earliest Indian thought combined three arts, instrumental music (vadya), vocal music (gita) and dance (nrtta).As these fields developed,sangitabecame a distinct genre of art, in a form equivalent to contemporary music. This likely occurred before the time ofYāska(~500 BCE), since he includes these terms in hisniruktastudies, one of the sixVedangaof ancient Indian tradition. Some of the ancient texts of Hinduism such as theSamaveda(~1000 BCE) are structured entirely to melodic themes,it is sections ofRigvedaset to music.

TheSamavedais organized into two formats. One part is based on the musical meter, another by the aim of the rituals.The text is written with embedded coding, wheresvaras(octave note) is either shown above or within the text, or the verse is written intoparvans(knot or member). These markings identify which units are to be sung in a single breath, each unit based on multiples of one eighth. The hymns ofSamavedacontain melodic content, form, rhythm and metric organization.This structure is, however, not unique or limited toSamaveda.TheRigvedaembeds the musical meter too, without the kind of elaboration found in theSamaveda.For example, theGayatri mantracontains three metric lines of exactly eight syllables, with an embedded ternary rhythm.

According to Lewis Rowell, a professor of music specializing in classical Indian music, the need and impulse to develop mathematically precise musical meters in the Vedic era may have been driven by the Indian use oforal traditionfor transmitting vast amounts of Vedic literature. Deeply and systematically embedded structure and meters may have enabled the ancient Indians a means to detect and correct any errors of memory or oral transmission from one person or generation to the next.According toMichael Witzel,

The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like atape-recording.... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present.

TheSamavedaalso included a system ofchironomy,or hand signals to set the recital speed. These weremudras(finger and palm postures) andjatis(finger counts of the beat), a system at the foundation oftalas.The chants in the Vedic recital text, associated with rituals, are presented to be measured inmatrasand its multiples in the invariant ratio of 1:2:3. This system is also the basis of everytala.

Five Gandharvas (celestial musicians) from 4th–5th century CE, northwest Indian subcontinent, carrying the four types of musical instruments. Gandharvas are discussed in Vedic era literature.

In the ancient traditions of Hinduism, two musical genre appeared, namelyGandharva(formal, composed, ceremonial music) andGana(informal, improvised, entertainment music).TheGandharvamusic also implied celestial, divine associations, while theGanaalso implied singing.The Vedic Sanskrit musical tradition had spread widely in the Indian subcontinent, and according to Rowell, the ancient Tamil classics make it "abundantly clear that a cultivated musical tradition existed in South India as early as the last few pre-Christian centuries".

The classic Sanskrit textNatya Shastrais at the foundation of the numerous classical music and dance of India. BeforeNatyashastrawas finalized, the ancient Indian traditions had classified musical instruments into four groups based on their acoustic principle (how they work, rather than the material they are made of).These four categories are accepted as given and are four separate chapters in theNatyashastra,one each on stringed instruments (chordophones), hollow instruments (aerophones), solid instruments (idiophones), and covered instruments (membranophones).Of these, states Rowell, the idiophone in the form of "small bronze cymbals" were used fortala.Almost the entire chapter ofNatyashastraon idiophones, by Bharata, is a theoretical treatise on the system oftala.Time keeping with idiophones was considered a separate function than that of percussion (membranophones), in the early Indian thought on music theory.

The early 13th century Sanskrit textSangitaratnakara(literally 'Ocean of Music and Dance'), byŚārṅgadevapatronized by King Sighana of theYadava dynastyinMaharashtra,mentions and discussesragasandtalas.He identifies seventalafamilies, then subdivides them into rhythmic ratios, presenting a methodology for improvisation and composition that continues to inspire modern era Indian musicians.Sangitaratnakarais one of the most complete historic medieval era Hindu treatises on this subject that has survived into the modern era, that relates to the structure, technique and reasoning behindragasandtalas.

The centrality and significance ofTalato music in ancient and early medieval India is also expressed in numerous templereliefs,in both Hinduism and Jainism, such as through the carving of musicians with cymbals at the fifth century Pavaya temple sculpture nearGwalior,and theEllora Caves.

Description

In the South Indian system (Carnatic), a fulltalais a group of sevensuladi talas.These are cyclic (avartana), with three parts (anga) traditionally written down withlaghu,drutamandanudrutamsymbols. Eachtalais divided in two ways to perfect the musical performance, one is calledkala(kind) and the othergati(pulse).

Each repeated cycle of atalais called anavartan.This iscounted additivelyin sections (vibhagoranga) which roughly correspond to bars or measures but may not have the same number of beats (matra, akshara) and may be marked by accents or rests. So the HindustaniJhoomra talhas 14 beats, counted 3+4+3+4, which differs fromDhamar tal,also of 14 beats but counted 5+2+3+4. The spacing of thevibhagaccents makes them distinct, otherwise, again, sinceRupak talconsists of 7 beats, two cycles of it of would be indistinguishable from one cycle of the relatedDhamar tal.However the most common Hindustanitala,Teental,is a regularly-divisible cycle of four measures of four beats each.

Examples ofbol,notation and additive counting in Hindustani classical music

The first beat of anytala,calledsam(pronounced as the English word 'sum' and meaning even or equal) is always the most important and heavily emphasised. It is the point of resolution in the rhythm where the percussionist's and soloist's phrases culminate: a soloist has to sound an important note of the raga there, and a North Indian classical dance composition must end there. However, melodies do not always begin on the first beat of thetalabut may be offset, for example to suit the words of a composition so that the most accented word falls upon thesam.The termtalli,literally 'shift', is used to describe this offset inTamil.A composition may also start with ananacrusison one of the last beats of the previous cycle of thetala,calledateeta eduppuin Tamil.

Thetālais indicated visually by using a series of rhythmic hand gestures calledkriyasthat correspond to theangasor 'limbs', orvibhagof thetāla.These movements define thetalain Carnatic music, and in the Hindustani tradition too, when learning and reciting thetala,the first beat of anyvibhagis known astali('clap') and is accompanied by a clap of the hands, while an "empty" (khali) vibhag 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 instead. But northern definitions oftalarely far more upon specific drum-strokes, known asbols,each with its own name that can be vocalized as well as written. In one common notation thesamis denoted by an 'X' and thekhali,which is always the first beat of a particularvibhag,denoted by '0' (zero).

A tala does not have a fixed tempo (laya) and can be played at different speeds. In Hindustani classical music a typical recital of a raga falls into two or three parts categorized by the quickening tempo of the music;Vilambit(delayed, i.e., slow),Madhya(medium tempo) andDrut(fast). Carnatic music adds an extra slow and fast category, categorised by divisions of thepulse;Chauka(one stroke per beat),Vilamba(two strokes per beat),Madhyama(four strokes per beat),Drut(eight strokes per beat) and lastlyAdi-drut(16 strokes per beat).

Indian classical music, bothnorthernandsouthern,have theoretically developed since ancient times numeroustala,though in practice sometalasare very common, and some are rare.

In Carnatic music

Carnatic music uses various classification systems of tālas such as theChapu(four talas),Chanda(108 talas) andMelakarta(72 talas). TheSuladi Sapta Tālasystem (35 talas) is used here, according to which there are seven families of tāla. A tāla from this system cannot exist without reference to one of fivejatis,differentiated by the length in beats of thelaghu.Thus, with all the possible combinations oftalatypes andlaghulengths, there are 5 x 7 = 35 talas having lengths ranging from 3 (Tisra-jati Eka tala) to 29 (sankeerna jati dhruva tala) aksharas. The seventalafamilies and the number ofaksharasfor each of the 35talasare;

Tala	Anga notation	Tisra(3)	Chatusra(4)	Khanda(5)	Misra(7)	Sankeerna(9)
Dhruva	lOll	11	14	17	23	29
Matya	lOl	8	10	12	16	20
Rupaka	Ol	5	6	7	9	11
Jhampa	lUO	6	7	8	10	12
Triputa	lOO	7	8	9	11	13
Ata	llOO	10	12	14	18	22
Eka	l	3	4	5	7	9

In practice, only a few talas have compositions set to them. The most commontalaisChaturasra-nadai Chaturasra-jaati Triputa tala,also calledAdi tala(Adimeaning primordial in Sanskrit). Nadai is a term which means subdivision of beats. Manykritisand around half of thevarnamsare set to thistala.Other commontalasinclude:

• Chaturasra-nadai Chaturasra-jaati Rupaka tala(or simplyRupaka tala).A large body of krtis is set to thistala.
• Khanda Chapu(a 10-count) andMisra Chapu(a 14-count), both of which do not fit very well into the suladi sapta talascheme. Many padams are set toMisra Chapu,while there are also krtis set to both the abovetalas.
• Chatusra-nadai Khanda-jati Ata tala(or simplyAta tala).Around half of the varnams are set to thistala.
• Tisra-nadai Chatusra-jati Triputa tala(Adi Tala Tisra-Nadai).A few fast-paced kritis are set to thistala.As this tala is a twenty-four beat cycle, compositions in it can be and sometimes are sung inRupaka talam.

Strokes

There are six main angas/strokes in talas;

• Anudhrutam,a single beat, notated 'U', a downward clap of the open hand with the palm facing down.
• Dhrutam,a pattern of two beats, notated 'O', a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by a second downward clap with the palm facing up.
• Laghu,a pattern with a variable number of beats, three, four, five, seven or nine, depending on thejati.It is notated 'l' and consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by counting from little finger to thumb and back, depending on thejati.
• Guru,a pattern represented by eight beats. It is notated '8' and consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by circling movement of the right hand with closed fingers in the clockwise direction.
• Plutham,a pattern of twelve beats notated '3', it consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by counting from little finger to the middle finger, a krishya (waving the hand towards the left hand side four times) and a sarpini (waving the hand towards the right four times)
• Kakapadam,a pattern of sixteen beats notated 'x', it consists of a downward clap with the palm facing down followed by counting from little finger to the middle finger, a pathakam (waving the hand upwards four times),a krishya and a sarpini

Jatis

Each tala can incorporate one of the five followingjatis.

Jati	Number of aksharas
Chaturasra	4
Thisra	3
Khanda	5
Misra	7
Sankeerna	9

Each tala family has a defaultjatiassociated with it; the tala name mentioned without qualification refers to the defaultjati.

• Dhruva talais by defaultchaturasra jati
• Matya talaischaturasra jati
• Rupaka talaischaturasra jati
• Jhampa talaismisra jati
• Triputa talaistisra jati(chaturasra jatitype is also known asAdi tala)
• Ata talaiskanda jati
• Eka talaischaturasra jati
• For all the 72 melakarta talas and the 108 talas the jathi is mostly chatusram

For example, one cycle ofkhanda-jati rupaka talacomprises a two-beatdhrutamfollowed by a five-beatlaghu.The cycle is thus seven aksharas long. Chaturasra nadai khanda-jati Rupaka tala has seven aksharam, each of which is fourmatraslong; each avartana of the tala is 4 x 7 = 28 matras long. For Misra nadai Khanda-jati Rupaka tala, it would be 7 x 7 = 49 matra.

Gati (nadaiin Tamil,nadakain Telugu,nadein Kannada)

The number ofmaatrasin anaksharais called thenadai.This number can be three, four, five, seven or nine, and take the same name as the jatis. The default nadai isChatusram:

Jati	Maatras	Phonetic representation of beats
Tisra	3	Tha Ki Ta
Chatusra	4	Tha Ka Dhi Mi
Khanda	5	Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta
Misra	7	Tha Ki Ta Tha Ka Dhi Mi
Sankeerna	9	Tha Ka Dhi Mi Tha Ka Tha Ki Ta

Sometimes,pallavisare sung as part of aRagam Thanam Pallaviexposition in some of the rarer, more complicatedtalas;such pallavis, if sung in a non-Chatusra-nadai tala,are callednadaipallavis. In addition, pallavis are often sung in chauka kale (slowing the tala cycle by a magnitude of four times), although this trend seems to be slowing.

Kāla

Kālarefers to the change of tempo during a rendition of song, typically doubling up the speed.Onnaam kaalamis first speed,Erandaam kaalamis second speed and so on. Erandaam kaalam fits in twice the number of aksharaas (notes) into the same beat, thus doubling the tempo. Sometimes, Kāla is also used similar to Layā, for example Madhyama Kālam or Chowka Kālam.

In Hindustani music

Talas have a vocalised and therefore recordable form wherein individual beats are expressed as phonetic representations of various strokes played upon the tabla. 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. Players from the Jaipur Gharana are also known to use Ada Trital, a variation of Trital for transitioning from Vilambit to Drut laya.

Thekhalivibhag has no beats on the bayan, i.e. no bass beats this can be seen as a way to enforce the balance between the usage of heavy (bass dominated) and light (treble) beats or more simply it can be thought of another mnemonic to keep track of the rhythmic cycle (in addition to Sam). Thekhaliis played with a stressed syllable that can easily be picked out from the surrounding beats.

Some rare talas 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. This tala's sixth beat does not have a played syllable – in western terms it is a rest.

Common Hindustani talas

Some talas, for example Dhamaar, Ektaal, Jhoomra and Chautala, lend themselves better to slow and medium tempos. Others flourish at faster speeds, like Jhaptal 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. As stated above, the division with thesam(first strong beat) is marked with X, thekhalisection is marked by 0, and the remaining sections,taliare marked with numbers starting at 2. Some sources give Rupak tala as starting with khali, the only tala to do so.

There are many talas in Hindustani music, some of the more popular ones are:

Name	Beats	Division	Vibhaga
Tintal(or Trital or Teental)	16	4+4+4+4	X 2 0 3
Tilwada	16	4+4+4+4	X 2 0 3
Jhoomra	14	3+4+3+4	X 2 0 3
Ada Chautaal	14
Dhamar	14	5+2+3+4	X 2 0 3
Deepchandi (thumri, film songs)	14
Ektal(and Chautal, in Dhrupad)	12	2+2+2+2+2+2	X 0 2 0 3 4
Jhaptal	10	2+3+2+3	X 2 0 3
Sool Taal (mainly Dhrupad)	10
Keherwa	8	4+4	X 0
Rupak(Mughlai/Roopak) Carnatic has a 6-beat Roopak	7	3+2+2	X 2 3 or 0 X 2
Tevaraa (used in dhrupad)	7
Dadra	6	3+3	X 0

72 melakarta talas and 108 anga talas

72 melakarta talas

S.No	Name of raga	Pattern of the symbols of angas	Aksharas
1	Kanakaangi	1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Laghu	15
2	Rathnaangi	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu	20
3	Ganamurthi	1 Laghu, 2 Anudhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha	22
4	Vanaspathi	1 Laghu, 2 Anudhruthas, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	22
5	Maanavathi	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	20
6	Dhanarupi	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhritha	15
7	Senaavathi	1 Gurus, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	25
8	Hanumathodi	1 Guru, 2 Anudhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu	34
9	Dhenuka	1 Pluta, 2 Anudhruthas, 1 Dhrutha	16
10	Natakapriya	3 Dhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	12
11	Kokilapriya	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha, 2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha	21
12	Rupaavathi	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	19
13	Gayakapriya	1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 2 Dhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	15
14	Vagula bharanam	1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 2 Dhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	28
15	Maya malava goulam	1 Laghu, 2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Anudhrutha	31
16	Chakravaham	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	24
17	Suryakantham	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Pluta	33
18	Haata kambari	1 Guru, 2 Dhruthas, 1 Guru, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	27
19	Jankaradh wani	1 Pluta, 3 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Anudhrutha	36
20	Nata bhairavi	1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha	19
21	Keeravani	2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	18
22	Karahara priya	2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	24
23	Gowri manohari	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha, 2 Gurus, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	37
24	Varuna priya	1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	20
25	Maara ranjani	1 Laghu, 2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 2 Gurus, 2 Anudhruthas	28
26	Charukesi	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	22
27	Sarasaangi	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu	29
28	Harikamboji	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Pluta, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha	41
29	Dheera sankara bharanam	1 Guru, 2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Dhrutha, 2 Laghus, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	50
30	Nagaa nandhini	1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 2 Anudhruthas	23
31	Yagapriya	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha	13
32	Raga vardhini	3 Laghus, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Anudhrutha	24
33	Gangeya bhushani	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	38
34	Vaga dheeshwari	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, Dhrutha, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	34
35	Soolini	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha	12
36	Chala Naata	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 2 Dhruthas	15
37	Chalagam	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha	22
38	Jalaarnavam	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 2 Gurus, 1 Dhrutha	32
39	Jaalavarali	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 2 Laghus, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha	25
40	Navaneetham	1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	15
41	Paavani	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 2 Anudhruthas	9
42	Raghupriya	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	14
43	Kavaambothi	1 Laghu, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Pluta, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha	36
44	Bhavapriya	1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	16
45	Subha panthuvarali	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha	35
46	Shadvitha maargini	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	44
47	Swarnaangi	1 Guru, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu	32
48	Divyamani	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	27
49	Davalaambari	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	28
50	Naama narayani	1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 2 Dhruthas, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	22
51	Kaamavartha	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Pluta, 1 Anudhrutha	27
52	Raamapriya	2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	16
53	Gamanashrama	2 Laghus, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	17
54	Viswambari	1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	27
55	Syamalangi	1 Guru, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu	25
56	Shanmukha priya	1 Pluta, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	27
57	Simhendra madhyamam	1 Guru, 1 Kakapada, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	69
58	Hemaavathi	1 Pluta, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	30
59	Dharmavathi	1 Pluta, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	30
60	Neethimathi	1Dhrutha, 1Laghu, 1Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	22
61	Kaanthamani	2 Gurus, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	28
62	Rishabhapriya	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	21
63	Lathaangi	1 Laghu, 1 Pluta, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu	21
64	Vachaspathi	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	29
65	Mecha Kalyani	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	30
66	Chithraambari	1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Pluta, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam	29
67	Sucharithra	1 Guru, 1 Laghu, 2 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamams, 1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha	27
68	Jyothi swarupini	1 Kakapada, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Pluta, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	48
69	Dathuvardhani	1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Anudhrutha, 1 Pluta, 1 Anudhrutha	36
70	Naasikha bhushani	1 Dhrutha, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	32
71	Kosalam	1 Guru, 1 Anudhrutha, 2 Gurus, 1 Anudhruthas	26
72	Rasikapriya	1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Guru, 1 Dhrutha Sekara Viraamam, 1 Laghu, 1 Dhrutha	20

7 Saptangachakram (7 angas)

Anga	Symbol	Aksharakala
Anudrutam	U	1
Druta	O	2
Druta-virama	UO	3
Laghu (Chatusra-jati)	l	4
Guru	8	8
Plutam	3	12
Kakapadam	x	16

Shodashangachakram (16 angas)

Anga	Symbol	Aksharakala
Anudrutam	U	1
Druta	O	2
Druta-virama	UO	3
Laghu (Chatusra-jati)	l	4
Laghu-virama	Ul	5
Laghu-druta	Ol	6
Laghu-druta-virama	UOl	7
Guru	8	8
Guru-virama	U8	9
Guru-druta	O8	10
Guru-druta-virama	UO8	11
Plutam	3	12
Pluta-virana	U3	13
Pluta-druta	O3	14
Pluta-druta-virama	UO3	15
Kakapadam	x	16

Compositions are rare in the 108 lengthy anga talas. They are mostly used in performing thePallaviofRagam Thanam Pallavis.Some examples of anga talas are:

Sarabhanandana tala

8		O	l	l	O	U	U)
O	O	O	U	O)	OU)	U)	O
U	O	U	O	U)	O	(OU)	O)

Simhanandana tala:It is the longest tala.

8	8	l	)	l	8	O	O
8	8	l	)	l	)	8	l
l	x

Another type of tala is thechhanda tala.These are talas set to the lyrics of theThirupugazhby the Tamil composerArunagirinathar.He is said to have written 16,000 hymns each in a differentchhandatala.Of these, only 1500–2000 are available.

Rarer Hindustani talas

Name	Beats	Division	Vibhaga
Adachoutal	14	2+2+2+2+2+2+2	X 2 0 3 0 4 0
Brahmtal	28	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
Ussole e Fakhta	5	1+1+1+1+1	x 3
Farodast	14	3+4+3+4	X 2 0 3

References

Bibliography

• Caudhurī, Vimalakānta Rôya (2000).The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music.Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN978-81-208-1708-1.
• Gangolli, Ramesh (Summer 2007). "Music and Mathematics".Perspectives of New Music.45(2): 51–56.doi:10.1353/pnm.2007.0001.JSTOR25164656.
• Kaufmann, Walter(1968),The Ragas of North India,Oxford & Indiana University Press,ISBN978-0253347800,OCLC11369
• Monier-Williams, Monier(1899),A Sanskrit-English Dictionary,London: Oxford University Press
• Nettl, Bruno;Ruth M. Stone; James Porter; Timothy Rice (1998),The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia: the Indian subcontinent,Routledge,ISBN978-0-8240-4946-1
• Nettl, Bruno (2010),"Tala, Music",Encyclopædia Britannica
• Randel, Don Michael(2003).The Harvard Dictionary of Music(4th ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-01163-2.
• Rowell, Lewis (2015).Music and Musical Thought in Early India.University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-73034-9.
• Sorrell, Neil;Narayan, Ram(1980).Indian Music in Performance: A Practical Introduction.Manchester University Press.ISBN978-0-7190-0756-9.

Further reading

• Daniélou, Alain(1949).Northern Indian Music, Volume 1. Theory & technique; Volume 2. The main rāgǎs.London: C. Johnson.OCLC851080.
• Humble, M. (2002):The Development of Rhythmic Organization in Indian Classical Music,MA dissertation, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
• Jairazbhoy, Nazir Ali(1995).The Rāgs of North Indian Music: Their Structure & Evolution(1st revised Indian ed.). Bombay: Popular Prakashan.ISBN978-81-7154-395-3.
• Junius, Manfred:Die Tālas der nordindischen Musik[The Talas of North Indian Music], Munich, Salzburg: Katzbichler, 1983.
• Martinez, José Luiz (2001).Semiosis in Hindustani Music.Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN978-81-208-1801-9.
• Mehta, Tarla (1995).Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India.Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN978-81-208-1057-0.
• Montfort, Matthew.Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali and India,Mill Valley: Panoramic Press, 1985.ISBN0-937879-00-2
• Sargeant, Winthrop;Lahiri, Sarat (October 1931)."A Study in East Indian Rhythm".The Musical Quarterly.XVII(4): 427–438.doi:10.1093/mq/XVII.4.427.
• Te Nijenhuis, Emmie(1974).Indian Music: History and Structure.BRILL Academic.ISBN978-90-04-03978-0.

External links

• A Visual Introduction to Rhythms (taal) in Hindustani Classical Music
• Colvin Russell:Tala Primer – A basic introduction to tabla and tala
• KKSongs Talamala:Recordings of Tabla Bols, database for Hindustani Talas
• Ancient Future:MIDI files of the common (major) Hindustani Talas