Introduction to the Tãla

The term tãla literally means rhythm. Tala is the measure of time in music. It sets the time limit within which a particular note is to be rendered. Basic exercises in Carnatic music are done in different speeds to get a grip over tala.

Taalangas: There are six components/anghas to tala.

1.Anudhruta : Just a tap on lap (1 beat). The sign is U
2.Dhruta: A tap followed by flipping the palm. The sign is O
3.Laghu: 1 beat and counting fingers. The sign is I

Laghu is based on the jaati of tala.The following are the 5  jaatis:

S.No	Jaathi	No .of counts	Jathi
1	Trisra	3	Ta ki ta
2	Chaturashra	4	Ta ka dhi mi
3	Khanda	5	Ta ka Ta Ki ta
4	Mishra	7	Ta kit a Ta ka dhi mi
5	Sankeerna	9	Ta ka dhi mi Ta ka Ta Ki Ta

Depending on the jaati, laghu is fixed and fingers are counted. E.g. Tisra jaati has 3 counts.So laghu has 1 beat followed by 2 finger counts. Chaturashra jaati has 4 counts.Laghu will have 1 beat and 3 finger counts.

Suladi talas: There are 7 Talas – dhruva, matya, rupaka, triputa,  jhampa, ata and eka tala  and 5 jaathis as explained in my previous post. Applying 5 jaathis to 7 talas will give totally 35 talas in the following manner. They are called suladi talas.

Tisra jaathi Dhruva Tala

Tisra jaathi matya tala

Tisra jaathi triputa tala…..etc

Then,

Chaturashra jaathi Dhruva tala

Chaturashra jaathi Matya tala,….etc

Same applies for rest of jaathis viz. Kanda, Mishra and Sankeerna.

1	Tisra Jaathi Dhruva
2	Tisra Jaathi Matya
3	Tisra Jaathi Rupaka
4	Tisra Jaathi Triputa
5	Tisra Jaathi Jhampa
6	Tisra Jaathi Ata
7	Tisra Jaathi Eka
8	Chaturashra Jaathi Dhruva
9	Chaturashra Jaathi Matya
10	Chaturashra Jaathi Rupaka
11	Chaturashra Jaathi Triputa
12	Chaturashra Jaathi Jhampa
13	Chaturashra Jaathi Ata
14	Chaturashra Jaathi Eka
15	Kanda Jaathi Dhruva
16	Kanda Jaathi Matya
17	Kanda Jaathi Rupaka
18	Kanda Jaathi Triputa
19	Kanda Jaathi Jhampa
20	Kanda Jaathi Ata
21	Kanda Jaathi Eka
22	Mishra Jaathi Dhruva
23	Mishra Jaathi Matya
24	Mishra Jaathi Rupaka
25	Mishra Jaathi Triputa
26	Mishra Jaathi Jhampa
27	Mishra Jaathi Ata
28	Mishra Jaathi Eka
29	Sankeerna Jaathi Dhruva
30	Sankeerna Jaathi Matya
31	Sankeerna Jaathi Rupaka
32	Sankeerna Jaathi Triputa
33	Sankeerna Jaathi Jhampa
34	Sankeerna Jaathi Ata
35	Sankeerna Jaathi Eka

Sri Purandaradasa has composed alankaras, Swaravalis, Gitas, etc in these talas.

Following table charts out symbols of Tala anghas and the 7 talas with their respective formats.

 

	Tala Angha	Symbol	Description
	Laghu	I	One beat and finger counts
	Dhrutam	O	One beat and flipping palm
	Anudrutam	U	One beat
	Tala	Format
1	Dhruva	IOII
2	Matya	IOI
3	Rupaka	OI
4	Triputa	IOO
5	Jhampa	IUO
6	Ata	IIOO
7	Eka	I

As discussed earlier, laghu is based on jaati. A Kanda (5count) jaathi eka tala will have 1 beat and 4 finger counts as Eka tala just has Laghu (refer table above) Tisra jaathi Rupaka Tala will have 1 beat and flip followed by a beat and 2 finger counts .

Laghu is further broken down and denoted as X for the beat and 1, 2, 3 …for the finger count based on jaathi. Dhrutam is again denoted as X for the beat and a tick mark for flipping of palm. Example : Chaturashra jaathi rupaka tala is denoted as :

X    V (Read V as tick symbol)	X 1 2 3
S    R	S R G M

Chaturashra jaathi Triputa tala is populary known as Adi Tala.

Avarta: One of the frequently used terminology in Carnatic music. An avarta is one complete cycle with all anghas of tala. E.g. Adi tala has one laghu and two dhruthas 4+2+2 = 8 counts, otherwise the number of aksharas/notes in adi tala is 8. In first speed it is 8, second speed will have 16 notes and third speed will have 32 notes in one avarta. after each angha (viz. laghu,dhruta,anudhruta), a vertical line l is drawn to indicate the end of an angha. Two parallel lines are drawn to indicate the end of avarta ll.

Deshadi Tala: Many of Sri Thyagaraja’s compositions are in deshadi tala. This consists of one nishabdakriya (Kriya means action.Nishabda kriya is silent action)The lyrics start after three aksharas in nishabdakriya E.g. Brovabarama in Bahudari,Bantureethikolu in Hamsanadham are examples of Deshadi.The lyrics start after two aksharas in sashabdakriya.