Hi! Kuljit Bhamra here again on Demystifying Indian Music, and in this program we'll be
looking at what a Tala is. In the primary language of Hinduism (Sanskrit) Tala literally means clap,
but in Indian music - and especially Indian classical music, Tala refers to a rhythmical
pattern of phrase. Each tala or phrase or pattern has its own unique name which denotes how many
beats there are in that cycle. So for example Rupak tal or Teental, Jhapital and so on - every
Tala has its own characteristic shape of sound and that shape or feel is defined by the high
and low drums of the tabla. For example, there are some beats that are accentuated and played louder,
and some beats that are played softer - and that gives the shape to the Tala. Let me demonstrate a
couple of Talas for you. A very common tala known as Kehrva (I wouldn't get too bogged down with the
actual names because they're very difficult to pronounce if you're not from India) but
this is an 8 beat cycle and it sounds something like this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and you can see that
there has a particular shape to it. If I was to play continuously - its cyclic by nature- but it
would then form the basis for a song or a musical piece. So let me play the 8 beat cycle 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 now I'm nodding on the downbeat because as I'll describe later you'll see how important the
downbeat is in Indian music. So that was an 8 beat cycle. Here is a very common 7 beat cycle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 . Great, so that was an example of an 8 beat cycle and a 7 beat cycle. You can see
how the 7 beat cycle is not just those light and heavy shades give the shape for that particular
Tala. It's very commonplace for Indian classical musicians to announce before the performance the
name of the piece for example perhaps what raga it's set in and usually they mention what tala
it is set to. That really helps the audience on their on the journey to exploring with the
performers how they express themselves through those mediums. I'm frequently asked by people
why Indian musicians use only complicated rhythm rhythm patterns. Well that's not actually true! I
would argue that jazz has far more complex rhythm patterns than Indian classical music. Indian music
has basic cycles that are the starting point and the building block for a performance,
and then the performers do complex things with those. That's what makes it look complicated.
The performers in Indian classical music create excitement and they create tension and release
by deviating from the cyclic path and then coming back to join it back on the one or
the downbeat. So the downbeat is very important in Tala. Sometimes when I go to Indian classical
concerts I do get lost because the virtuosity is so complex and what I find is a useful trick is to
actually turn to my side and find an audience member that is tapping - usually you can find
someone quite easily - and then it returns me to where I know the downbeat is and then I can
enjoy the performance more. One of the challenges in learning talas if you're a Tabla student or a
music student is that the Talas are actually taught orally. So there is a system. Some of
you may have seen performers use the system on stage but there's a system of vocalizing
the sounds you would learn to sing or speak the sounds and once you've internalized it you would
then learn to play them on your tabla or your mirdangam or your instrument. And I say it's
a challenge because the sounds have a foreign language sound to them, and sometimes they're
very difficult to pronounce by people who aren't Indian. I'll give you one example but I'm hesitant
about confusing you or making things look more complicated than they really are, but for example
the rupak Tala would be sung as Tin Tin Na, Dhin Na Dhin Na. Now some of those sounds don't occur
in the English language. I would much rather that there was an easier way of saying it or an easier
way of writing it down- so hopefully we will begin to create a system in which it's easier
to play without having to sing those very complicated passages and learn them by rote