SaMyoga | Kathak | Semi-Classical | Bharatanatyam

Taal

Taal is a very important concept in Indian classical dance and music. Taal is a musical measure and is a group of certain beats. Taal is a measurement of time which calculates the number of beats utilized in certain time.

Example of Taal – Teental, Jhaptal, Chautal etc

Lay

Lay is the rhythm or tempo or pulse.  Lay is a continuous movement in space of time. Pace or duration between two beats determines Lay. So, it the tempo of the taal and the rate of flow of the phrases.

There are mainly three kinds of Lays.

•             Lay Vilambit: The slow tempo

•             Lay Madhyam: The moderate or medium tempo

•             Lay Drut: The fast tempo.

Thali

Thali means clap. Each taal has beats where you clap.  For example, in TeenTaal, you clap on the 1^st, 5^th and 13^th beats.

Khali

Khali means empty. Khali is the rest point of a Taal. The Tabla player stops or seldom plays the Tabla on the syllables of Khali. Khali is denoted by the sign “0”. We wave the hand at the “Khali” points of a taal.

For example, in TeenTaal, the Khali falls on the 9^th beat.

Matra

Matra refers to beats. Each Vibhag has a set of beats which are called ‘Matras’.  Matras are division in a time cycle. For example; if we take the analogy of a clock; the time which measures sixty minutes is Tal, the constant interval between the seconds is Lay, and the seconds are the beats or Matras.

Vibhag

The sub-divisions of a Taal cycle are called Vibhags. The sign for a Vibhag is a small straight vertical line. Each Vibhag contains a certain group of beats or maatras.

Sam

It is the first beat of any Taal cycle.  Kathak dancers return on the “Sam” after completing a time cycle. Sam is accented more than any other beats and is denoted by the sign ‘X’.

Avartan

A cycle of any Taal is called an Aavartan.

Theka

The syllables of any Taal played on Tabla is called a Theka of that Taal. Theka is a ground for all rhythmic variations and has a character of its own.

For e.g. Theka for TeenTaal:

Lehra

A melodic pattern played on an instrument representing a Taal cycle as an accompaniment. The Lehra for a Taal can be played in different ragas.