G C S E A Q A M U S I C – S T R A N D 3 – WORLD MUSIC STUDY GUIDE SUB - S T R A N D 3 – MUSIC O F I N D I A – STUDY SESSION 39 – TALA AND TINTAL TALA AND

TINTAL

STARTER ACTIVITY – LISTENING FOR RHYTHM IN AN ALAP SECTION OF A Listen to a short alap section in Raga Madhmad Sarang, sung by Veena Sahasrabuddhe (pictured below holding a ). As you listen, write some short comments on the rhythm. Think about whether you can feel a regular pulse or whether there are any repeated rhythmic patterns or figures? Write down your thoughts in the “ideas box” below”.

IDEAS BOX – RHYTHM IN THE ALAP SECTION OF A RAGA

Learning Objective  Learn about the basic concepts of rhythm and metre in the music of India, in particular the difference between metred and unmetred music, and the use of drum patterns to signify the metrical structure (AoS 1)

LEARNING ABOUT TALAS

The Indian system of metre is called tala. Listen to two extracts from later in Veena Sahasrabudde’s performance of Raga Madhmad and comment on the rhythm of each. Think about the pulse, metre, tempo and the kinds of rhythmic patterns and phrases used.

Extract 1

Extract 2

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G C S E A Q A M U S I C – S T R A N D 3 – WORLD MUSIC STUDY GUIDE SUB - S T R A N D 3 – MUSIC O F I N D I A – STUDY SESSION 39 – TALA AND TINTAL There are over 300 different talas, or rhythmic cycles, in Indian music and like , they all have names. However, some are used more frequently than others. Indian musicians must have a thorough knowledge of talas when they improvise, so that their playing or singing has rhythmic structure. Each tala has a certain number of beats, or mātrās, per cycle (called the avartan). And each cycle is divided into a number of sections called vibhāgs. This is shown more clearly in the diagram below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 mātrā (beat) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● vibhāg (section) ● ● ● ● ● avartan (cycle) ● ●

By far the most popular tala is Tintal (sometimes written Teental). This has 16 beats per cycle, divided into four equal vibhāgs and is shown in the diagram below.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

X X O X

When listening to Indian talas, people often count using a conventional sequence of hand gestures, at the start of each vibhāg. In Tintal, shown above, the X marks where to clap and the O marks a “waving” gesture. The shaded section is where the bass drum “drops out”.

Listen again to Raga Madhmad Sarang, which is based on the Tintal tala. The tala cycle does not begin immediately but has a five beat ANACRUSIS or UPBEAT (the group of notes preceding a strong down beat) called the mukhra. The opening of the song is shown below with the mukhra marked. The first beat of the Tintal tala is shown with a “1”.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11etc

mukhra

As you listen to the Tintal tala being performed in Raga Madhmad Sarang, see if you can work out HOW LONG the Tintal avartan takes to be performed before it’s repeated?

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G C S E A Q A M U S I C – S T R A N D 3 – WORLD MUSIC STUDY GUIDE SUB - S T R A N D 3 – MUSIC O F I N D I A – STUDY SESSION 39 – TALA AND TINTAL INDIAN TALAS

1. Ektāl Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 X O X O X X

2. Kehrva Tala 1 2 3 4 X O

3. Jhaptāl Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 X X O X

4. Rūpak Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O X X

5. Dādrā Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6 X O

6. Dhamār Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 X X O X

1. Which of the above talas have REGULAR rhythmic vibhāgs (sections)? 2. Which of the above talas have IRREGULAR rhythmic vibhāgs (sections)? 3. Listen to six extracts of different tala patterns shown above and match the correct tala to the correct extract. Extract Tala 1 2 3 4 5 6

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G C S E A Q A M U S I C – S T R A N D 3 – WORLD MUSIC STUDY GUIDE SUB - S T R A N D 3 – MUSIC O F I N D I A – STUDY SESSION 39 – TALA AND TINTAL A TALA LESSON ON THE

You should now watch Video 1 which shows a famous Indian Tabla player, Debu Nayak (pictured below), giving you a short lesson on some basic Tabla playing techniques. You should try to play along with the activities using any two different pitched drums, objects or even by using the diagram of the Tabla drums below to “drum on” as you watch the video.

Debu Nayak uses some special words to help teach the rhythm of the Tala, these are called BOLS, which literally means “words”. You’ll find these BOLS given in the box below to help you when learning to perform the Tala.

TaKiTa DhaSS TaKiTa DhaSS

TaKiTa TaKiTa TaKiTa DhaSS

DhaTiTe DheTiTe KaTaGa DhiGeNe

DhaSS SSS KaTeGa DhiGeNe

KatSTe DhaSS |DhaTiTe DheTiTe

KaTeGa DhiGeNe DhaSS SSS

DhaTiTe DheTiTe KaTeGa DhiGeNe

DhaSS SSS DhaTiTe DheTiTe

KaTeGa DhiGeNe DhaSS SSS x3

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G C S E A Q A M U S I C – S T R A N D 3 – WORLD MUSIC STUDY GUIDE SUB - S T R A N D 3 – MUSIC O F I N D I A – STUDY SESSION 39 – TALA AND TINTAL PLENARY – SUMMARY OF RHYTHM

AND METRE IN INDIAN MUSIC

Read the following summary on Rhythm and Metre in Indian music and complete the missing words, choosing from those in the box below.

Tala patterns may seem a little bit more complicated than most western metres. Talas vary in terms of the number of per cycle (6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 are all common; anything up to about 18 can be used). Patterns of strong beats are often marked with an “X”. Indian musicians sometimes use the hand gesture of a to signify this. Weak beats are often marked with an “O” and the hand gesture of a is used.

A typical Indian raga performance begins with a section called an . Here, the rhythm can be described as or , before the tala enters in the next section. The tala is a specialised system of . The tala has three levels of pulse, the (cyle), the (section) and (beat). Talas can be counted out with the aid of conventional sequences of hand gestures or by stereotypical drum patterns by which the drummer not only keeps a steady beat but also indicates the point reached in the cycle. Words, known as are often used by Indian musicians and performers to help them to learn the different talas. avartan unmetred bols vibhāg alap metre

mātrās wave free rhythm clap mātrā

PLENARY – SELF ASSESSMENT KEY WORDS – Alap, Anacrusus, Avartan, Free Rhythm, Irregular Rhythm, Mātrā, Mukhra, Pulse, Regular Rhythm, Rhythm Cycles, Tala, Unmetred, Upbeat, Vibhāg

Understand that Indian music is based on a rhythm cycle called a tala Can distinguish between sections in Indian music which have a unmetred/free pulse and those based on a metred tala Understand that there are many different talas which have different number of beats, some strong and others weaker shown by “claps” and “waves” Listen to and perform a number of different Indian talas Understand that a tala can be sub-divided into cycles, sections and beats and use the correct terminology to describe these. Understand the concept of an ANACRUSIS start or UPBEAT Improvise over a tala cycle showing awareness of underlying pulse

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