Time and Rhythm

From ancient times, because of the importance of keeping the rhythm, a special position was created during any dramatic, dance or musical performance. A person in that position was required to just keep the rhythm. He would do so by performing a particular action at regular intervals of time. This action was called Kriya. Kriya literally means an action. Kriya was of two types - Sashbda Kriya (with sound) or Nishabda Kriya (silent). Sashabda kriya could be a clap or beating a simple percussion instrument like Thala. A nishabda kriya could be a wave of the hand.

In Hindustani two kriyas are used. Thali (literally a clap in Hindi) is the sashabda kriya and Khali (meaning empty) is the nishabda kriya.

Taala is the rhythmic counterpart to Raaga. Literally Taala in sanskrit means slapping the hands together or against one's arm. In Hindi the word for clapping is Taali. Rhythm is an inborn attribute of humans and thus, it is possible Taala is more ancient in Indian music than Raaga. In sanskrit literature, Taala is mentioned earlier than Raaga starting with Bharatha's NaatyaShastra.

Because of the predominance of Tabla as the percussion instrument of Hindustani (khayal) music, the concept of Taala has come to mean the way it is played on the tabla. The vocabulary of Taala has come to be the same as that of the Tabla.

The syllables produced on the tabla are called Bol-s (Bol - to say in Hindi). The act of playing the bols on the tabla is called Theka. Thus, the total duration of a Taala is not the number of Kriyas, but bols played on the Tabla. There is no Kriya associated with each bol, though some bols are associated with kriyas and they are important. The number of Matras is a Taala is fixed. It is same in all Tempos too. A complete set of Matras constituting one cycle of the Taala is called Aavartan. Also there is a sub division of Taala Aavartan into a number of Vibhaga-s (sections), each of which contain several matras. The number of matras in each vibhaga is not the same. Usually, the first matra of a vibhaga is noted with a kriya. Also, the duration of time between two matras is called laya, so depending on the context, laya could mean quite a few things.

Hundreds of Taals are known and a twenty or so are in frequent use. The most common Taala is Teen Taal. It has 16 matras, but is called Teen (three) Taal because it has three Thalis (and khali to make four kriyas). It is usually expressed as 4 Vibhagas (sections) of 4 matras each.

Each Matra may not be associated with a bol. In other words, the bols are not of uniform time duration. Dheepchandhi has 14 matras but only 10 bols (and four kriyas).

One of the important concepts of Hindustani Taala system is that of Sam (pronounced Sum). It is the first matra of the Taala cycle. The main artist (vocalist or instrumentalist) and the percussion artist concur on Sam i.e. improvisation cycles of the main artist have to begin and end on Sam. Thus, sam is always associated with a sashabda kriya i.e. a Thali.

Two Thaalas can have the same number of Matras but differ in their Thekas. For eg. both Jhaptaal and Sooltaal have 10 matras.