Prescribed taals

Hindustani taals for percussion

• Teentaal: 16 matras, 4-4-4-4; X on 1, 2 on 5, 0 on 9, 3 on 13.
• Ektaal: 12 matras, six vibhags of 2; taali 1, 5, 9, 11; khali 3, 7.
• Chautaal: 12 matras, same layout as Ektaal; pakhawaj taal for dhrupad.
• Jhaptaal: 10 matras, 2-3-2-3; taali 1, 3, 8; khali 6.
• Sooltaal: 10 matras, five vibhags of 2; taali 1, 5, 7; khali 3, 9. A pakhawaj taal.
• Rupak: 7 matras, 3-2-2; khali on 1; taali 4, 6.
• Dhamar: 14 matras, 5-2-3-4; taali 1, 6, 11; khali 8. Pakhawaj taal for the dhamar song form.

Karnatak suladi sapta taals

Each is a pattern of angas; its usual (default) jati is given in brackets.

• Dhruva: I O I I (chatusra) = 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 14.
• Matya: I O I (chatusra) = 4 + 2 + 4 = 10.
• Rupaka: O I (chatusra) = 2 + 4 = 6.
• Jhampa: I U O (misra) = 7 + 1 + 2 = 10.
• Triputa: I O O (tisra) = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7. In chatusra jati it becomes Adi taal (8).
• Ata: I I O O (khanda) = 5 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 14.
• Eka: I (chatusra) = 4.

Comparing systems

Jhaptaal and Karnatak Jhampa both have 10 beats; Hindustani Dhamar and Karnatak Dhruva and Ata each have 14. Equal length does not mean equal structure: the division into parts is different.

Key points

• Sooltaal and Jhaptaal: both 10 matras, but 2-2-2-2-2 vs 2-3-2-3.
• Dhruva I O I I; Ata I I O O; Jhampa I U O.
• Default jatis: Jhampa misra, Triputa tisra, Ata khanda; others chatusra.

Exam tips

• Always compute Karnatak taal length as laghu value × number of laghus + 2 × drutams + 1 × anudrutams.
• Check whether a question says "default jati" or names a jati.