Taal terms

The language of taal

Taal is a fixed cycle of time units used to measure music. Every taal has the following parts.

• Matra: the basic unit of time in a taal, one beat. Teentaal has 16 matras, Jhaptaal 10.
• Vibhag: a section or division of the taal. Teentaal has 4 vibhags of 4 matras each; Jhaptaal has 4 unequal vibhags of 2, 3, 2 and 3.
• Taali: a clap marking the first matra of a stressed vibhag. In Bhatkhande notation taalis after sam are shown by numbers (2, 3, 4 ...).
• Khali: an "empty" vibhag, shown by a wave of the hand instead of a clap and written as 0. Its bols are usually lighter (for example "Tin Tin Ta" in Teentaal instead of "Dhin Dhin Dha"). Khali helps a listener know where they are in the cycle.
• Sam: the first matra of the taal, the point of greatest emphasis where compositions and improvisations meet. It is written as X in Bhatkhande notation.
• Avartan: one complete cycle of the taal from sam to the next sam.
• Theka: the fixed set of bols that defines a taal on tabla or pakhawaj.
• Bol: the syllables (Dha, Dhin, Ta, Tin, Na) that represent strokes on a drum.

Example: Teentaal

16 matras, 4 vibhags (4+4+4+4). Sam (X) on 1, taali (2) on 5, khali (0) on 9, taali (3) on 13.

Key points

• Matra = beat; vibhag = section; avartan = full cycle.
• Sam is matra 1, marked X; khali is marked 0.
• Taali count shows stressed sections; khali shows the wave.
• Theka = standard bols of a taal.
• Rupak is a special case: its sam falls on a khali.

Common mistakes

• Thinking sam and khali can never fall together; in Rupak (7 matras) sam is khali.
• Counting the taali on sam as "1" in notation; it is written X, and the next taali is 2.
• Mixing avartan (full cycle) with vibhag (section).