Rhythm of Life (Tala) - Page 3

Originally posted by: kishore_bhakta

Such is the nature of the tala. In North Indian classical music, it is said that there are talas which range as low as 3 matras to long talas bearing 108 matras per cycle! Most of those talas have been lost through time. Right now, the highest known cycle is 23 beat tala known as Magdha Tala. Imagine trying to sing a song in that kind of tala!

Good article, KB-ji. I missed this thread when it was first posted.

Few years back at a classical vocal concert - the artist sang a composition in 28 beat Brahma Taal - it was quite a treat!

This website lists some rare taals w/ 23, 28, 32, 42 etc. beat cycles.

Some of you asked about meaning of "sam" (pronounced sum, like in sum-total). Sam is the 1st beat of the cycle. More importantly, it's the meeting point of the rhythm cycle and the vocalist or instrumentalist.

Sam is more important in classical compositions such as khayals etc. than in light music. Not that remaining on beat isn't important in light music, just that the lyric cycles are short and you sync up every line or every other line.

In pure classical compositions, such as khayal, for example, the artist often goes off into long, extended improvisations. The sam provides the "meeting point" for the artist to sync back up w/ the rhythm. The artist and the tabla player often will acknowledge this sync-up by nodding at each other. Consistently being on sam demonstrates the artist's mastery - even during the long improvisation, they were aware of timing / rhythm cycle.

Someone talked about Taali & Khaali. Just wanted to add that Taali is also sometimes called Bhaari. Difference between Taali/Bhaari and Khaali is the presence or absence of the open bass sound (Ga) of the Bainya (left) drum of the tabla pair, a.k.a. the Dugga. Taali / Bhaari includes the Bass sound, Khaali excludes it.