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TĀḶA IN CARNATIC MUSIC: EXAMPLES

Tāḷa is the rhythmic framework in Carnatic music and provides a broad structure for rendition and repetition of melodic and rhythmic phrases, motives and improvisations. It consists of fixed length time cycles called āvartana. An āvartana of a tāḷa is divided into basic time units called akṣaras. The akṣaras are grouped into longer time units called beats, which are visually displayed through hand gestures. The sub-beat structure (which decides the number of akṣaras contained per beat) is called naḍe. The first akṣara pulse of an āvartana is called the sama. Most carnatic compositions are set to a specific tāḷa and begin on the sama. However, the compositions can also start after (or before) the cycle starts, and this offset of the start of the composition relative to the sama is called eḍupu, and is often measured in akṣaras. An avartana is also divided into possibly unequal sections called aṅga, which define the structure of the tāḷa. The aṅgas define the visual gestures used to show the progression through the tāḷa.

• Tāḷa = fixed length time cycles called āvartana
• Āvartana = An āvartana of a tāḷa is divided into basic time units called akṣaras
• akṣaras = grouped into longer time units called beats
• sub-beat( node) = decides the number of akṣaras contained per beat
• sama= first akṣara + of an āvartana`

Example

ĀDI TĀḶA

Each cycle of ādi tāḷa consists of 32 akṣaras and can be divided into 8 equal beats. A slower variant of ādi tāḷa in 2 kaḷai consists of 64 akṣaras divided into 16 equal beats. The structure of ādi tāḷa is shown below, illustrating some of the terms we introduced above. The beats are numbered, and the akṣaras are shown with time ticks. The sama is shown with x. The examples that follow show ādi tāḷa, ādi tāḷa (vilambita or 2 kalai, with 16 beats) and compositions with 2, 4 and 6 akṣara eḍupu.

Shruti	Frequency ratio	Frequency(Hertz)
Sa	1	240
Re1	32/31	252.8
Re2	16/15	256
Re3	10/9	266.6
Re4	9/8	270
Ga1	32/27	284.4
Ga2	6/5	288
Ga3	5/4	300
Ga4	81/64	303.7
Ma1	4/3	320
Ma2	27/20	324
Ma3	45/32	337.5
Ma4	64/45	341.3
Pa	3/2	360
Dha1	128/81	379
Dha2	8/5	384
Dha3	5/3	400
Dha4	27/16	405
Ni1	16/9	426.6
Ni2	9/5	432
Ni3	15/8	450
Ni4	31/16	465

Resources

1. https://compmusic.upf.edu/examples-taala-carnatic
2. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ad91/7347eb1a4f018baf89c139c87abf544877a3.pdf
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shruti_(music)