Thala
Written by: Ram S. Sriram
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Thalam Concept in Carnatic Music |
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Carnatic music has one of the most complex thala systems among the world's music systems. Both in terms of the mathematical ranges and rhythmic varieties or thalams used, Carnatic music has no parallel. Tala is bascially a time-measure and it is executed in cyclical pattern. concept. Therefore, it has a beginning and an end and is repeated until the composition ends. When a tala cycle is sub-divided into units of time - e.g. 4, 8, 6, 16, 9 etc. - various thalams are produced. In Carnatic music, the complex structure of the thala system has contributed to the development of rhythm and to the art of percussion. Because of the thala strucutres, the role of a percussionist in Carnatic music (e.g. mridangam player) is far more intense and demanding than in any other system of music. The percussionist in the Carnatic music system does not merely keep time and provide the basic sarva laghu (four-beats). The percusionist must go beyond time-keeping and must judiciously and dexterously bring out the mood and emotion of a composition. Therefore, the percussionist would play a variety of mathematically-timed rhythmic patterns. This requires that the percussionist undergo significant training not only in producing various rhythmic patterns but also in developing musical acumen to know when a certain rhythmic pattern will be appropriate. |
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Thala terminology It is very important to understand the following ten terms (Dasha Pranas) related to a thala. Angam Angam means a limb, unit, or art a thala. There are six angams or parts and how they are denoted in musical script are denoted in the following table. Please note, in the Suladi Saptha (35-tala) scheme, only thalam that require the use of the first three angams are used.
Kaala (speed) Each composition is rendered at different speeds or kalam. For example, first speed is the slowest or vilamba kalam and second speed (twice the first speed) is called Madhyama kalam and third speed is called Duritha kalam (twice the second speed). Kriya (action) Kriya means execution. Earlier, it was mentioned that a thalam is a cyclical concept with a beginning and an end. During a concert, how will a musician show the beginning, middle or end of a thala-cycle? Obviously, this requires some physical display of kriya or time execution. The physical display is accomplished by the use of hands and fingers. There are three kinds of kriyas: (1) Ghata or beat; (2) Usi or hand wave and (3) Counting with the fingers. There are two types of kriyai - sasabda kriyai or action with sound and nissabda kriyai or silent display. In the sasabda kriyai, a person hits the palm of the hand on the thigh or on the other palm, crating a sound. This type of display is made both when starting the first count of a Laghu (A laghu is when a palm is hit on a thigh or the other palm and is followed by a count of fingers. For example, in the Adhi thalam (8 aksharas or unit), the laghu (the first 4 aksharas) is represented by the hitting of the hand followed by a count of three fingers (the count of the fingers illustrate the nishabda or silent action). A hit followed by a wave of the hand is called Drutham (2 units). In Adhi thalam, there are two Druthams ( 2 x 2 = 4) following hit and the count of the three fingers (the laghu with 4 aksharas) to make the 8 aksharas. The Anudrutham is half of the Drutham or is of one akshara or unit. Anudrutham is used less frequetly (e.g. Jhampa thalam). Jati (Division) The jati represents how a laghu (beat and the finger counts) are grouped according to type of count e.g. Tisra jati or count of three; Chaturasa jati or count of four; Khanda jati or count of five; Misra jati or count of seven and and Sankeerna jati or count of nine. Counts of six and eight are not used because they are just multiples of three and four respectively. Thus, there are five jatis and they are displayed using the following kriya.
Eduppu or Graham Graha denotes starting point of the music. A song does not always start at the beginning of a thala cycle. There are three types of starting possible. When a song begins precisely at the beginning of a thalam, it is called sama eduppu (e.g. Eva Sudha - Sahana). When a song starts after the thalam starts, it is called anagata eduppu - e.g. Nidhi Sala Sugama (Kalyani); Gnanamusogaradha (Poorvi Kalyani). When a song starts (very rare), at the end of a thalam's cycle, it is called atita eduppu - e.g. Sivagama Sundari (Mukhari). Laya Laya means speed or tempo. The performers must maintain perfect laya, meaning they should neither speed up or slow down the tempo of a song. There are three layams. Vilamba layam or slow speed (also known as Chowka kalam), Madhyama layam or medium speed and Duritha layam or fast speed. Kalai and Mathrai Kalai represents the fractions of the various units discussed in the Kriyai and angam defnitions. A talam-cycle is divided into various sub-units - for example, Adhi Thalam has eight units (a laghu of four plus two druthams of two each). Suppose, if each of these units are furter sub-divided into equal time intervals called mathra. To use a simple analogy, a minute is divided into 60 minutes or 60 mathras. Suppose, if each units of an adhi thala is divided into, say 4 mathras or intervals of time each, the thalam cycle will have a total of 8 units x 4 mathras = 32 mathras. Depending on the kalam, the same adhi thalam can also be sub-divided into 2, 4, 8, 16, mathras per count and accordingly, the total mathra count for a 8-akshara Adhi thalam will vary from 16, 32, 64, 128 mathras. When one swaram is used per kriyai (e.g. each finger count or hit), it is called Eka Kalai or first kalai. When we use two swaras for each kriyai, it is called Vi Kalai or second Kalai and when we use four swaras for each kriyai, we have Chaturasa Kalai. Margam Margam means path. Denotes how the thalam is displayed i various songs and the number of swaras used withi them. There are six marga or paths. However, the first three (Daskhina, Vartika, and Chitra marga) are used only in Pallavis. The other three (Chitratara, Chtratama, and Atichitratama marga) are more common. Chitratama represents 1 kalai or 4 mathras each. For example, the kriti Darini Telusu Konti (Suddha Saveri) or Saroja Dala Nethri (Poorvi Kalyani) are sung in 1 kalai. Chitratama represents 1/2 kalai or 2 mathras each. For example, Vatapiganapathim (Hamsadvani) is sung in 1/2 kalai. Atichitratama represents 1/4 kalai or 1 mathrai for each count. For example, Manasa Etulo (Maalayamarutham) is sung in 1/4 kalai. As the kalai goes down, the speed of counting the aksharas in a thalam will go up. They are inversely related. Prastharam Represents spreading out the angam of a thalam into its component sub-units. This is more of theoretical interest today. Yati Denotes rhythmic patterns used. There are six types of yatis. Sama yati: When the rhythmic patterns are of equal scale. For example, look at the following swara pattern. s s r r g g m m p p d d n n s s The above has groupings of 4 swaras each ad shows the sama yati pattern. Gopucha Yati (Cow's tail): Denotes rhythmic patterns where it starts with a wide grouping of swaras and it slowly tapers down to the narrow groupings. Thyaga Raja Yoga Vaibhavam Aga Raja Yoga Vaibhavam Raa Yoga Vaibhavam Yoga Vaibhavam Vaibhavam Bhavam Vam Srotovaha Yati: Is the diametric opposite of Gopucha Yati. It starts with a narrow rhythmic or swara pattern and slowly widens to the maximum. Sam Prakasam Tattva Swarupa Prakasam Sakala Tattva Swarupa Prakasam Siva Saktyadi Sakala Swarupa Prakasam. The other types of Yatis include: Damaru Yati, Mridanga Yati, and Vishama Yati.
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The Sulapdi Sapta Thala or 35 Thalas The thala terminology discussed above gives us a fundamental understanding of the complexity and the attributes of a thalam. Now, we can discuss the various types of thalas or rythmic cycles. The most prevalent thala classfication used today is the Sulapdi Sapta Thala scheme or the 35-thala scheme. This scheme begins with seven basic thalas. The thalams differ from each other because of the the laghus (hit and finger counts), druthams (hit and wave), and anudruthams (wave only) within them. The following table illustrates the basic seven talas.
For example, Dhruva talam (No. 1) has a Chaturasa laghu (a beat followed by three finger counts = 4) followed by a dhrutham (a hit and a wave or a count of 2 aksharas) and a laghu (4 aksharas) and on more laghu (4 aksharas) for a total count of 14 aksharas. A simpler example is the Chaturasa Eka talam (No. 7). Since it has just one chaturasa laghu, it will only have a total count of 4 aksharas (a beat and three finger counts). How do these seven thalas become thirty five thalas? One of the attributes discussed in thala terminology is the Jati. There are five jatis - tisra (3), chaturasa (4), khanda (5), misra (7), and sankeerna (9). When each of these five varieties of jati are used with the seven talas listed in the table above, thirty five (7 x 5) thalas are formed. The following table provides an example of five varieties of thala created from one of the seven thalas mentioned in the table above - Dhruva thalam.
Note 1: By reading the first two cells together, you derive the name of the thalam. For example, Tisra jati Dhruva Talam. Note 2: Please note that only the laghu change into the five jatis. The dhrutam and anudrutam remain constants. |