Taala in Carnatic

Several Taala classification systems are used in Carnatic music. The most well known which covers most of the commonly used Taalas is called Suladi Sapta Taala, indicating that 7 basic Taalas are recognized.

Each Taala consists of one or more Anga-s (or parts). There are three Angas - Laghu, Dhrutha and Anudhrutha. Dhrutha (fast) takes up two beats. Anudhrutha (faster) takes one beat. The number of beats Laghu (i.e. slow) can take is a variant - 3,4,5,7 or 9. The Jaathi of a Taala depends on the number of beats laghu can take in that Taala. The other three ancient Angas - Guru (8 beats), Plutam (12 beats) and Kakapadam (16 beats) are rarely used.

Theesra	3
Chatushra	4
Khanda	5
Misra	7
Sankeerna	9

Unlike Hindustani, there is a kriya associated with each beat in Carnatic music. Laghu starts with a sashabda kriya and other beats are nishabda kriyas usually done by counting of fingers, starting with the little finger. Dhrutha starts with a sashabda kriya and then a wave of hand which is a nishabda kriya. Anudhrutha being of one beat duration, is denoted by a sashabda kriya.

The seven Taalas are defined in terms of the number and sequence of Anagas. If Laghu is denoted by 1, Dhrutha by O and anudhrutha by U, Taalas can be defined as follows.

Since Laghu can be of 5 Jaathis, we can have a total of 7x5=35 Taalas in the Suladi Sapta Taala scene.

The most common Taala, Aadi taala, is referred to as chatusra jaati triputa taala. Since it is a triputa taala, it has one laghu followed by two dhruthas. The laghu is of chatusra jathi i.e. 4 beats. Since dhruthas have two beats each, adi taala has 4+2+2=8 beats in total. The kriyas for the taala are indicated by a tap, then 3 finger counts, a tap and a wave followed by another tap and a wave. So we get stresses on 1st, 5th and 7th beats.

Tempo : Each taala can be played in one of the 3 main Kaalas or tempos - vilambita (slow), madhyama (medium), and drutha (fast). Athi-Vilambitha (very slow) or athi-Dhrutha (very fast) tempos are also sometimes used. The tempo determines the time interval a beat (so in tern a whole tala cycle) takes up.

Gathi or gait : Each beat is further subdivided into Gathis. The number of divisions can be 3,4,5,7 or 9. The names used for Gathi are the same as that for Jaathi Theesra, Chathusra, Khanda, Mishra, Sankeerna. Since each of the Taalas can be played in of the 5 Gathis, we could say there are 35x5 = 175 Taals. Gathi determines the internal count for each beat, mainly determining the way the taala is played on the percussion instrument - mainly Mridangam or Ghatam and the way syllables of the compositions are rendered within a beat. The most commonly used gathi is chatusra.

Graha : Graha refers to the point in the taala cycle where the words of the composition starts. This applies equally to the pallavi, anupallavi or the charana. The first beat of a cycle of Taala is called Sama (as in Hindustani). The composition can start on the Sama, after it (Anaahatha graha) or even before sama (Atheetha Graha). Usually the start will be only 1/2 a beat from the sama, though there are compositions starting 1 1/2 beats after sama. It is also possible that pallavi starts on sama, but not anupallavi i.e. each part of the composition can have its own graha.

Chapu Taala : Several ancient Taalas don't fit into the suladi sapta tala system. Chapu Taalas, originally Tamil folk taalas, are the most important of such Taalas. In Chaapu Taalas the kriya duration is not the same throughout the cycle i.e. interval between two kriyas is not uniform. Mishra Chapu has seven beats, usually given as 3+4 (or 3+2+2), Khanda Chapu has 5 beats (2+3) and sankeerna chapu has 9 (2+2+2+3). So, in Mishra Chapu the first kriya takes up 3 matras and the second takes up only 2 matras. Thus, the first kriya is 1 1/2 times the duration of the second (and third). Similarly, in Khanda chapu, the second kriya is one and a half times the duration of the first.