TALA

Carnatic Music is divided into 2 equal parts.

The Duality of South Indian Carnatic Music so to speak.

CARNATIC
MUSIC

SHRUTI (SOUND) LAYA (RHYTHM)

Mata – Mother Pita – Father
(Feminine) (Masculine)

Carnatic music, is a genre of music that originated in the south of India. It is one of the most
elevated and advanced genres of music in the world. There is no aspect of Carnatic music that
has not been thought of, accessed, created, and documented.
Shruti can be acknowledged as :-
– sound
– the melody
– something that is pleasing to the ear
– within Carnatic music, this with would be described as Raga(m) Sanskrit/Tamil
Laya can be acknowledged as :-
– rhythm
– a consistent cycle
– something like the needles on a clock, pendulum
– within Carnatic music, this with would be described as Tala(m) Sanskrit/Tamil
Tala is categorized as a rhythm or layam which is an extremely important part of music.
It is full of mathematical calculations which is exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking but all in
all highly stimulating for the curious mind.
Before we begin, it is highly important to understand the basics. Tala is something that can be
seen as highly complicated, however, it isn’t hard to figure out as long as you understand the 3
basic angas as these help us construct a tala.
-

1
 ANGA SYMBOL DESCRIPTION VALUE

Laghu | Clap + Counting of fingers – There is no definitive value of a

laghu
– A laghu’s value is defined by a
JAATHI
– There are 5 Jaathi’s
– The values of these = 3, 4, 5, 7,
9
Drutha 0 Clap + Turn/Wave – Each action of the hand = the
value of 1
– This anga = 2
Anudrutha U Clap or Turn / Wave – Here, it can be described as
either or
– However, this anga still only
has 1 value
– Thus = 1
Chappu N/A Clap – This is a type of anga that
made its way into Carnatic
music in more recent years
– This is a ‘cheat’ as such to
keeping/calculating TALA
– However, some compositions
are exclusively composed in the
chappu style of keeping
TALA

It is imperative to understand the 3 basic Angas before you move forward to understanding and
working with Talas.
Once you have fully understood the Angas, we move to the 5 Jaathi’s.
The combination of Anga’ s + Jaathi’s = 35 Talas which we will discuss later.
Make sure you have understood the anga’s well before moving on.
If you are familiar with Tattu Mettu Adavu Jaathi’s would be a little easier to understand.
Remember, the value of the Laghu depends solely on the Jathi.

RECAP
Laghu - sollukatte depends on the Jaathi, no. Of fingers depends on the
sollukatte (3,4,5,7,9 beats)
Drutha - ’Ta’ ’Ka’ - (2 beats)
Anudrutha - ’Ta’ / ’Te’- (1 beats)