Glossary

An akshara-kala is a primary count in a tala. In the common eight-count Adi cycle, each count is one akshara-kala.

Example

In one-fold Kala and chatusra Gati, each of Adi tala's eight counts contains four inner pulses: 8 × 4 = 32. The eight primary counts and 32 subdivisions describe different levels of the same cycle.

Related: Matra · Adi tala

Anudrutam is the shortest of the three angas used in the Suladi sapta tala system. It lasts one primary count and is marked by a clap. Its symbol is U.

In a cycle

Jhampa combines a laghu, an anudrutam and a drutam. In Misra-jati Jhampa this gives 7 + 1 + 2 = 10 counts. Changing the laghu's jati does not change the anudrutam's one-count duration.

Related: Tala anga · Laghu · Drutam

Arohana gives a raga's ascending svara sequence. It may proceed straight upwards or include turns and skipped notes.

Example

Abhogi ascends S R2 G2 M1 D2 Ṡ. Pa and Ni are absent. The dot above Ṡ marks the upper Sa.

Read the ascent together with the avarohana. Gamaka and characteristic phrases explain how the outline becomes music.

In a ragam–tanam–pallavi, arudi usually refers to the prominent resting or accent point that articulates the pallavi line. The words, melody and rhythm bring attention to that point.

Arudi and Graha

Graha tells you where the line begins relative to the tala. Arudi tells you where an important internal emphasis falls. A line can begin after the first count and reach its arudi later in the cycle.

The word also occurs in discussions of cadences and rhythmic resolutions; its precise use depends on the musical context.

Avarohana gives a raga's descending svara sequence. The notes and their order need not simply reverse the ascent.

Example

Abhogi descends Ṡ D2 M1 G2 R2 S. Bilahari has a five-note ascent but a seven-note descent: omitted ascending notes return on the way down.

Related: Arohana · Raga

An avartana is one journey through the whole tala, from its beginning back to the same point. The next cycle begins immediately after the previous one ends.

Example

In Adi tala, count 1 2 3 4 | 5 6 | 7 8. Returning to count 1 starts the next avartana. A musical sentence may occupy one cycle, several cycles, or begin partway through a cycle.

Also called avartanam. Related: Tala · Graha

Chapu talas combine shorter and longer groups. Their distinctive gait is heard in the relationship between those groups.

Two common cycles

• Khanda Chapu: five units, commonly grouped 2 + 3.
• Misra Chapu: seven units, commonly grouped 3 + 4, often felt as 3 + 2 + 2.

The small units are even; the groups have unequal durations. Keep that distinction when clapping. Chapu is counted separately from the laghu–drutam construction of the Suladi talas.

Drutam consists of a clap followed by a wave of the hand. Each action takes one primary count, making two in all. Its symbol is O.

Example

Adi tala ends with two drutams: clap–wave | clap–wave. Together they occupy counts 5–8.

The two-count length is fixed. Jati changes the laghu, not the drutam.

Gati determines how the space inside a count is divided.

Gati	Subdivisions	A spoken example
Tisra	3	ta-ki-ta
Chatusra	4	ta-ka-dhi-mi
Khanda	5	ta-ka-ta-ki-ta
Misra	7	ta-ki-ta-ta-ka-dhi-mi
Sankirna	9	ta-ka-dhi-mi-ta-ka-ta-ki-ta

Keep each small pulse even. The syllables are counting aids; other syllable patterns are also used.

Gati is also called nadai. Jati instead specifies the laghu's length.

Graha identifies the entry of a composition or musical line in relation to the tala's beginning.

Three entry types

• Sama: the music begins with the cycle's first count.
• Anagata: the music begins after that count.
• Atita: the music begins before the cycle's first count.

For example, a phrase beginning half a count after the first clap has an anagata entry. Keep the tala steady through the initial silence.

Eduppu is the commonly encountered Tamil term. Related: Avartana · Arudi

A janya raga may omit notes, use a curved sequence, take different notes in ascent and descent, or include a note outside its assigned parent scale.

Examples

• Abhogi uses five notes in each direction.
• Bilahari uses five notes ascending and seven descending.
• Kambhoji includes a characteristic use of an additional nishada in particular phrases.

A parent classification helps locate the note material. Characteristic movement and gamaka give the janya its own identity.

Related: Melakarta · Raga

In the Suladi tala system, jati determines a laghu's length. It does not change the two-count drutam or one-count anudrutam.

Jati	Laghu counts
Tisra	3
Chatusra	4
Khanda	5
Misra	7
Sankirna	9

Jati and Gati

Jati determines the laghu count. Gati determines subdivisions within each count. Chatusra-jati Triputa has eight primary counts even when sung in tisra Gati.

Here Kala describes count expansion. One-fold Kala gives each hand count one unit of duration; two-fold Kala extends it to twice that duration at the same underlying pulse.

Example

For Adi tala in chatusra Gati, one-fold Kala gives 8 × 4 = 32 small pulses. Two-fold Kala gives 8 × 4 × 2 = 64. The order of hand gestures stays the same.

Kalai is the Tamil term often used for this distinction. Kāla can also refer to time or speed in other contexts; distinguish count expansion from laya and the number of notes sung per beat.

Konnakol is the spoken language of Carnatic rhythm: rhythmic syllables (solkattu) recited aloud to express, learn and improvise a pattern using the voice alone, before or alongside playing it.

The building syllables

Two useful groups to begin with are:

• Three: tha ki ta
• Four: tha ka dhi mi

Add a two-syllable group, tha ka, and you can explore longer combinations: six as tha ki ta tha ki ta (3 + 3), and eight as tha ka dhi mi tha ka dhi mi (4 + 4).

Syllables for the five gatis

These examples express the five gatis. Their counts match the familiar jati numbers, but jati and gati describe different things. Syllable sets vary by school; the table illustrates alternatives.

Count	Common konnakol	Also spoken as
Tisra (3)	tha ki ta	ta ki ta
Chatusra (4)	tha ka dhi mi	ta ka dhi na
Khanda (5)	tha ka · tha ki ta	tha di gi na thom
Misra (7)	tha ki ta · tha ka dhi mi	tha ka dhi mi · tha ki ta
Sankirna (9)	tha ka dhi mi · tha ka · tha ki ta	tha ki ta · tha ka dhi mi · tha ka

Konnakol sits inside the wider tala system: the tala fixes the beats; the gati fixes the number of subdivisions within each beat; the syllables express a chosen pattern.

Related: Gati · Jati · Tala · Laya

Kriyas include a clap, a wave and finger counts. They make the structure of the tala visible while the music continues.

Example

For a chatusra laghu, clap once and count three fingers. For a drutam, clap and wave. A silent wave still occupies time: silence in the gesture does not mean the count disappears.

Related: Tala anga · Laghu · Drutam

Laghu begins with a clap. Continue with finger counts until its jati's total is reached. Its symbol is I, often followed by the count, such as I4.

The five lengths

Tisra has 3 counts, chatusra 4, khanda 5, misra 7 and sankirna 9. The clap is already count 1; a seven-count laghu therefore needs six more counts.

Adi tala starts with a four-count laghu. Related: Jati · Kriya

Laya concerns the spacing and continuity of the pulse. Broad tempo descriptions include vilambita (slow), madhyama (medium) and druta (fast).

Keep the pulse distinct from the notes

A musician can sing more notes within each beat while the underlying pulse stays steady. That increases the density of the musical surface without necessarily increasing the tala's tempo.

Try clapping an even pulse, first saying one syllable per clap and then two. The clap spacing should remain unchanged.

Related: Gati · Kala

In the counting examples here, matra names a small pulse within an akshara-kala. In chatusra Gati, one primary count has four such pulses.

Example

One-fold Adi tala has eight primary counts. At four subdivisions each, it contains 32 matras.

Musicians sometimes use matra and akshara differently. The useful question is always: are we counting the main beat, or the smaller pulses within it?

Related: Akshara-kala · Gati

A Melakarta contains all seven svaras in order in both ascent and descent. Sa and Pa are fixed; one form of each of Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni completes the scale.

How the system fits together

There are 72 Melakartas, grouped in twelve chakras of six. Numbers 1–36 use M1; 37–72 use M2. A janya raga can be classified under a parent without following the parent's complete scale in performance.

Open the Melakarta guide.

A raga gives music a recognisable melodic character. Its svaras matter, but so do their movement, emphasis, intonation, register and gamaka.

Reading a raga page

• Arohana / avarohana: the ascending and descending outlines.
• Characteristic movement: phrases, turns and approaches that reveal its identity.
• Gamaka: the shaping or ornamentation of a note.
• Compositions: musical examples in which that identity can be heard.

Two ragas may use similar notes and still sound different. Begin with Abhogi or Mohanam.

In everyday practice, sruti refers to the chosen pitch of Sa and the drone that helps maintain it. A singer chooses a comfortable tonic; accompanying instruments tune to that reference.

Listen against Sa

Sound a steady Sa, then sing or play another svara and return. Listen to its relationship with the drone, rather than treating its note name as an absolute keyboard pitch.

In music theory, sruti also refers to subtle pitch distinctions. The traditional discussion of 22 srutis should not be read as 22 equal steps of a keyboard.

Related: Svara · Sthayi

The three commonly discussed registers are mandra (lower), madhya (middle) and tara (upper).

Reading octave marks

Sa in different octaves shares a name but has a different pitch height. S marks middle Sa and Ṡ marks upper Sa. A dot below a letter marks the lower register.

Follow the notation key for the music you are reading. Related: Svara · Arohana

The seven basic svara names are shadja, rishabha, gandhara, madhyama, panchama, dhaivata and nishada. Their short forms are S R G M P D N.

Variants in notation

Sa and Pa have fixed relationships to the tonic. Ri, Ga, Ma, Dha and Ni have named variants. Trailing digits distinguish them: G2 means sadharana gandhara, while G3 means antara gandhara.

The twelve pitch positions support sixteen theoretical names: R2/G1, R3/G2, D2/N1 and D3/N2 share positions in the scale model. Their role and spelling depend on the raga.

Full svara key

Symbol	Name
S	Shadja
R1	Shuddha Rishabha
R2	Chatusruti Rishabha
R3	Shatsruti Rishabha
G1	Shuddha Gandhara
G2	Sadharana Gandhara
G3	Antara Gandhara
M1	Shuddha Madhyama
M2	Prati Madhyama
P	Panchama
D1	Shuddha Dhaivata
D2	Chatusruti Dhaivata
D3	Shatsruti Dhaivata
N1	Shuddha Nishada
N2	Kaisiki Nishada
N3	Kakali Nishada

Compare these names in the 72 Melakarta scales.

Tala organises music into cycles. The sequence of claps, waves and finger counts helps a musician feel where a phrase begins, develops and returns.

Start with a familiar cycle

Adi tala has eight primary counts arranged 4 + 2 + 2. Misra Chapu has seven smaller units commonly felt as 3 + 4.

The seven Suladi families

Family	Anga order
Dhruva	Laghu, drutam, laghu, laghu
Matya	Laghu, drutam, laghu
Rupaka	Drutam, laghu
Jhampa	Laghu, anudrutam, drutam
Triputa	Laghu, drutam, drutam
Ata	Laghu, laghu, drutam, drutam
Eka	Laghu

Apply the five jatis to the laghu of each family to obtain 35 combinations. Chapu and other tala traditions extend beyond this scheme.

Related: Gati · Kala · Graha