Krsna Kirtana Songs
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Talam Page
Seven
Original Talams
Now that the basic
foundations for Carnatic talams
are set, these concepts can be put to use. In ancient musical treatises and
scriptures, there are seven original talam structure that is supposed to increase with the length of
the how many angams per completed cycle. Here is a
table showing the seven original talas.
TALAM NAME |
ANGAM STRUCTURE |
SYMBOLS |
Eka |
1 laghu |
| |
Rupakam |
1 drutam
+ 1 laghu |
O | |
Triputa |
1 laghu
+ 2 drutams |
| O O |
Mathya |
1 laghu
+ 1 anudrutam + 1 laghu |
| O | |
Jhampta |
1 laghu
+ 1 anudrutam + 1 drutam |
| U O |
Ata |
2 laghus
+ 2 drutams |
| | O O |
Dhruva |
1 laghu
+ 1 drutam + 2 laghus |
| O | | |
From this table, many
generalizations can be made. The first generalization is that some of the tala names resemble names of North Indian talams like Eka (ektal) and Rupakam (rupaka tala). With this
generalization, it is important to mention that even though there are names
that both the North and South Indian musical systems use, they are almost never
the same thing. Another important generalization that can be made is that these
talas seem to be defined by talam
structure. However, with each talam having its
specific structure, it is also nonspecific. There is no talam
that does not have a laghu. It was examined in the
“Foundations of Talams” page that the laghu was all dependent on what jati
the talam is played. To add to the nonspecificity, remember that South Indian percussionists
do not use thekas, or fixed rhythmic grooves, for
each talam. They play the talam
in manner that fits the general flow of the particular structure.
UPDATED: