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Chapter 10: Six Matra
Cycles
Just as we started off the tala
unit with sixteen matras, we went to its half
counterpart, namely eight matras. After discovering
eight matras, we went into twelve matras.
Now, we are discovering its half counterpart, the six matra
tala. There are many six matra
talas. However, two will be discussed here. The six matra cycles have been very common with Western music. It
has been known as the “waltz.” Western music tends to think of “waltz” as a 3/4
time rather. Since we looked at four beats as totally limited, a 6/8 time
approach is very useful. However, the denominator simply adds confusion to the
Indian musician. Since we talk of cycles rather than measures, the six beats
per measure and eighth note equating to one beat is an absurd concept to the
Indian musician.
Since six is a multiple of three, all six matra talas are of tisra jati.
DADRA TALA
Dadra tala is one of the most common talas
in Indian music. Whether its bhajans, kirtanas, semi classical or folk music, dadra
tala is also. Please do not confuse dadra tala with a singing style
called dadra. Dadra singing style does not always use dadra tala.
Dadra tala is divided evenly as
3-3, with sam receiving tali
and khali on matra 4. Here
is the theka. This is often known as the “thumri style.”
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
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dhā |
dhin |
nā |
dhā |
tin |
tā |
Figure 10.1
This is a very clean and fairly symmetrical tala. Symmetrical tala means that both halves of the tala
are fairly symmetrical. Most likely they will not be purely symmetrical. Even
though the baya use may there or not, the structure
is fairly symmetrical. So far, almost every tala
presented so far, with the exception for Prabhupada tala and ektal (for now), has
this feature. An easier way to determine if a tala is
symmetric is if the divisions are even. For instance, dadra
tala has divisions of 3-3. If you cut the divisions
in half, you have 3 on both halves. Thus dadra tala is symmetric, even though the bols
are not exactly symmetric.
A common prakar of dadra tala is used more than the theka. This form is very common.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
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dhā |
dhā |
dhin |
dhin |
tā |
tā |
dhin |
dhin |
Figure 10.2
Even within this particular prakar,
there are more prakars based on this very one. For
instance, instead of dividing sam and matra 4 into half matras, it is a
possibly to have simply “dhā” and “tā” with one matra for sam and matra 4 respectively.
Another possibility is to split matras 2 and 5 into
two half matras, and use the swooping technique on
the baya, represented by the dash (-).
KHEMTA
TALA
Khemta tala is a very popular
folk tala. Some do not consider this as an
independent tala, as its form is very close to dadra tala. In fact, some even
consider this to be a prakar of dadra
tala. Some musicians will notice that the baya movements are much different than that of dadra tala. The division of 3-3, tali and khali markings are the
same as dadra tala.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
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dhin |
tā |
dhin |
tā |
tin |
nā |
ka |
tā |
Figure 10.3
This tala is used very
frequently in garba dances. This tala
has also been known as “garba rasa
tala” as loosely translated as “The Garba Groove.” There is a form that resembles this tala shown later in Chapter 21.
Of course, like dadra tala, there are so many possible prakars
that could be created. One great possibility is to split matras
3 and 6 into half matras and fill matras
3B and 6B with “ka” and “gha” respectively.
As we approach the conclusion of this chapter, practice
these talas to memory. These talas
might not appear in classical compositions, but you will see them virtually
everywhere. Since tisra and catastra
jati talas are very
familiar to the human hear, we will approach slightly more difficult khanda and misra jati talas in the next few
chapters.
UPDATED: June 20, 2009