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Chapter 21: Theka,
Prakar, and Laggi
“Theka” and “prakar” are words that should be quite familiar to you. Let
us revisit these terms again.
Theka is the
simplest form of the tala using as few bols as possible to get the original flow of the tala. Usually, there is a 1:1 bol
to matra ratio. The theka, besides the tala
structure, is the way to determine which tala it is.
If you see a Figure 21.1 anywhere, I’m sure you will point it what the correct
answer it is.
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Figure 21.1
This is the theka of rupak tala. It is pretty obvious
that we talked about thekas pretty much in Unit 2.
In Unit 2 and Chapter 17 of Unit 3, we talked about prakar. A prakar is an alteration of form of a tala.
Here is a prakar used in Chapter 17 of rupak tala.
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Figure 21.2
What do thekas and prakars both have in common? They are both cyclic forms. Remember from Chapter 20
that cyclic forms consume cycle of certain number of matras.
Also remember the important distinction made in the previous chapter. Thekas and prakars are both
examples of cyclic forms. However, any cyclic form is not necessarily a theka or prakar.
Having said that point, we must also not confuse “theka” with “prakar.” Theka is the simplest form given in a fixed number of matras. “Prakar” is a variation,
and it is not always in the simplest form. As you can see, we will have many
more cyclic forms to be discussed that would also need distinction and
clarification.
If you remember from Chapter 8, there was special
type of prakar for symmetrical talas.
They were called ādhā prakārs,
since they cut the tala in half using the appropriate
changes in baya bols. You
may see the adha prakars
used in Chapter 8 for bhajani tala
or the adha prakar for tintal. Here is an example of an adha
prakar for ektal.
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Figure 21.3
LAGGI
If you have been playing bhajani
kaherva, you might mix in a few prakars
of the tala. But even using a variety of prakars and fillers will not get full satisfaction. You
would need some difference to make the tala alive and
not dull to make the audience and musician fall asleep on you! You want
something that will change the feel slightly for one or two cycles of a tala. That change of feel is called a laggi.
Some very important characteristics of laggis are that they are aggressive by nature. Usually,
they are fast and open strokes that are nice, loud, and in sync with the tala being played. In addition, they do not have any
affiliation with any specific tala. As they are
cyclic forms, they must remain within the cycle. Since bhajani
tala is in eight beats, a respective laggi must be in eight beats or eight matras.
A particular laggi, like the one used in the bhajani, is not restricted to bhajani
alone. If you are a non-classical mridanga player,
this is a lesson taught to you informally. During any kirtan,
whether soft or loud, it is possible that you might be accustomed on using the
whole hand, instead of properly sliding or controlling the sound correctly.
Since this open-handed technique is very “aggressive in nature”, what appears
to be the theka or prakar
is, in fact, the laggi.
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Figure 21.4
Using our bhajani kaherva example, here is a mini-compositional form. As you
can see in Figure 21.4, you see there are three avartans
of bhajani kaherva. On the
fourth avartan, you will notice how there is a new
phrase consuming one whole avartan. That is an
example of a laggi. Note the bols
are more “open” and louder than before. Now, let’s get back to the original kaherva with the fifth avartan.
It goes for another two more avartans, with the
eighth avartan having another laggi.
This time it’s a different one.
Let us re-examine the two laggis
used. Play the first laggi four times consecutively.
Did you notice how with the laggi alone, you have an
almost equal weight with daya bols
as well as baya bols. Laggis are so powerful that they can suffice as their own
rhythmic backbone! With the second one, it’ll be a little difficult to play it
at first, but it also has its own rhythmic backbone that one could actually
perform in that. Of course, playing laggis as the
main rhythm is a sign of lack of maturity in tabla
player and accompanying. Remember that the theka and prakar are the real rhythm. The laggis
are good sidekicks.
Another famous laggi in
which everybody knows is the garba laggi. The garba laggi is originated from Gujarat, India in their
traditional garba dances. The garba
laggi is also considered almost equivalent as khemta tala (recall from Chapter
10). The bols for the garba
laggis is as follows.
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Figure 21.5
Garba laggis, like the previous
laggis, are structured in such a way that they could
suffice as their own rhythmic backbone. Just as the previous eight matra laggis were good to mix
with any eight matra tala,
the garba laggi, bearing
six matras, could mix with any six matra tala. Figure 21.6 shows the
composition of mixing khemta tala
and dadra tala in the first
three avartans, the last avartan
has the garba laggi which
mixes quite well. Despite the almost-mirror image to khemta
tala, there are few variations in the bols which does not make it the best tala
to hold full rhythms on.
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Figure 21.6
One feature of this entire unit is that with each
cyclic of cadential form, there are too many forms to
list and discuss. It would be impractical to list every single laggi that exists. Even with every laggi
form, there would be many variations which depend on the artist’s style. From
my experience, I strongly recommend listening to music that has classical tabla playing. This could be in bhajans,
semi-classical recordings, or folk recordings. You probably won’t find too many
laggis in classical recordings. But just keep your
ears open. By keeping your ears open, you will be apt to learning new things in
tabla.
For now, just remember the properties of the laggi. They are cyclic forms not affiliated with one tala, but with talas with a specific
number of matras. They do not have a tala structure in terms of tali
and khali, but they do replace one or more full avartans of a tala. They cannot
remain as rhythmic structures. Remember, theka and prakar are the true basis for rhythm.
Another way to view the laggi
is to think of it as a folk theka. Most of these laggis will only be found in folk application. Although,
there is a relative classical tala associated with
it.
UPDATED: June 20, 2009