Krsna Kirtana Songs
est. 2001 www.kksongs.org
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Classification of Talas
Unlike rāgas,
there is no systematic scheme of classifying rhythmic cycles, or tālas. If any classification scheme is to be used, it
is merely on the way the tala presents itself. Tālas do not typically contain emotional,
expressional, or any major aesthetic value, so the concept of bhāva (feel) or samaya
(time) is void here. Tālas would be very
dependent on the instruments used to represent them. Tablas
and khols might be quite diverse for most moods,
while a meditative, angry, or fierce composition might call for the use of the pakhawaj. A festive performance might require for dholaki, dhol, or other folk
instruments. Therefore, classification schemes can only work for the tāla information.
SORTING
BY NUMBER OF MĀTRĀS
The most practical and perhaps
conventional way is to classify by the number of beats per cycle, or the number
of mātrās. There are many rhythmic cycles
that exist with the shortest tala being three mātrās per cycle, while the longest is
one-hundred-eight mātrās per cycle.
Throughout time, many of these have become obscure. Here is a list organizing
the number of mātrās of whatever tālas KKSongs.org has.
SORTING
BY JĀTIS
A least conventional approach is by
using the South Indian method of jātis. A jāti is like a ‘caste’ for rhythmic cycles based on
the lowest multiple. There are five classifications. Tisra
jāti contains cycles based on counts of threes, catasra jāti is based on
fours, khanda is based on fives, misra
is based on sevens, and sankirna is based on nines.
UPDATED: June 9, 2010