Taal and Laya: Thekas and Layakari
The six prescribed thekas
- Teentaal, 16 matras, 4+4+4+4, tali 1, 5, 13, khali 9: dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha.
- Ektaal, 12 matras, 2+2+2+2+2+2, tali 1, 5, 9, 11, khali 3, 7: dhin dhin | dha dhin | dhin dhin | dha tin | tin ta | dha dhin.
- Jhaptaal, 10 matras, 2+3+2+3, tali 1, 3, 8, khali 6: dhi na | dhi dhi na | ti na | dhi dhi na.
- Rupak, 7 matras, 3+2+2, khali on sam (1), tali 4 and 6: tin tin na | dhin na | dhin na.
- Dadra, 6 matras, 3+3, tali 1, khali 4: dha dhi na | dha tu na.
- Keherwa, 8 matras, 4+4, tali 1, khali 5: dha ge na ti | na ka dhi na.
Layakari
Barabar (1:1), dugun (2:1), tigun (3:1), chaugun (4:1), aad (3/2), kuwaad (5/4), biyaad (7/4). In fractional layakari a phrase spans more than one matra, so show the arithmetic.
Worked example
Ektaal at 60 bpm: one avartan lasts 12 seconds. In dugun you must place 24 matras in those 12 seconds - two per second - so each original matra carries two strokes. In aad, three strokes fill two matras; this is the classic place where a candidate drifts off sam.
Traps
- Rupak's khali sits on sam; marking sam as tali there loses the whole answer.
- Writing Jhaptaal as 3+2+3+2 instead of 2+3+2+3.
- Forgetting that Ektaal has two khalis (3 and 7).
- Giving a theka with no vibhag or khali marks.