Reading an Unseen Bhairav Notation Line in Teental
A candidate is given this unseen notation line for a Teental gat and asked to read it aloud in tala:
1 x: S - G M | 5 2: P - M G | 9 0: M - r S | 13 3: N S r G ||
The candidate makes three objections: (i) 'This cannot be Raga Bhairav because there is no komal Dha in the line and the first vibhag has no komal Re'; (ii) 'The 0 at matra 9 tells the player to stop for four matras'; (iii) 'N S r G at matra 13 is an impossible phrase in Bhairav because Ni cannot precede Sa.' The teacher asks him to decide which objections are valid, to explain how the line would be counted and clapped, and to insert a three-times tihai of a 4-matra phrase so that its final bol lands on sam of the following avartan. The candidate has a copy of the prescribed raga and tala list but no recordings.
1. Evaluate the three objections. Which, if any, are valid, and what reasoning supports your judgement?
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All three objections are invalid, for different reasons.
- Missing Dha: a single 16-matra line need not display every note of a raga. Bhairav does use komal Dha, but its absence from one phrase does not disprove the raga; the line does show komal Re ('r'), and a complete performance would have to establish komal Dha elsewhere. The candidate should say 'this line alone does not prove Bhairav', not 'this cannot be Bhairav'.
- The 0 at matra 9: this marks khali, the vibhag that is waved rather than clapped. It does not mean silence. The theka continues with its khali syllables, and the gat's notes continue; only the tala's accent changes.
- N S r G: Bhairav's aroha includes Ni and Sa, so Ni–Sa is normal. The phrase N S r G is a valid ascent-oriented figure using komal Re; it does not violate the raga. The candidate has confused the rule that Ni is a resting/ornamenting note in some contexts with a prohibition that does not exist.
The correct response is to read the line as Bhairav unless the prescribed list says otherwise, while noting that the full performance must show komal Dha.
2. Explain how the line is counted and clapped in Teental, what sam and khali mean here, and how the dash and 'r' should be read.
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Teental has 16 matras in four vibhags of 4: 1–4, 5–8, 9–12, 13–16. The notation's marks correspond to the standard tali/khali scheme: x at 1 (sam, clap), 2 at 5 (tali, clap), 0 at 9 (khali, wave), 3 at 13 (tali, clap). The theka would be recited as dha dhin dhin dha / dha dhin dhin dha / dha tin tin ta / ta dhin dhin dha, with the khali vibhag using tin/ta rather than dhin.
Sam is matra 1, the point of return and resolution; it is not merely the loudest beat. Khali is an unaccented vibhag, not a rest. The dash '-' means the previous note is held for that matra, so the reader must count it as a matra rather than skip it. The lower-case 'r' means komal Re. Thus the first vibhag is read: Sa (held), Ga, Ma - four matras, with the held Sa occupying the second matra. The candidate should recite the tala and the notes together so that the held note does not disturb the count.
3. Insert a 4-matra phrase three times so that its final bol lands on sam of the next avartan. At which matra does the first repetition begin, and how should the notation mark it?
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Three repetitions of 4 matras use 12 matras. If the final bol is to land on sam of the next avartan, the first bol must be 11 matras before sam, which in Teental is matra 6 of the preceding avartan:
- repetition 1: 6, 7, 8, 9
- repetition 2: 10, 11, 12, 13
- repetition 3: 14, 15, 16, 1 (sam)
The notation should bracket the three groups, keep the tala marks x at 1, 2 at 5, 0 at 9 and 3 at 13, and place x over the final bol at matra 1 of the next avartan. Two crossings need comment: the first repetition's last matra falls on the khali at 9, and the second repetition's last matra falls on the tali at 13. The tala marks remain in force; the player shapes the tihai so that the final sam is unmistakable. A student who starts at matra 1 would end at matra 12 and miss sam entirely, so the arithmetic must be shown, not guessed.