Tala
What is Tala ?
Tala is a scale used for measure time in Indian music. Just as the system of classifying raga is better organized in South Indian music, so too is the system of classifying tala, the the rhythmic organisation or time measure. Each tala cycles through a number of beats, each cycle called an aavartanam. For example, one of the most common tala is called aadi. In aadi talam, 8 beats (commonly 4 swaras to each beat) make one cycle. Thus, up to 32 swaras may comprise one cycle, lengthened and shortened to accommodate the talam. Talam is kept by beating the right hand gently against the right thigh while seated with your legs crossed ("Indian style").
The main group is composed of 35 talas, called the suladi-talas. Each tala is composed of one, two, or three different units: short, medium, and long. The medium unit is twice the duration of the short; the long unit is, however, a variable and may be three, four, five, seven, or nine times the duration of the short. There are seven basic tala patterns, and, because the long unit of these talas can be of five different durations, the total number of talas in this system is 35.
The total duration of each pattern is controlled by the duration of the variable long, thus, if the long unit is five times the short, a tala pattern such as dhruva-tala will be 5 + 2 + 5 + 5, or 17 units. Several of these talas have the same total duration but are distinguished from each other by their internal subdivisions. In the course of a performance, the vocalist, as well as the audience, may mark the time by clapping, hand waving, and finger counting.
In addition to the suladi-talas, there are four capu-talas that are used in South Indian classical music. Said to have derived from folk music, they consist of two sections of unequal length, 1 + 2, 2 + 3, 3 + 4, and 4 + 5. Of these, the 3 + 4 combination is the most prominent. On rare occasions a performer may use one of the "classical" talas referred to in Sanskrit texts. These generally involve long time cycles composed of as many as 100 short units. The most frequently heard time measures, however, are ahi-tala, a modified eight-beat version of triputa-tala (4 + 2 + 2); misra-capu-tala (3 + 4); and rupaka-tala (4 + 2). The difficult and long talas are used primarily as a tour de force. Each tala may be performed in either slow, medium, or quick tempo; however, there is no gradual acceleration as in North Indian music.