Chaai-taal ਚਾਈ-ਤਾਲ
A 7-matra taal, counted in 3 vibhags of 3 + 2 + 2.
Practise over this theka A palta in Chaai-taal
- Matras
- 7
- Vibhags
- 3 + 2 + 2
- Sam (×)
- matra 1
- Taali (clap)
- matras 4, 6
- Khali (0, wave)
- matra 1
The theka
| Matra | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark | × | 2 | 3 | ||||
| ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ | ਡੀਂ | ਡੀਂ | ਤਕ | ਧੀਂ | ਧੀਂ | ਧਾ | ਧਾ |
| देवनागरी | ਡੀਂ | ਡੀਂ | ਤਕ | ਧੀਂ | ਧੀਂ | धा | धा |
| English | ਡੀਂ | ਡੀਂ | ਤਕ | ਧੀਂ | ਧੀਂ | Dha | Dha |
This reading of the page has not yet been checked by hand against the printed book. If you see a bol that differs from your copy, please write.
What the studio plays
The book prints its own theka for Chaai-taal. When the studio plays Chaai-taal it sounds the common Tevra theka instead, keeping the book's sam, taali and khali, because that is the one most players will know:
| Matra | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark | × | 2 | 3 | ||||
| ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ | ਧਾ | ਦੀਂ | ਤਾ | ਤਿਟ | ਕਤਾ | ਗਿਦੀ | ਗਨ |
| देवनागरी | धा | दीं | ता | तिटक | किटा | गिदी | गन |
| English | Dha | Din | Ta | TiTak | Kita | Gidi | Gana |
How to keep Chaai-taal
Count the 7 matras aloud while you clap the taal: a clap on sam, the first and strongest beat, and on every taali, and a wave of the hand on khali, the empty beat. The vibhags of 3 + 2 + 2 tell you where each clap or wave falls; the theka above is what the tabla plays across one avartan, and the melody of a bandish lands back on sam at the end of every avartan.
In the studio, every bandish and palta in Chaai-taal plays over this theka, with the matra that is sounding lit in the notation and the bol lit in the theka, at any tempo from 30 to 260 matras a minute.