Soolfaak ਸੂਲਫਾਕ
A 10-matra taal, counted in 5 vibhags of 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2.
Practise over this theka A palta in Soolfaak
- Matras
- 10
- Vibhags
- 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
- Sam (×)
- matra 1
- Taali (clap)
- matras 5, 7
- Khali (0, wave)
- matras 3, 9
The theka
| Matra | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark | × | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ | ਧਾ | ਤ੍ਰਿਕੜ | ਧਿੰ | ਨਾ | ਕੱਤ | ਤੀ | ਧਾ | ਧਾ | ਤਿੰ | ਨਾ |
| देवनागरी | धा | त्रिकट | धिन | ना | कट | ਤੀ | धा | धा | तिन | ना |
| English | Dha | TrikRa | Dhin | Na | Kat | ਤੀ | Dha | Dha | Tin | Na |
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 Soolfaak. When the studio plays Soolfaak it sounds the common Sultal 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 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark | × | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ | ਧਾ | ਧਾ | ਦੀਂ | ਤਾ | ਕਿਟ | ਧਾ | ਤਿਟ | ਕਤਾ | ਗਿਦੀ | ਗਨ |
| देवनागरी | धा | धा | दीं | ता | किट | धा | तिटक | किटा | गिदी | गन |
| English | Dha | Dha | Din | Ta | Kit | Dha | TiTak | Kita | Gidi | Gana |
How to keep Soolfaak
Count the 10 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 2 + 2 + 2 + 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 Soolfaak 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.