tala rhythm

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A STUDY IN EAST INDIAN RHYTHMBy WINTHROP SARGEANT and SARAT LAHIRI

I.THE present study is based on an analysis of a gath as per-formed by Tiachmi Pershad Misra, a North Indian vinaplayer of some eminence who died recently in Calcutta.The music in question, which has been recorded in modern Bengalinotation by his disciples, follows a tradition supposedly handeddown from the celebrated seventeenth century musician M uhamadReza . It is, at any rate, a typical example of the extended formof composition which is employed in North India by virtuosos oninstruments of the vina type.The greater part of Hindustani music may be roughly dividedinto two categoriesalap and gath. Alap is a free improvisatorytype of playing, untrammelled by rigid rhythmic conventions,and largely inexpressible in terms of European notation. Oath,on the other hand, while extemporaneous in the sense that allEast Indian music is extemporaneous, conforms nevertheless tocertain very definite, and often com plex, structural formulas whichcan be represented on paper with considerable accuracy. Thepresent work is of the latter variety. It would be, of course, agreat mistake to assume that the European notation here givenincludes all those organic details which lend this m usic so much ofits charm in actual performance. These details are, however,concerned rather with the practice of instrumental techniquethan with the abstract conventions of form, and from the pointof view of rhythm, at least, there is nothing in the original thatcannot be adequately accounted for in notational terms.The instruments for which this particular type of music isdesigned include the vina, the sitar, and the surbahar. They willbe referred to here only inasmuch as they affect the formal struc-ture of the music. All are of the same general type, consistingof a resonating body, usually formed by a gourd or pumpkin, anda long neck or fingerboard supplied with frets; Across the fretsand the ivory bridge are stretched the strings, customarily sevenin number, of which two (in exceptional cases three) are used formelodic purposes, the rest forming the drone. The strings areplucked with the aid of a plectrum which, by sitar and surbaharplayers, is attached to the index finger of the right hand, the

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428 The Musical Quarterlyinstrument being held more or less like a guitar. Occasionally,for more complicated effects, two fingers with two plectrums areused. The tone, although pizzicato, is extremely resonant, per-mitting, when desired, of quite sustained effects. The rapiditywith which notes may be reiterated by means of the plectrum,makes these instruments especially suited to a rhythmic type ofmusic. The plectrum passes back and forth over the strings,plucking them outward as well as inward. The inward strokes,are, as a rule, slightly heavier than the outward strokes, andmuch of the phrasing in the small rhythmic patterns dependsupon the proper choice of strokes, accented tones usually beingplayed inward. These strokes are indicated in the accompanyingexample by the signs H and V signifying respectively inward andoutward. Noted not accompanied by these signs are understoodto follow in a regular alternation of ins and outs. Only the breaksin this alternation are indicated.The left hand, meanwhile, controls the pitch by stopping themelodic string in conjunction with one or another of the numerousfrets. Upon this hand devolves the complex technique of orna-mentation known as mir. This technique, which is an integralpart of all tina and sitar playing, is concerned with the deflection,or pulling-aside, of the string in order to alter the pitch of a note.This is accomplished by sliding the string along a given fret untilit is pulled completely out of its normal line, the increased tensionraising the pitch of the note on occasion as much as a minor third.The effect is that of a short glissando, and its use imparts to thistype of music a surprising elasticity, giving it at times an almostvocal quality. By means of the mir technique a number of differ-ent tones may be played on the same fret with varying degreesof deflection. Only certain notes of the raga, however, permitof such deflection according to the traditions of Indian music. Inthe accompanying example the glissandi resulting from deflectednotes are indicated b y slurs.The raga, or melodic scale-pattern, in which the present workis conceived is gara. It is given by Fox Strangways1 as approxi-mately:

I re ga p n pt 4k id ai

While an extended discussion of the conventions of raga isnot within the compass of thin article (this phase of Hindu musiclTk* Mutie of Hindottou, Oxford Fran. 1014.

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A Study in East Indian Rhythm 429has been considered at length by several writers on the subject,notably C. . Clements and Fox Strangways), a few detailsconcerning the particular raga with which we have to deal maybe of interest. Oara, like the great majority of ragas in use,contains no so-called quarter-tone, or sruti steps. Its melodicconventions are diato nic Its.tuning is not, however, based onany system of temperament, and differs slightly, at least in theory,from the tuning of a Western piano. Occasionally, with the aidof the mir technique, tones are produced that vary radicallyfrom the diatonic series, but these tones are used only as accidentalornamentations and have little to do with the basic structure.The tones used in this work are the following (the whole workhas been transposed a fifth higher than actual sound in order tofacilitate notation . Thi* transposition does not, however, affectits fundamental relationships): (Actual sounds)

" M i l i l [ r r H ' i n ra ( n* p* dh id ml 19 (a gtBtpt db il 11 ' u it p ti

The two nis and gas are never used in succession, since the diatoniccharacter of the raga would thereby be destroyed. The notesof this series that may be raised by deflection, or mir, are:

The drone which accompanies someparts of the work consists, in th e fullest form, of the following tones:

(sounding a fifth lower).

n.The thematic form of the work is quite intricate. The maintheme, or astai, is stated and repeated. The antara, or secondtheme, follows, and the first theme is stated once again. Thencomes a section of " development" or " elaboration," the saneari, andthis is followed by th e abhog, a recapitulation of the main theme.This much constitutes a small form in itself. It is a slight variantof the formula: astai + antara + sancari + astai (or abhog), whichis a very common song-form throughout East Indian mus ic Itbears a marked similarity in its general structure to our sonata-form,

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430 The Musical Quarterlyalthough it is difficult to draw parallels, since the element of key-relationship which is all-important in our system of structure istotally foreign to that of the Hindus. It is, however, customaryto place the second theme in a different voice-register from thatof the first: it will be seen upon examination that the compass ofth e astai is ft i .I* = \ that of the aniara ffij I .n =. Theword tancari which we have translated as development or elabo-ration, means literally "moving about," and the function of thissection is rather to introduce variety than to constitute a strictdevelopment of thematic material in our sense.

This entire first part of the work is followed by a long seriesof tans interspersed with reappearances of the astai or main theme.The tain are short sections of varied rhythmic material displayingthe ingenu ity of the composer-performer. Each tan is followedby a restatement of the astaithe whole constituting an arrange-ment somewhat analogous to our rondo-form ( A + B + A + C + A +D + ; ). The tana tend to increase in complexity as they goalong, each employing a different sort of rhythmic material, theentire series of fourteen revealing a field of melodic resources thatshould put the average Western "air and variations" to shame.Indeed, there are certain portions of this work which the Westernmusician will find great difficulty in performing with any degreeof accuracy, notably Tan X with its sudden and radical changesof metre. But th is aspect of the work will be considered later.This second part of the work is followed by a section knownas jhala, or "breaking up," in which a fragment of the astai be-com es, first a subject for variation in a sort of developm ent section ,and then the recurrent "chorus" for a new series of tana. Thisfragment forms two measures of the original astai:

i HgJ * J * JJJB/3J IIn the jhala proper it appearsfirst n a series of rhythm ic variationsat half its normal tempo. A passage similar to Tan I follows, andth e astai appears again in its original form. In the series of jhalatans that follow at this point the ariat-fragment is repeated two orthree times on each appearance, thus taking the place of the fullastai as the recurrent theme alternating with the tana. The in-cessant repetition of this short - fragment is productive of aneffect of concentration somewhat analogous to that of the strettq



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A Study in East Indian Rhythm 431of a fugue. A climax is built up by "minting continuously onthese two measures of the astai and refusing to go farther. Atthe end of this third large section comes the iehai or coda whichis the most intense part of the work. Here the arfat-fragment isnot heard in its original form at all, but only in the shape of vari-ations, increasing this time, not only in rhythmic complexity,but also in tempo. The last of these variations breaks from thefragmentary form and rushes headlong into the completion of theastai. This final recapitulation ends the gath.For one who takes the trouble to divest himself of all har-monic and chromatic habits of thought, and who seeks to developan appreciation of music-as-design as opposed to music-as-dy-namics, the organic structure of a complicated gath can become asource of unending delight. It is, indeed, as perfect a time-formas a Western symphony or fugue, and is, within its monodic-rhythmic idiom, fully as complex. Reduced to its simplest termsthe structure resolves itself into the following formula, A repre-senting the astai, (A) the ostot-fragment:

1st Section (song-form)A + A + B + A + Sancari + A

+2nd Section (Tans)

A + d + etc. + A+Jhala

(A) (Fragment broken up and developedwith some additional material).+ AJhala tana

(A) + 1 + ( A ) + 2 + ( A ) + 3 + e t c+ Tehai (coda)

(AO + (A") + (A"0 + etc. + A

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432 The Musical QuarterlyIn order, however, to achieve any notion of the actual applicationof this formula in the process of composition it is necessary toconsider the H indu viewpoint toward music in general. Onlyin very recent times have the people of India troubled to writetheir music down on paper. Music is, to them, something thatis played, not something that is figured out in mathematicaldiagrams. The musician combines th e duties of composer andperformer without being conscious of any dual role. The qath,as we have it in notational terms, represents only one possibleperformance, a performance which would never be repeated withany degree of exactitude as far as the details of its structure areconcerned. The Hindu musician would regard the suggestion thathe play the same thing twice in the same way as an insult to hisimaginative powers. His music is extemporized. But to assumethat, because it is extemporized, it is devoid of structure (andhighly subtle structure too), is to make a great mistake. Thedetails will differ at each performance, but the general form of thegath wOl always remain the same. There will always be an astaiand an antara, almost always a sancari. In this type of musicthere will always be tananot a stipulated number, but just asmany as the musician happens to feel like playing at the time.And there will always be an exciting iehai to finish things up with.m.

Tola is the science of rhythm, or, more properly, of metre.East Indian musical metre is based, like ours, upon a series ofequal time-units or beats, grouped into larger units, or measures.It differs from ours, however, in that the metrical units are moreextended, each beat or ta l occupying a much larger period oftime than is common in Western music, and in that there is noimplied dynamic accent in the Hindu measureno distinctionbetween strong and weak beats. The first of these peculiaritiesresults in a great freedom of rhythmic detail, since, especiallyin a lively type of music, much can take place between one ta land the next. And on the other hand the spread of the largermetrical groups tends to give a close-knit rhythmic integrity tolong monodic phrases that to our ears would seem diffuse andlacking in unity. It is as though we should conceive the measureas our basic unit, and the phrase of three , four, five, or six measuresas the smallest metrical group, indicating in our time-signatures,not the number of beats to a measure, but the number of measuresto a phrase. The absence of accented and unaccented beats is anatural corollary of this conception. Western music has, at least

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A Study in East Indian Rhythm 4SSsince the days of the Gregorian Chant, based its time-structureupon the rapidly recurrent dynamic rhythms of the march anddance. Indian music is rather an outgrowth of vocal phrasing.While its small rhythmic patterns may be as lively as you please,its larger time-structure is conceived in leisurely spans in whichpercussive accents can play no essential part.The accompanying work is in Hntal, that is to say, in aphrase-rhythm of four beatsor, as the Hindu conceives it, ofthree beats and one blank beat. Tinted is one of the m ost frequentvarieties of tola. In "counting" it, the three beats' or tals, com-monly indicated by clapping the hands, are followed by the blankbeat or khali which has the same value as a beat but gets nocount. This series of 1 - 2 - S - blank, 1 - 2 - 8 - blank is regularlyrepeated. The second beat which is known as the sam has a specialfunction. It is upon this beat, as a point of reference, that theentire structure of the work rests.The astai commences with what we should call an anacrusis,just after the khali or blank beat, and is counted in the followingmanner:

This count is continued throughout the entire work. Melodically,the most important part of the astai is the point marked a. Inits successive reappearance it often commences at this point,dispensing with the anacrusis of the first measure. This momentin the melody, which invariably coincides with the all-importantsam or second beat, acts as a sort of structural guide-post. Itis distinguished by the melodic figure and recurs atpoint b. In the tans that follow later the performer improvisesmore or less freely, but in returning again to the astai he must seethat this figure falls upon the sam. Thus, throughout his tans,no matter how rhythmically complex they may be, he must retaina continual consciousness of the underlying beat. If he losestrack of the sam for an instant he is lost, and his performance willmeet with ridicule. To retain one's bearings with reference to abasic beat of what amounts to 4/2 time while playing a melody in



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434 Th e Musical Quarterlyvarying values of 3/8, 6/16, 8/4, and 2/4, as is the case in Tan X,is a feat of no mean order. This tan begins on the sam with alter-nating measures of 3/8 and 6/16 time, followed by a passage intriplets in 8/4 and 2/4. Yet if one counts the number of sixteenth-note values in the tan it will be found that there are exactly 128.A complete cycle of four beats of the basic metre should containtwo of our 4/4 measures or 82 sixteenth-notes. The 128 sixteenth-note values represent the equivalent of four complete cycles, andwhen the distinguishing melodic feature of the astaiarrives, it lands with absolute precision upon the sam. Thus thewhole tan is an elaborate syncopation against the underlying tintalmetre. Tan XIII ia similarly syncopated. Here the metre ofthe melody is 7/8 except for a measure of 4/4 at the end. Thistan likewise commences on the sa m and contains four completecycles of tintal. Eight measures of 7/8 plus one measure of 4/4(64 eighth-notes) bring the performer out exactly at the sam

This type of syncopation, which is very much like that em-ployed by Jazz players in their "breaks," except that it is infinitelymore complicated, is an essential part of the technique of gath.The vina player delights in apparently losing himself in the mostabstruse counter-rhythms, leaving the listener with a sense ofutter bewilderment, only to issue forth triumphantly at the samagain without a hair's breadth of inaccuracy, and with a sparkleof obvious satisfaction. The effect, to one who is accustomed tothis idiom of expression, is that of being hurled through chaos, andthen suddenly landing right side up on terra firma again with nobones broken and a feeling of intense relief. Such effects are, ofcourse, peculiar to an improvisatory and monodic type of musicand are inconceivable in the more deliberate idiom of th e Occident.They require, moreover, a developed sense of rhythm of a sortthat is by no means common among Occidental musicians.It is in ensemble playing that this technique stands out inits fullest rhythmic complexity. Oath music is ordinarily accom-panied by drumming, which in India is a highly developed art.The drummer uses two instruments, one for each hand, tapping thedrum-heads with his fingers. By means of different sorts of tapshe is able to produce a surprising range of subtle gradations intone-color. His successive taps are grouped into conventionalizedpatterns known as bole. A bol in its simplest form may be merely asuccession of equal taps indicating the metre. Each ta l or beat

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A Study in East Indian Rhy thm 435is divided into four matras. (In the accompanying example a ta lis half of a 4/4 bar, the matras being equivalent to eighth-notes.)The simple Hnial bol will consist of sixteen taps; one for eachmatra. The bo l is subdivided into smaller groups (tkeka) of fourtaps each, four ihelcas or sixteen matraa coinciding with one com-plete cycle of the metre. A really good drummer will not becontent, however, with merely r" firmingthe matras. Like thevina player, he is a past master at the art of syncopation andcross-rhythm. He will start imm ediately to make variations onthis basic metre, utilizing all his resources of rhythmic inventionand instrumental timbre. Each phrase will consist of a new seriesof bols different from those of the last.

As he accompanies the vina or attar player he embroiders acontinuous cross-rhythm against the melody. The ensembleeffect is like a sort of rhythmic counterpoint, and is carried onaccording to certain quite definite conventions. Here also, the8a m or second beat plays a highly important part in regulatingthe rhythmic structure. The drummer, like the vina player, mayalmost lose himself in intricate syncopations, but when the astaiof the melody recurs he must be prepared to hit the first samat precisely the same instant as his colleague. This

is his point of reference, and he must keep a sharp lookout for it.If he misses it his reputation as a drummer is sure to suffer.It often happens among Indian musicians that a vina playerand a drummer will engage in a friendly contest to see which canconfuse the other into losing track, of the sam. The vina playerwill improvise a melody. The drummer, to whom the melody is ofcourse unfamiliar, must first discover where the sam is. Havingdiscovered it he starts his drumming. For a while everythingruns smoothly.. Then the syncopation and cross-rhythm becomevery complex. The vina player uses all sorts of ruses to. disguisethe sam. He will introduce the characteristic melodic featurewhich distinguishes it at the wrong place. This occurs in thepresent example in the last three measures of Tan XI where thefigure (ft n * ^ appears twice as a false sam and then finallyenters in its proper place at the beginning of the succeeding astai.The drummer will meanwhile seek to confuse his opponent byinsisting on his cross-rhythms as though they were the true basicmetre, playing in metres of seven or five against the hitter's four

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4S6 Th e Mu sical Quarterlyor three, and so on. Each one strives with might and main toretain his equilibrium. Eventually one or the other misses thesam and is worsted.While such contests are mere tours deforce and do not neces-sarily represent the highest type of performance, they serveadmirably to illustrate the East Indian conception of rhythm.Th e H indu musician takes the fixed scaffold of his traditional gathform, chooses his ta l and rag, and then proceeds to weave aboutit a more or less extemporized melody which dies as it is born,never to be repeated in precisely the same way again. His rhythmsare not conceived in terms of notation, and hence do not tend todegenerate into stock-in-trade clichfs. The basic ta l preservesthe un ity of his music. Meanwhile he deviates from it, pilingrhythm upon rhythm. Bu t the sam is always present, and eventu-ally he must return to it. The accompanying drummer likewisedeviates from the established metre, indulging himself in syn-copations that may have no apparent relation to those of hiscolleague. Two seemingly independent streams of rhythm , eachconsisting in itself of a multitude of intricate cross-rhythms,follow their diverse courses. At the sam, however, they meetwith logical precision, and the basic ta l resumes its sway.

IV .A few remarks relative to the individual tans of this gathmay be of interest:Tans I and II do not contain any radical departure from thebasic tal. In the last two measures of each, however, is to befound a simple, and, in Hindu music, very common syncopationformed by superimposing a melodic rhythm of 8/4 upon the funda-mental 4/4 metre. This effect, which is likewise frequent inJazz (take for example the recently popular song, " I can't g ive

y o u a n y t h i n g b u t l ov e , b a b y , " | H p * J p | * J p J | o | f f " | )is further intensified, in the present instance, by the plectrumphrasing.Tan III starts with a phrase of ten eighth-notes. This phraserepeats, but is interrupted by the figure which ordinarily formsthe anacrusis of the astai. Twice thisfigure eads up to a potentialfalse sam without actually sounding it. This is one of the rusescommonly used to disconcert the accompanying drummer. Onits third appearance the phrase leads as usual to the sam at

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A Study in East Indian Rhythm 4S7the beginning of the astai. The same effect is used at the end ofTanV.The last two measures of Tans IV, VI, and VII respectivelycontain the same 8/4 syncopation tha t is found in Tans I and / / .In Tan VII the passage is preceded by two measures of a similartype of syncopation where the superimposed rhythm is 3/8 insteadof 3/4.Tans VIII and IX are without special interest except for thefact that they utilize portions of the astai as melodic material.Tan X has been already considered. From a Western point ofview it is the most complex of all, although to the Hindu musicianit appears less intricate than some of the later tans. The principaldifficulty it offers to the Western musician is the transition fromthe last 6/16 bar to the 3/4 triplets involving, as it does, a changein the value of the 16th notes. The phrases of the basic tintalmetre are indicated by the brackets below the staff. This sortof syncopation is known as art, a technical term implying the useof fractional time-values.Tan XI is in bek-ari or "irregular fractional syncopation."Toward the end of this tan are to be found the two false samsbefore referred to.The rhythm of Tan XII is called deri, meaning that threeequal notes are substituted for four. In the first part threequarter-notes occupy the place of four matras; in the last, threeeighth-notes occupy the place of two matras. At the end appears a3/4 syncopation similar to that in Tan I.Tan XIII is in 7/8, or what the Hindus call dhamar. Dhamarmeans that there are fourteen matras to a ta lin other words,fourteen sixteenth-notes to a measure. The phrases of the basicTintal are indicated by brackets.Tan XIV is in 5/8 or jhaptal, with ten matras to the tal.The Jhala, or breaking-up, has been referred to already.The rhythm of the first sixteen measures, which is notated as8/8 for the sake of simplicity, is actually in regular sequences of3/8 + 3/8 + 2/8.The fragmentary astai, consisting of two measures of theoriginal astai is repeated three times with slight rhythmic andmelodic alterations.The first Jhala Tan is, like Tan XII, in deri rhythm.The second Jhala Tan is an example of the technique known asehieari, in which the vina player uses the drone as an integralpart of his rhythmic scheme. This technique, which is muchadmired in India, demands great agility on the part of the per-



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438 Th e Musical Quarterlyformer. I w o plectrums are used, one of which plays the melody,the other strumming on the drone strings. The rhythm of thispassage has been indicated as 8/16. It is in regular sequences of3/16 + 3/16 + 2/16.Jhala Tan III requires no comment.Jhala Tan IV is in 3/8 and starts on khali or the blank beat.In order that it may start here (at the same point where the ana-crusis of the astai ordinarily starts) the last repetition of thefragmentary astai has been curtailed. The number of eighth-noteValues then brings it out precisely at the sam of the ensuing astai.Jhala Tan V is in deri.The thematic material of the Tehai is drawn from the frag-mentary astai. Ibis section, as is customary, employs the chicaritechnique consistently up to the entrance of the final comple-mentary part of the astai. The first eight measures are notated as8/16 and follow the regular sequence 3/16 + 3/16 + 2/16. Thenext eight measures consist of the same rhythm (with slightalterations) played at half the former tempo.The anacrusis leading up to the final sam is syncopated almostbeyond recognition, and is delivered with a flourish.

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