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Chapter 11: Seven Matra Cycles
After a brief discussion of tala
science, Chapters 7 and 8 started our journey in talas
by surveying common talas of the catastra
jati by studying sixteen and then studying its half
counterpart, which were eight matra talas. Chapters 9 and 10 took a similar approach by
studying the twelve matra talas
first, then the six matra counterpart. As tisra jati and catastra jati talas
are the most commonly heard, we covered them first.
This chapter introduces a cycle which is pretty
uncommon to the Western ear. Almost everything is based on a 4/4, cut time
(2/2), 3/4, or 6/8 time, which are all pretty much the same as either catastra or tisra jati cycles. However, if you have no exposure to Indian
music, then ask yourself this question. “Do I know any 7/8 timed song?” Very
rare jazz compositions have “obscure” timings. In fact, in my entire lifetime,
I only heard one Western song with a seven beat cycle. It was a group called
the “Letter People” teaching children about “Mr. J.” When I hear it and hum the
tune, it was indeed a seven beat cycle.
People familiar with Indian music will be pretty
familiar with the concept of the seven matra talas. However, those familiar with Western music and even mridanga players included will have somewhat different
difficult time. Actually, khol and mridanga have seven matra talas, although their popularity has decreased
tremendously, sadly. Nevertheless, this tala is used
in common folk, semi classical, bhajans, and other
forms of classical music.
RUPAK TALA
Rupak tala is the most commonly
used tala with seven matras.
The divisions are
X(0) |
|
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
tin |
tin |
nā |
dhin |
nā |
dhin |
nā |
Figure 11.1
Unlike the previous talas,
this tala is asymmetrical. One thing identifying this
is the odd number of matras. This is our first
instance of an odd number of matras. Seven divided
evenly will be three and half matras. For elementary talas, such as this one, we do not consider half matras yet. We will discuss these half matra
intricacies later in Unit Five. Another notable difference between this tala and all the previous ones is that the baya influence is lacking in the sam
in this tala. This is why some musicians argue that khali should be denoted on the sam.
There are more seven matra
talas that could be discussed, however for now,
grasping the concept of the seven-matra tala is more important. This tala,
unlike the previous ones, might be slightly difficult. Be sure you can play
this tala proficiently. The next chapter is based on
the same idea as this one.
UPDATED: June 20, 2009