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Taal · 12 matras

चौतालChautaal

Twelve matras in six pairs, counted with four claps: the taal of dhrupad, played on the pakhawaj.

  • 12 matras
  • 6 vibhags: 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
  • X 0 2 0 3 4
  • Dhrupad
X02034DhaDhaDinTaKiTaDhaDinTaTiTaKaTaGaDiGaNa12matrasPractise with it on Meend’s tabla →
80 madhya
About these soundsMeend makes the harmonium and santoor sounds itself. They aren’t recordings of real instruments, so they sound close, but not quite the same. They are here to let you hear how the swaras go.The tanpura and tabla are recordings of real ones.

Chautaal has twelve matras in six vibhags of two, and it is the taal of dhrupad, the oldest of the forms Hindustani music still sings. Its drum is the pakhawaj, the long barrel drum played with open palms, whose bols are broad and resonant; here they are played on the tabla. Chau is four: it is counted with four claps.

The theka

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dha
  2. 0
    1. 3Din
    2. 4Ta
  3. 2
    1. 5KiTa
    2. 6Dha
  4. 0
    1. 7Din
    2. 8Ta
  5. 3
    1. 9TiTa
    2. 10KaTa
  6. 4
    1. 11GaDi
    2. 12GaNa

Its bols are the pakhawaj's: Dha Dha, Din Ta, KiTa Dha, and at the end the rolling TiTa KaTa, GaDi GaNa that carries the cycle round to sam. Dhrupad is sung slowly and with gravity, then faster in layakari, and Chautaal's six even pairs give it a steady, monumental pulse.

Counting with the hands

Clap, wave, clap, wave, clap, clap: X 0 2 0 3 4, the same count as Ektaal. Sam on the 1st matra, khali on the 3rd and 7th, talis on the 5th, 9th and 11th.

  1. XClap: sammatras 1–2
  2. 0Wavematras 3–4
  3. 2Clapmatras 5–6
  4. 0Wavematras 7–8
  5. 3Clapmatras 9–10
  6. 4Clapmatras 11–12

The bols

BolHow it is playedOn
NaThe dayan’s rim, struck with the tip of the index finger, lifted at once so it ringsDayan
GeThe bayan, open: the bass, its pitch bent by the heel of the handBayan
DhaNa and Ge at onceBoth
TinThe dayan between the rim and the black syahi, ringingDayan
DinAs Dhin: the dayan rings over the bayanBoth
TaAs Na, on the dayan’s rim; inside TiRaKiTa, closedDayan
TiAs Tin; inside TiRaKiTa, a closed stroke on the syahiDayan
KaAs KeBayan
GaAs GeBayan
DiOn the pakhawaj an open stroke; on the tabla, a ringing TinDayan

On the pakhawaj, Din and Di are open strokes of their own; on the tabla they are played as a ringing Dhin and Tin.

How fast it is played

Dhrupad's compositions begin in madhya laya, about 60 to 100 matras a minute, and the music grows faster through layakari: the singer singing the composition in dugun, tigun and chaugun against the steady pakhawaj.

Layakari: dugun, tigun, chaugun

In dhrupad, layakari is not an ornament but the form itself.

Dugun: two to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDha
    2. 2DinTa
  2. 0
    1. 3KiTaDha
    2. 4DinTa
  3. 2
    1. 5TiTaKaTa
    2. 6GaDiGaNa
  4. 0
    1. 7DhaDha
    2. 8DinTa
  5. 3
    1. 9KiTaDha
    2. 10DinTa
  6. 4
    1. 11TiTaKaTa
    2. 12GaDiGaNa
Tigun: three to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDhaDin
    2. 2TaKiTaDha
  2. 0
    1. 3DinTaTiTa
    2. 4KaTaGaDiGaNa
  3. 2
    1. 5DhaDhaDin
    2. 6TaKiTaDha
  4. 0
    1. 7DinTaTiTa
    2. 8KaTaGaDiGaNa
  5. 3
    1. 9DhaDhaDin
    2. 10TaKiTaDha
  6. 4
    1. 11DinTaTiTa
    2. 12KaTaGaDiGaNa
Chaugun: four to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDhaDinTa
    2. 2KiTaDhaDinTa
  2. 0
    1. 3TiTaKaTaGaDiGaNa
    2. 4DhaDhaDinTa
  3. 2
    1. 5KiTaDhaDinTa
    2. 6TiTaKaTaGaDiGaNa
  4. 0
    1. 7DhaDhaDinTa
    2. 8KiTaDhaDinTa
  5. 3
    1. 9TiTaKaTaGaDiGaNa
    2. 10DhaDhaDinTa
  6. 4
    1. 11KiTaDhaDinTa
    2. 12TiTaKaTaGaDiGaNa

A tihai

TiRaKiTa Dha, a matra's rest, three times: eight matras. To land on sam it begins on the 6th matra. Dhrupad's tihais are often far longer, worked out across several cycles, but they follow the same rule.

1st avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dha
  2. 0
    1. 3Din
    2. 4Ta
  3. 2
    1. 5KiTa
    2. 6Dha
  4. 0
    1. 7Din
    2. 8Ta
  5. 3
    1. 9TiTa
    2. 10KaTa
  6. 4
    1. 11GaDi
    2. 12GaNa

2nd avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dha
  2. 0
    1. 3Din
    2. 4Ta
  3. 2
    1. 5KiTa
    2. 6TiRaKiTa
  4. 0
    1. 7Dha
    2. 8–
  5. 3
    1. 9TiRaKiTa
    2. 10Dha
  6. 4
    1. 11–
    2. 12TiRaKiTa

3rd avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dha
  2. 0
    1. 3Din
    2. 4Ta
  3. 2
    1. 5KiTa
    2. 6Dha
  4. 0
    1. 7Din
    2. 8Ta
  5. 3
    1. 9TiTa
    2. 10KaTa
  6. 4
    1. 11GaDi
    2. 12GaNa

For the flute

Start the tabla, then play these with it, unhurried: they begin with its next sam.

Up, a swara to each pair of matras
S–R–G–M–P–DN
And down
S–NDP–MGR–S–

Questions

How many matras does Chautaal have?

Twelve, in six vibhags of two. Its signs are X 0 2 0 3 4.

Why is it called Chautaal?

Chau means four: it is counted with four claps, on matras 1, 5, 9 and 11, among two waves.

How is Chautaal different from Ektaal?

They share their count. Chautaal is the pakhawaj's, for dhrupad, its bols heavy and open; Ektaal is the tabla's, for khayal.