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Taal · 6 matras

दादराDadra

Six matras, three and three: a swaying taal for light classical song, ghazals, bhajans and dhuns.

  • 6 matras
  • 2 vibhags: 3 + 3
  • X 0
  • Dadra, ghazals, bhajans, folk, dhuns
X0DhaDhiNaDhaTiNa6matrasPractise with it on Meend’s tabla →
100 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.

Dadra has six matras, in two vibhags of three. Where Keherwa walks in fours, Dadra sways in threes: one-two-three, one-two-three. It shares its name with a light classical song form, the dadra, a cousin of the thumri, and carries ghazals, bhajans, folk songs and film songs, and the lighter dhuns of the bansuri.

The theka

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dhi
    3. 3Na
  2. 0
    1. 4Dha
    2. 5Ti
    3. 6Na

Dha Dhi Na, then Dha Ti Na: the two halves are nearly alike, and the only difference is the middle stroke. In the first it is Dhi, ringing over the bayan; in the second, the khali half, Ti, the dayan alone. One stroke is enough to tell the halves apart.

Counting with the hands

Clap, wave: X on the 1st matra, 0 on the 4th.

  1. XClap: sammatras 1–3
  2. 0Wavematras 4–6

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
DhiTin and Ge at once (Dhin, said short)Both
TiAs Tin; inside TiRaKiTa, a closed stroke on the syahiDayan

How fast it is played

From a slow, lilting madhya for a dadra or a ghazal to a quick, dancing drut in folk songs and at the end of a dhun, where the tabla's variations take over, as they do in Keherwa.

Layakari: dugun, tigun, chaugun

Dugun: two to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDhi
    2. 2NaDha
    3. 3TiNa
  2. 0
    1. 4DhaDhi
    2. 5NaDha
    3. 6TiNa
Tigun: three to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDhiNa
    2. 2DhaTiNa
    3. 3DhaDhiNa
  2. 0
    1. 4DhaTiNa
    2. 5DhaDhiNa
    3. 6DhaTiNa
Chaugun: four to each matra
  1. X
    1. 1DhaDhiNaDha
    2. 2TiNaDhaDhi
    3. 3NaDhaTiNa
  2. 0
    1. 4DhaDhiNaDha
    2. 5TiNaDhaDhi
    3. 6NaDhaTiNa

In tigun the threes fall in threes: nine bols to a vibhag, and the sway turns into a whirl.

A tihai

TiRaKiTa Dha, a matra's rest, three times: eight matras, longer than the six-matra avartan. So it begins on the 6th matra, the last of an avartan, runs through the whole of the next, and lands on the sam after it.

1st avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dhi
    3. 3Na
  2. 0
    1. 4Dha
    2. 5Ti
    3. 6Na

2nd avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dhi
    3. 3Na
  2. 0
    1. 4Dha
    2. 5Ti
    3. 6TiRaKiTa

3rd avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2–
    3. 3TiRaKiTa
  2. 0
    1. 4Dha
    2. 5–
    3. 6TiRaKiTa

4th avartan

  1. X
    1. 1Dha
    2. 2Dhi
    3. 3Na
  2. 0
    1. 4Dha
    2. 5Ti
    3. 6Na

For the flute

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

A turn, then home
SRGRS–
Up, and back down
GMPMGR

Play the two together and repeat them: twelve matras, two cycles, and the beginning of a tune.

Questions

How many matras does Dadra have?

Six, in two vibhags of three: X 0.

Is Dadra a taal or a song form?

Both. The dadra is a light classical song form, close to the thumri, usually sung in Dadra taal, though sometimes in Keherwa.

How is Dadra different from Keherwa?

Dadra counts in threes, six matras; Keherwa in fours, eight. Both are the taals of light music.