Ektal or Ektaal is a tala in Indian music. It is commonly used in classical music like kheyal, and semi-classical forms like Rabindra Sangeet. In ektal the 12 matras are divided into 6 vibhags of two matras each. Ektal is played in Drut gatti ( fast speed ). This tala is mostly played by the use of tabla. One more tala similar to Ektal is Chowtal which is played with the use of Pakhavaj,Ektaal is the tabla counterpart of Chowtaal. Many beautiful Kaida are played in Ektal. But Ektal is mostly played for Vilambit (slow pace of any Tal) .
Basic information on tal Ektal :
Name - Ektal
Sum - 1st matra
Tali (claps) - 1, 5, 9, 11 matras
Khali (wave) - 3, 7 matras
Similar talas - Chowtal, Dadra, Garba (tal)
Related instruments - Tabla
Related to - Hindustani music
The form of Ektal is as follows:
clap, tap, wave, tap, clap, tap, wave, tap, clap, tap, clap, tap
It has a characteristic pattern of bols (theka) which goes as follows:
Dhin | Dhin | | | DhaGe | TiR KiTa | | |
x | 0 | ||||
Tu | Na | | | Kat | Tin | | |
2 | 0 | ||||
DhaGe | TiR KiTa | | | Dhin | Na | | |
3 | 4 |
It is very important in Indian Classical music and many compositions are based on it. The 'Tirkita' is played as 'Traka' in the drut gatti or fast laya.
Carnatic music, known as Karnāṭaka saṃgīta or Karnāṭaka saṅgītam in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Sanatana dharma sciences and traditions, particularly the Samaveda. The other subgenre being Hindustani music, which emerged as a distinct form because of Persian or Islamic influences from Northern India. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style.
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition. It is a term of Sanskrit origin, derived from dhruva and pada. The roots of Dhrupad are ancient. It is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra, and other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the Bhagavata Purana, where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized.
Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the performer greater freedom of expression than dhrupad. In khyal, ragas are extensively ornamented, and the style calls for more technical virtuosity than intellectual rigour.
Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as Hindustani and the South Indian expression known as Carnatic. These traditions were not distinct until about the 15th century. During the period of Mughal rule of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Hindustani music emphasizes improvisation and exploration of all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic performances tend to be short composition-based. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences.
Thumri is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb thumuknaa, which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dramatic gestures, mild eroticism, evocative love poetry and folk songs, especially from Uttar Pradesh, though there are regional variations.
Vibhag represents a duration of rhythmic phrasing in Indian classical music made up of a certain number of beats. They are the rough equivalent of bars in western music, but instead of always being equal subdivisions of the tala, they can be uneven. In certain traditions of Indian music, any number of beats may form a Vibhag. Usually the beats will be in two, three, or four. They should be designated either with a clap or a wave of the hand. The meaning of the word Bhag from is parts. The actual measure of the Vibhag is borders or boundaries or boundary lines, in short not in continuity or not continuous. The talas in Tabla or in any other percussion instrument in classical music have Vibhagas to get a track of the beats on Matras on which the singer or player is singing or playing on. For example taking different talas,
Teentaal is the most common taal of Hindustani Classical Music, and is used for drut. It is symmetrical and presents a very simple rhythmic structure against which a performance can be laid. It is played on the Tabla as well as on other percussion instruments.
Tarana is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words and languages based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium or fast. It was invented by Amir Khusro, and is similar to the Qalbana form of Sufi poetry. In modern times, the tarana is most commonly associated with the singer Amir Khan, who helped popularize it and researched its origins and the syllables used. Nissar Hussain Khan was also well known for tarana singing. Tarana was also used by Sikh tenth Guru Gobind Singh in his compositions.
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, shastriya sangeet. Its origins date from the 12th century CE, when it diverged from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern regions of the Indian subcontinent.
A Tala, sometimes spelled Titi or Pipi, literally means a 'clap, tapping one's hand on one's arm, a musical measure'. It is the term used in Indian classical music similar to musical meter, that is any rhythmic beat or strike that measures musical time. The measure is typically established by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on thigh or the other hand, verbally, striking of small cymbals, or a percussion instrument in the Indian subcontinental traditions. Along with raga which forms the fabric of a melodic structure, the tala forms the life cycle and thereby constitutes one of the two foundational elements of Indian music.
Dhamar is one of the talas used in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is associated with the dhrupad style and typically played on the pakhawaj and also tabla.
The classical music of Afghanistan is called klasik, which includes both instrumental and vocal forms (ghazals). Many ustad, or professional musicians, are descended from Indian artists who emigrated to the royal court in Kabul in the 1860s upon the invitation of Amir Sher Ali Khan.
The pakhavaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, a variant and descendant of the older mridangam. The kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia is a distant relative of the pakhawaj and other South Asian double-headed drums.
A bol is a mnemonic syllable. It is used in Indian music to define the tala, or rhythmic pattern, and is one of the most important parts of Indian rhythm. Bol is derived from the Hindi word bolna, which means "to speak."
Rupak Tala or also known as Roopak Taal is a popular tala in Hindustani music that is common in Bhajans and Geets. It has seven matras (beats) in three vibhags (divisions). Unlike the popular Tintal, the vibhags of Rupak Tala are not of equal length. Also, both the khali and sam of Rupak Tala fall on the first matra.
Carnatic music terms are briefly described in this page. Major terms have their own separate article pages, while minor terms are defined / described here.
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya New Delhi is an institution established in 1939 to popularize Indian classical music and dance. The Mahavidyalaya (school) came into being to perpetuate the memory of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the great reviver of Hindustani classical music, and to keep up the ideals set down by him. The first Gandharva Mahavidyalaya was established by him on 5 May 1901 at Lahore. The New Delhi school follows the syllabi set by the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal.
Yakshagana Tala, is a rhythmical pattern in Yakshagana that is determined by a composition called Yakshagana Padya. Tala also decides how a composition is enacted by dancers. It is similar to Tala in other forms of Indian music, but is structurally different from them. Each composition is set to one or more talas, and as a composition is rendered by Himmela, the percussion artist(s) play supporting the dance performance. Tala is maintained by the singer using a pair of finger bells.
A tabla is a pair of twin hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, tabla has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as accompaniment with other instruments and vocals, and as a part of larger ensembles. Tabla is also frequently played in popular and folk music performances in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The tabla is also an important instrument in the bhakti devotional traditions of Hinduism and Sikhism, such as during bhajan and kirtan singing. It is one of the main qawali instrument used by Sufi musicians. Tabla also features in dance performances such as Kathak.
Borgeets are a collection of lyrical songs that are set to specific ragas but not necessarily to any tala. These songs, composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva in the 15th-16th centuries, are used to begin prayer services in monasteries, e.g. Satra and Namghar associated with the Ekasarana Dharma; and they also belong to the repertoire of Music of Meghalaya outside the religious context. They are a lyrical strain that express the religious sentiments of the poets reacting to different situations, and differ from other lyrics associated with the Ekasarana Dharma. Similar songs composed by others are not generally considered borgeets.