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INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS SOLKAṬṬU?

India’s classical music entered American and European popular culture in the late 1950s and early 1960s through performances of Hindustani (North Indian classical) music by sitarist Ravi Shankar and sarodist Ali Akbar Khan. These great musicians performed with tabla players who dazzled American and European audiences by alternately playing and vocalizing intricate percussion patterns during their solo passages. Musicians and non-musicians alike were amazed that these drummers could voice such precise patterns at blazing speed, and play them with equal precision on their drums. And they appeared to be enjoying themselves enormously.

Indian music enjoyed a surge of popularity in the West during this period, and Karnatak (South Indian classical) musicians joined their northern cousins at festivals and on concert tours. It became clear that spoken rhythm patterns were not just North Indian; apparently all Indian drummers could speak what they played.

It was not long before European and American musicians and students began to seek out teachers from whom they could learn the sophisticated rhythms that were delighting them in the concerts. And soon colleges and universities in the West were incorporating “world music” into their curricula, bringing visiting artists from India, Africa, and Indonesia to teach their music.

For many young musicians, looking beyond Europe and America for musical information and inspiration meant going to Asia and Africa for direct contact with the source. As one of these musical pilgrims, I traveled to Madurai, in the heart of Tamil Nadu, India, during a year-abroad program in 1970 under the aegis of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. There I began my study of the mrdangam, South Indian music’s principal percussion instrument. In my very first lesson under the legendary court musician and teacher C. S. Sankarasivam, I was introduced to the rhythm language, called solkaṭṭu, that is the subject of this book.

The Tamil word solkaṭṭu means “words bound together,” which is an elegant definition. The “words” are more or less percussive-sounding single syllables, nearly all of which begin with consonants. They are “bound together” on two levels: first, into combinations that comprise phrases, for example ta ka di mi. The phrases are then combined into larger patterns and designs bound together by meters, called tāḷa. These cyclic meters are counted by recurring sets of hand gestures: claps, waves, and finger counts. Speaking such patterns while counting a tāḷa with the hands is solkaṭṭu.

While a detailed account of tāḷa is not necessary for this introduction to solkaṭṭu, it will be helpful to know what a tāḷa is (and is not). I have been using the word meter as an English equivalent in this introduction. In a broad sense, meter is a useful translation for tāḷa; each is cyclic and regular, and each can exist within a range of tempi. But there are two differences. First, a tāḷa lacks the internal accent structure that characterizes meters in Western music. For example, 3/4 meter carries the following accent structure:

strong weak weak strong weak weak

A corresponding three-beat tāḷa, tiśra jāti ēka tāḷa, is counted with the palm and fingers of one hand against the other:

clap, pinky finger, ring finger, clap, pinky finger, ring finger

But there is no implied accent, even on the clapped first beat. Rhythmic accents in Karnatak music are generated by musical phrases and the processes applied to them. The first lessons in this book will demonstrate this point.

Next, a tāḷa can be much longer than any Western meter. Many of the tāḷas in the scheme of thirty-five described below are quite long; the longest cycle is twenty-nine beats. At the slow end of the possible range of tempi, about thirty beats per minute, one cycle of this tāḷa takes nearly a minute, which is an extremely long time by the standards of Western music.

Uses of Solkaṭṭu in South Indian Music

The patterns and designs of any Karnatak music that makes use of tāḷa can be expressed in solkaṭṭu. In other words, whether a passage is sung, played, danced, or drummed in a meter, its underlying rhythmic pattern can be spoken in syllables along with the particular tāḷa’s hand gestures. Let us look at three ways solkaṭṭu is used in Karnatak music: in drumming; in bharata nāṭyam, or classical dance; and as a compositional and analytic tool for singers and melodic instrumentalists.

SOLKAṬṬU IN KARNATAK DRUMMING

As I said earlier, I was introduced to solkaṭṭu in my first mrdangam lesson. Each stroke on the drum had a corresponding spoken syllable; the first four were ta, di, tom, and nam. The first lessons progressed by inserting other syllables among these four in order to build longer patterns bounded by the original four syllables:

ta - ki ṭa

di - ki ṭa

tom - ki ṭa

nam - ki ṭa, then

ta - ki ṭa ta ka

di - ki ṭa ta ka

tom - ki ṭa ta ka

nam - ki ṭa ta ka, and so on

My teacher taught each new pattern first with the syllables, his hands clapping a simple, regular beat. Once I understood the spoken pattern, he showed me the corresponding strokes on the mrdangam. After the beginning exercises, every pattern was in a particular tāḷa. Although there was never a one-to-one correspondence of syllable with stroke, over time the relationship between the two became clear.

The arrangement of strokes and the arrangement of syllables are parallel: the former follows a logic of the hand, while the latter follows a logic of spoken sound. In other words, played patterns are designed so that the fingers can execute them deftly. Spoken patterns are designed so that they can be voiced with equal dexterity. Throughout my training, I learned literally everything in two forms, spoken and played.

All of the Karnatak percussion instruments are taught in this manner. Some drummers become so expert in reciting solkaṭṭu that they perform it in their concerts, either during their solos, like the tabla players that amazed us in the early days, or as secondary percussionists in a performance ensemble. Solkaṭṭu performed in a concert setting is called konakkol.

SOLKAṬṬU IN BHARATA NĀṬYAM

South India’s classical dance, bharata nāṭyam, uses solkaṭṭu in several different ways to create a rich rhythmic texture. First, dancers learn their movement patterns, called aḍavu, using spoken patterns in very much the same way as drummers, though with somewhat different sets of syllables. A particular phrase, spoken with the tāḷa, indicates a corresponding set of foot and hand movements.

These movement patterns are arranged into set compositions, called jati and tīrmanam, that are accompanied by an ensemble of musicians. The ensemble includes a naṭṭuvanar, or dance master, who accompanies some of the jati and tīrmanam by speaking corresponding compositions in solkaṭṭu while playing the aḍavu pattern on a set of hand cymbals. The naṭṭuvanar uses yet another set of syllables, similar to those used by drummers. The solkaṭṭu composition performed by the dance master often creates rhythmic tension with the aḍavu pattern, though the two begin and end together.

The dance ensemble also includes a singer and a mrdangam player. If we keep in mind that any pattern sung or played in a tāḷa can be represented by solkaṭṭu, a bharata nāṭyam tīrmanam comprises five such layers: the song text, the naṭṭuvanar’s voice and cymbal patterns, the dancer’s footwork, and the mrdangam strokes.

SOLKAṬṬU IN MELODIC COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

Singers and instrumental players of Karnatak music borrow rhythmic designs from drummers for use in their svara kalpana improvisation. This kind of improvisation uses the Indian solfege syllables sa ri ga ma pa da ni to create melodic passages that resolve at a specific point within a particular song. Many musicians end such improvised passages with rhythmic designs that they have learned and practiced ahead of time. These designs, called mōrā and kōrvai, are worked out using solkaṭṭu before their melodies are set.

In addition, a melodic musician who finds any musical passage rhythmically challenging is likely to work it out in rhythmic syllables before attempting to sing or play it. The vocabulary of syllables and patterns that melodic musicians use is not as rich or detailed as those used by drummers and dance masters, but this use of solkaṭṭu has perhaps the broadest implications. Musicians who use solkaṭṭu to solve problematic passages take this expressive rhythmic language out of the realm of drum and dance syllables and into the world of general rhythmic analysis and training.

Solkaṭṭu, then, pervades every aspect of metered Karnatak music, which is among the most rhythmically sophisticated of the world’s music systems. It is also a powerful tool for developing a strong sense of well-organized rhythm in nearly any form of music, as the rest of this book will demonstrate.

Why Study Solkaṭṭu?

It may be surprising to find out that such a valuable method for rhythm training is not taught on its own in India. Drummers, dancers, and melodic musicians learn whatever aspects of solkaṭṭu are appropriate for their respective disciplines, and musicians intuitively adapt it for their own analytic uses. There is really no need for a separate course in solkaṭṭu.

But in the West, many musicians and composers have become interested in the rhythmic intricacy of Indian music. Most of these musicians do not have the time or inclination to take up a full study of Indian music or dance. For them, a separate course in solkaṭṭu is an ideal way to learn the rhythms of Indian music without having to take on a new musical instrument or technique. In addition, many teachers of basic musicianship have become interested in the elegance and effectiveness of solkaṭṭu as a method for training in fundamental rhythmic skills. This interest is largely due to three of solkaṭṭu’s most important attributes: the physical confidence it develops, its portability, and its inherent musicality.

PHYSICAL CONFIDENCE

Solkaṭṭu binds spoken material together within the metric context called tāḷa, which is counted by recurrent patterns of hand gestures. Since the same person is speaking patterns and counting tāḷa, this binding together is a somatic, kinesthetic experience; it all happens within the same body. The relationship between the phrases and the tāḷa is either accurate or not: if so, there is a feeling of confidence; if not, the musician knows immediately that something is awry and can move to correct it. Over time, one learns to trust this bodily knowledge. As the coordination of voice and hand becomes a matter of muscle memory, musicians find that they are able to learn challenging rhythms more and more quickly.

PORTABILITY

Solkaṭṭu requires no instrument for practice or performance. One can practice anywhere—in one’s room, on a train, in line at the bank—while doing anything—walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. Obviously, the tāḷa gestures and syllables must be performed without disturbing others or drawing unnecessary attention to the practicer. But this portability makes it possible to call a pattern or exercise to mind virtually anywhere. My solkaṭṭu course is usually taught in the spring, and I often see students walking along on warm April days, apparently talking to themselves. A closer look often reveals the telltale signs of impromptu solkaṭṭu practice: the mouth moving slightly, a hand beating time on the thigh, and a faraway look in the eyes.

INHERENT MUSICALITY

Solkaṭṭu always includes spoken phrases within a tāḷa; there is never a situation in which something happens in a tāḷa that cannot be spoken by a musical phrase. Consider the usual method of counting sixteenth notes in 4/4 time:

one e and a two e and a three e and a four e and a

Here numbers demonstrate the rhythm; there is no specific musical content involved. This may be called abstract, or meter-centered, counting.

The same number of syllables may be counted within the same number of beats in a four-beat tāḷa, as follows. Touch the palm and fingers of one hand against the other:

clap, pinky, ring, middle

Instead of counting in numbers, a Karnatak musician uses syllables, four for each beat, as follows:

clap	pinky	ring	middle
ta ka di mi	ta ka di mi	ta ka di mi	ta ka di mi

This is an example of a phrase-centered approach to counting. Karnatak musicians virtually never count in numbers, even when marking rests, but in syllables. The inherent musicality of using phrases instead of numbers for counting makes solkaṭṭu immediately approachable for students. Previously exotic-sounding syllables and phrases quickly take on concrete musical meaning. Rhythm training, which can be dry and abstract, is suddenly accessible and fun.

Sources of Syllables and Tāḷas

Information about solkaṭṭu syllables and tāḷas comes from two intertwined sources: the unwritten legacy passed along from teacher to student through at least two millennia of Indian music, including more than ten thousand Karnatak songs, and the treatises written by musicologists and music theoreticians during the same period. These two sources are not always easily separated. A treatise is usually based on the performance practice of a given period and often represents an attempt to codify it. To the extent that it succeeds, it may in turn actually influence performance practice.

SYLLABLES

Our main source regarding the syllables is the teaching lineage itself, specifically that of the mrdangam and other percussion instruments. Spoken syllables, including the first four mentioned above, ta, di, tom, and nam, are the beginning of any mrdangam student’s training. They also appear in the Nāṭyaśāstra (ca. 200 BCE–200 CE) and other treatises.

Indian writers on music have largely ignored the subject of drumming, and non-Indian writers on Indian drumming have, until recently, reduced the place of spoken rhythmic syllables to the role of “drum syllables,” mnemonic devices meant to imitate the sounds produced on the mrdangam, tavil, and other percussion instruments. But as Douglass Fugan Dineen pointed out in his 2005 M.A. thesis from Wesleyan University (“At Home and Abroad: An Investigation of Solkaṭṭu in Karnatak and Non-Karnatak Contexts”), the Karnatak tradition has never limited the use of syllables to drumming. All Karnatak musicians and dancers use them.

The vocabulary of syllables in this text comes from my study of the mrdangam under ­T. Ranganathan (1925–1987), himself a disciple of Palani Sri M. Subramania Pillai (1908–1962). Sri Ranganathan’s teaching career in the United States spanned more than twenty years at Wesleyan University and the California Institute of the Arts. I was his student at both schools and served as his teaching apprentice during my residency as a Ph.D. candidate at Wesleyan from 1980 to 1983. It was at these two institutions that Ranganathan first taught solkaṭṭu as a subject separate from drumming. My vocabulary of syllables has also been influenced by more than six years of teaching solkaṭṭu at Wesleyan.

TĀḶAS

Our sources regarding tāḷas are more convoluted. The biggest difficulty in tracing the practical history of tāḷa is the lack of written music; Indian music has always been an oral tradition. The earliest writings about Indian music, beginning with the Nāṭyaśāstra, describe tāḷas as sets of hand gestures. From the thirteenth century on, tāḷas seem to have been cyclic. The best sources from the history of performance practice are the songs that form the repertoire of Karnatak music and the pedagogical exercises teachers use to prepare students to learn them. We can gather from these that tāḷas have been used as regular, cyclic meters since at least the sixteenth century.

For the last hundred years or so, conventional wisdom has assumed the existence of thirty-five tāḷas, although no one seems to know who originated them. A group of seven tāḷa structures (sets of hand gestures) is typically presented as the suladi sapta tāḷas. Each of these includes at least one laghu, a tāḷa segment made up of a clap and finger counts. By allowing five different durations for the laghu (four, three, seven, five, and nine beats, using the traditional order), each of these seven can have five possible beat totals, for a total of thirty-five. According to the noted music scholar N. Ramanathan (personal communication, 2006), the thirty-five-tāḷa scheme first appeared in “Oriental Music in Western Notation,” a journal written by A. M. Chinnaswamy Mudaliar in 1893. Since that time a table of thirty-five tāḷas may be seen in nearly every book on South Indian music and need not be reproduced in this introductory text.

The main body of material here is in the eight-beat cycle ādi tāḷa, which occurs among the thirty-five as caturaśra jāti tripuṭa tāḷa. The name ādi (Sanskrit: ancient, primordial) suggests that this meter has importance beyond its existence as one among five possibilities for tripuṭa tāḷa, one of the suladi sapta tāḷas mentioned above. Indeed, more than 80 percent of the songs in the Karnatak music repertoire are composed in this tāḷa, and the bulk of any mrdangam student’s training is in this dominant meter.

While the thirty-five-tāḷa scheme is preeminent in writings on Karnatak music, modern performance practice tells a different story. Ādi tāḷa is the only one of the four most commonly performed tāḷas that is represented among the thirty-five. The others, rūpaka (three beats), miśra cāpu (seven beats), and khaṇḍa cāpu (five beats), are counted by means of simple claps and waves and omit the laghu (clap plus finger counts) that makes the thirty-five-tāḷa scheme possible. The three principal composers of Karnatak music, Tyagaraja (1767–1847), Muttuswami Diksitar (1775–1835), and Syama Sastri (1762–1827), composed their songs mainly in these four meters; they used only a few tāḷas out of the thirty-five. But as I said above, musicological writings can influence performance practice, and this has been the case with the thirty-five-tāḷa scheme. Some teachers use them for composing voice and instrumental exercises, and many musicians use them for composing the brief, challenging pieces known as pallavi. I have used the simplest tāḷa in the scheme, ēka, which consists of a solitary laghu, in its five possible values to compose exercises for this book.

Solkaṭṭu, then, is a real-time, embodied rhythmic notation that can be a powerful and enjoyable tool in rhythm training. The lessons in this book begin with fundamental exercises designed to build rhythmic skills in the simplest Karnatak tāḷa. The next lessons develop two core concepts of Karnatak rhythm, flow and design, and add advanced exercises in three more tāḷas. The largest section, entirely in ādi tāḷa, generates a range of possible percussion solo and ensemble pieces in the modern Karnatak idiom. A glossary and pronunciation guide accompanies each section. The material in this book will develop and strengthen one’s sense of rhythm in energetic and fascinating ways while providing a personal, palpable appreciation of the Indian musicians whose command of musical time has mesmerized and delighted us for the last half-century.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE LESSONS

These lessons are designed to build a practical understanding of rhythm in South Indian music from the ground up and assume no previous exposure to Karnatak music. Because solkaṭṭu is not taught as a separate subject in India, there is no pedagogical paradigm to guide a beginner. I have spent two decades refining my own teaching method, however, which is aimed at American musicians and college students. What follows is a brief outline of my method as presented in this book.

Part I: Tiśra Jāti Ēka Tāḷa

The first series of lessons is in the deceptively simple three-beat cycle tiśra jāti ēka tāḷa, the shortest in the thirty-five-tāḷa scheme. A three-syllable pattern introduces a fundamental process, the trikāla (three speeds), and seven related exercises.

The second series of lessons in tiśra jāti ēka tāḷa combines patterns from the first series into phrases. These phrases are arranged into a rudimentary rhythmic composition, ending with a simple mōrā (ending design), along with an explanation of the mōrā form. Two core concepts, flow (sarvalaghu) and design (kaṇakku), are introduced.

Mōrā series 1 uses the mōrā that ended the second series composition to develop a further series of six mōrās, designed to be performed in sequence. This series includes allowable exceptions to the mōrā form, as defined in the previous section.

Mōrā series 2 develops another series of mōrās using a different principle of expansion.

Part II: Exercise Mōrās

This series of thirteen mōrās in four tāḷas is designed to develop two areas of strength. First, it introduces persistent offbeat accents and includes practice strategies for mastering them. Second, since the mōrās themselves are substantially more complex than those in the previous section, it develops a more highly developed sense of form and rhythmic design.

Part III: Ādi Tāḷa Lessons

The main section of this book follows a typical mrdangam student’s training in Karnatak music’s predominant tāḷa. These lessons take the form of a tani āvartanam, the percussion solo included in every concert. They begin with a series of mōrās that introduces the notion of the compound mōrā. Subsequent lessons include other types of Karnatak rhythmic design, such as kōrvai and koraippu, as well as sections that shift the internal pulse of each beat from four to three and five. The ādi tāḷa lessons conclude with a stylized ending section characteristic of the tani āvartanam.

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

The concluding section provides a written account of three pieces made from the ādi tāḷa lessons. These pieces, included on the accompanying video, are examples of how the student might arrange the material for his or her own needs.

Video Examples and Notation

Throughout the text are links to the 150 examples found on the accompanying video at www.wesleyan.edu/wespress/solkattu. These are indicated by numeric codes in bold type, such as (01-001). The two-digit prefix refers to the chapter number, while the three-digit number refers to the example itself. The bold letter “N” following one of these numbers indicates that there is also notation for it.

I use minimal notation in my courses, mainly as a jog to the memory. For the sake of convenience I have provided notation, in tāḷa and syllables, for eighty-eight of the exercises and patterns in this book. The notation should be used as a reference, not as a primary means of learning the material. Once a piece has been memorized, the notation will have served its purpose.

Some readers will be tempted to represent material in this book in staff notation. While I will not say it is wrong to do this, I find it at best culturally dissonant and at worst misleading. In any case, the syllable/tāḷa notation in this book, supported by exhaustive video examples, should make it unnecessary.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book may be used in several ways. An interested individual could certainly use it for self-training, as could a group of musicians. I have successfully used this method with classes of up to twenty students. Here are some suggestions, section by section. Perhaps the most important suggestion is to enjoy the process. Solkaṭṭu should be fun!

Part I: Tiśra Jāti Ēka Tāḷa

CHAPTER 1: LESSONS, FIRST SERIES

The entire first section is designed for beginners, not just in Indian rhythm studies but in general rhythm studies. I have used it in entry-level music courses with great success. The exercises are supported by clear, detailed notation and video examples. These are truly fundamental lessons; they should be taught, practiced, and mastered with great care. Every subsequent lesson is built on the foundation established by these lessons. Once they have been mastered using the original three-note phrase, they should be repeated with each of the substitute phrases, until any of them can be performed on demand.

CHAPTERS 2–4: LESSONS, SECOND SERIES, AND MŌRĀ SERIES 1 AND 2

Each student should learn to perform both series according to the instructions. Again, the notation and video support will be extremely helpful. Students should learn to perform this material without looking at the notation. Remember that Karnatak music is an oral tradition.

Once each student has mastered every mōrā, they can be performed in turn by a group of musicians. The group can recite the main body of the composition, using the mōrās as small solos for individual students.

Part II: Exercise Mōrās

CHAPTER 5

These mōrās should be learned and mastered one at a time. I use an exercise mōrā at the beginning of each class session as a kind of tune-up; first the group performs it together, then each student performs it in turn. Once everybody has a good command of a particular exercise mōrā, we go on to the next one. I recommend doing all four versions of exercise mōrā 1 before going on to the others. Do only the mōrās that can be handled comfortably; there is no reason to do them all. On the other hand, if the group breezes through them, feel free to make up variations.

Part III: Ādi Tāḷa Lessons

Chapters 6–12

I strongly recommend that all members of the class or group work through all of the versions and variations of each mōrā, kōrvai, and koraippu pattern in this part of the book. This will reinforce the important point that the material is extremely flexible and can appear in any of the forms presented. Naturally, when it comes to performing the full composition, parts and variations will be assigned and practiced, and the performance order will be set. But this should be delayed as long as possible. In addition to the video examples of each lesson, chapter 12, “Putting It All Together,” provides three examples of performance pieces for groups of varying sizes. Feel free to experiment.

Pronunciation

Two different types of pronunciation guide are used in this book. The first concerns Sanskrit and Tamil words; the second, the solkaṭṭu syllables. This pronunciation guide applies to the former—pronunciation of the syllables will be handled on a case-by-case basis throughout the text:

vowels may be short—a (opera, cinema), e (pet), i (tip), o (porch), u (put)—or long—ā (blah), ē (say), ī (tee), ō (blow), ū (tool)

consonants t and d are dental, pronounced with the tongue flat against the top teeth

consonants with dots underneath, ḍ, ṭ, ḷ, ṇ, are retroflex, pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled against the roof of the mouth, as if a liquid “r” preceded them: bird, curt, snarling, corn

ś sounds like flash, s sounds like dust, not music

r is like the single Spanish r, in which the tongue bounces once off the roof of the mouth, not like the liquid American row

j and g sound like jog

c sounds like church

Accents in Sanskrit and Tamil words are functions of long and short syllables. If all the vowels in a word are short, the syllables are pronounced with equal weight, for example sol-kaṭ-ṭu, not SOL-kaṭ-ṭu or sol-KAṬ-ṭu. A long vowel in a word generates an accent, for example TĀ-ḷa, san-KĪR-ṇa. Most of the non-English words in this text can be sounded out using this scheme. One exception is the Sanskrit caturaśra, which most Tamil-speaking Karnatak musicians pronounce as cha-TOOSH-ra or cha-TOOS-ra. The following glossary includes approximate pronunciations and definitions for the non-English terms used in this introduction.

GLOSSARY

aḍavu (ah-dah-voo): A basic movement pattern in bharata nāṭyam.

ādi tāḷa (AH-dee TAH-la): The predominant tāḷa in Karnatak music. Its eight beats are counted with a four-beat laghu and two drutams (clap and wave).

bharata nāṭyam (ba-ra-ta NOT-yum): South India’s classical dance.

caturaśra jāti (cha-TOOSH-ra JAH-tee): The family of four-beat rhythms. Also, when referring to the laghu, four beats.

ēka tāḷa (ACHE-a TAH-la): A tāḷa made up of a single clap and finger counts (laghu).

Hindustani (hin-du-STAH-nee): The classical music of North India.

jati (jetty): Patterns of hand and foot movements in bharata nāṭyam.

kaṇakku (kah-na-kuh): “Calculation.” Rhythmic figures that create tension within the tāḷa they are designed to fit.

Karnatak (kar-NAH-tuck): The classical music of South India.

khaṇḍa cāpu tāḷa (con-da CHA-poo TAH-la): A five-beat tāḷa counted with claps on the first, third, and fourth beats.

konakkol (koe-nock-coal): Solkaṭṭu performed in a concert setting.

koraippu (ko-rye-pooh): “Reduction.” A section of the tani āvartanam in which drummers trade progressively shorter groups of phrases.

kōrvai (CORE-way): A complex rhythmic design, ending with a mōrā.

laghu (la-goo): A tāḷa component, comprising a clap and finger counts.

meter: A regular arrangement of musical time.

miśra cāpu tāḷa (mish-ra CHA-poo TAH-la): A seven-beat tāḷa counted with claps on the first, fourth, and sixth beats.

mōrā (moe-rah): A rhythmic ending figure.

mrdangam (mri-dun-gum): The barrel-shaped, two-headed drum used to accompany Karnatak music.

naṭṭuvanar (not-two-vun-ahr): The dance master in a bharata nāṭyam ensemble.

Nāṭyaśāstra (NOT-ya-SHOSS-tra): The earliest known writing on Indian music, attributed to Bharata, 200 BCE–200 CE.

pallavi (pa-la-vee): In this text, a brief, rhythmically challenging song form designed for virtuosic improvisation. NB: The same word is used for the first section of the kriti, Karnatak music’s main song form.

rūpaka tāḷa (ROO-pa-ka TAH-la): A three-beat tāḷa counted clap clap wave.

sarvalaghu (sar-va-la-goo): In general, rhythm patterns that carry the flow of musical time.

solkaṭṭu (soul-cut-two): The South Indian system of spoken syllables along with the hand gestures of a tāḷa.

suladi sapta tāḷa (soo-la-dee sup-ta TAH-la): A group of seven basic tāḷa structures, each of which can have five possible durations.

svara kalpana (sva-ra kal-pa-na): A form of melodic improvisation using solfege syllables.

tabla (tub-la): The pair of drums used to accompany Hindustani music.

tāḷa (TAH-la): A meter in Karnatak music, counted by recurring sets of hand gestures.

tani āvartanam (ta-nee AH-var-ta-num): The percussion solo in a Karnatak music concert.

tavil (tah-vill): An important percussion instrument in Karnatak music.

tīrmanam (TIER-ma-nam): A set composition in bharata nāṭyam, accompanied by solkaṭṭu.

tiśra jāti (tish-ra JAH-tee): The family of three-beat rhythms. Also, when referring to the laghu, three beats.

trikāla (tree-KAH-la): “Three speeds.” A fundamental rhythmic process in Karnatak music.

tripuṭa tāḷa (tri-poo-tah TAH-la): One of the suladi sapta tāḷas. Its structure is one laghu and two drutams (clap and wave).