Activities

• Counting Taal: As a class, sing and count through the seven taal that you practiced in Urmi Battu's video. There's a summary of the counts and hand gestures for the video here and in your anthology. 

• North Indian Rhythms: Work through the permutation exercise from Shawn Mativetsky's video in the pre-class materials, along with the tapping and waving Mativetsky demonstrates. The notation for the permutations demonstrated in the video is provided here. 

• The Jhaptal in Context 

  • • Review the structure of the Jhaptal.

    • Count along with Zakir Hussein on a tabla solo in this recording, using the tapping and waving gestures for the taal. 

    • Then, count along with Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Alla Rakha (tabla) here (starting at 3:30 in the video). Watch Ravi Shankar's hands as he helps you count along with the Jhaptal rhythm cycle. 

• Taal Dictation: 

  • • Listen to "Raag Bilaskhani Todi," performed by Pandit Kamalesh Maitra (on tabla tarang) and Trilok Gurtu (on tabla). 

      • • There's a recording available here. Play 7:52–8:07 from the track. 

    • In the recording, Maitra is performing on tabla tarang (a pitched tabla drum that provides the melody) while Gurtu performs on the tabla and provides the accompaniment. Your task is to transcribe the rhythm of the tabla tarang. 

    • On the first hearing, identify the meter and discuss as a class. Once you've settled on a meter, transcribe the rhythm. There are 8 bars total. 

    • Once your transcription is complete, clap and sing back your transcribed work. Then, sing through the theka for the taal.