Tāl: Rhythmic time-cycle that repeats again and again.
Mātrā: Beat, Unit of measuring duration of a Tāl
Vibhāg: Division or section of a Tāl
Tāli: literally: ‘clap’. Used to show the accented beat in a Tāl.
Khāli: literally: ‘empty’. A blank beat, negative accent in a Tāl.
Bol: A Bol is a sound or syllable. Helps identify and recite rhythms.
Thekā: Thekā is the Tablā bol for a Tāl that repeats again and again
Ᾱvartan: One cycle of a Tāl
Sam: The first beat of a Tāl
Tatkār: . Basic footwork for a Tāl.
Lari: A chain of footwork patterns, ends with a tihāi
Laya: Laya means speed/tempo. Duration between beats determines Laya of a Tāl or a Tāl based composition.
1. Vilamvit laya - Meaning of vilamvit in English is delayed. In Vilamvit laya the music is played at a slower pace hence the speed of dance is very slow.
2. Madhya laya - Meaning of madhya in English is medium. In madhya laya, the music pace is little faster than vilamvit laya, hence the dance is also in a higher pace.Generally madhya laya is double the pace of vilamvit laya.
3. Drut laya - Meaning of drut in English is fast. In drut laya, the music pace is very fast hence the dance is also in a higher pace. Drut laya is double the pace of madhya laya.
Layakari :Kari means “to do”. Layakari is just the implementation of various Layas.
Types of Layakaris
Thah Laya :Playing one bol in each matra is the simplest of Layakaris. A certain Laya is fixed by the accomopanying singer or instrumentalist, and one bol is playeed for each matra.
Dugun Laya: Playing two bols in one matra is called Dugun. Whenever this is written in notation form, the bols are shown as clubbed together by drawing a line under them – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Tigun Laya: Playing three bols in one matra is tigun – 1 2 3 4 5 6
Chaugun Laya: Playing four bols in one matra is called chaugun – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Aad Laya: Aad is a specific layakari in which 1.5 bols are played in 1 matra – 1S2 S3S – (S means an empty bol.)
Kuaad Laya: Playing 5 bols in 4 matras – 1SSS2 SSS3S SS4SS S5SSS
Aad of Aad is Kuaad, i.e., 3/2 * 3/2 = 9/4.
1SSS2SSS3 SSS4SSS5S SS6SSS7SS S8SSS9SSS
Biaad Laya :Playing 7 bols in 4 matras is considered to be Biaad
1SSS2 S3SSS4S SS5SSS6 SSS7SSS
Parhant: Recitation of bols of a composition indicating beats of a Tāl.
Tukrā: A short dance composition -a group of bols or syllables. The most common tukra structure begins with an opening section (mukhra) followed by a tihai (a phrase repeated 3 times).
Torā: A longer dance composition -agroup of bols or syllables that starts and ends on sam.
Tihāi: A tihai is any phrase that is played 3 times in a row. In most cases, the phrase will end in dha and finish on sam, the 1 of the cycle.Occasionally they will end just before sam (anagat tihai) or just after sam (atit tihai).
Damdar Tihai :The most common category of tihai refers to whether or not there is a pause (rest) between the three repetitions. When there is a pause, it is called damdar (दमदार). Dam (दम) means "breath" or "moment".
Damdar Tihai in Teental: 16-beat cycle) with a one-beat pause between each repetition
Bedam Tihai: Where there is no pause between the repetitions, or a very short pause, it is called bedam . Bedam means “without breath”.
Chakkar: A spin. The Chakkar in Kathak is performed on the heel.
Gat Nikas: A composition describing the movement of a bird / animal/a human character/Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Gat Nikas, is commonly called Gat Vab.
Below is a short list of some of the more common bols used in traditional Benaras gharana tukras.
tirakiṭadhet – तिरकिटधेत्
dheradherakiṭataka – धेरधेरकिटतक
takiṭadha – तकिटधा
dhā-tirakiṭataka – धाऽतिरकिटतक
ghe-tirakiṭataka – घेऽतिरकिटतक
dhāgeteṭe – धागेतेटे
tāgeteṭe – तागेतेटे
nāgeteṭe – नागेतेटे
teṭekata – तेटेकत
gadigana – गदिगन
kiṭataka – किटतक
tirakiṭa – तिरकिट
takkṛān – तक्क्ड़ां
katadhā – कतधा
kradhā – क्रधा
taṛā–na – तड़ाऽन
dhā–nadhā – धाऽनधा
