The Hand of Tal

A great question was ask by our tabla khula kinfolk, Taylor Johnson about the incredible hand calculating tool for figuring out special rhythmic phrases that repeat 3 times (tihais) within a specific time cycle. This tool is called the HAND OF TAL that our beloved teacher Tyji taught us.

First and explaination of the mechanics of counting beats using our fingers and thumb. First of all take a look at your hand, palm up. Notice that each finger can be divided into 4 segments. One way is by counting the spaces between the joints, making the space below the first crease the first space. Or you can count each joint and the tip of the finger making 4.

These segments can denote a specific number of beats or spaces between beats  called (matra).

Using this method now gives us 4 beats per finger making a grand total of 16 beats for all 4 fingers. Now take our dear old friend tintal and insert your hand into the mix and BINGO CHANGEO PRESTO tintal fits like a glove into your hand abacus calculator. 16 beat time cycle=16 segments/creases of your hand. Tintal is divided into 4, 4 beat segments, each stanza or beat grouping of the tal is called a (VIBHAG), you have 4 vibhags in tintal. This happens to work out to each finger being a stanza

(VIBHAG).

pinky==Dha Dhin Dhin Dha 1234 or Tyji shorthand DDIDID
ring==Dha Dhin DhinDha 1234 or Thyji shorthand DDIDID
middle==DhaTinTinNa 1234 or Tyji shorthand DTITIN
index==NaDhinDhinDha 1234 or Tyji shorthand NDIDID

Now the first thing you need to do is recite tintal about a billion light years while taking the thumb and pointing to each segment from bottom to top of each finger going from pinky to index finger (some musicians begin at the index and work their way to the pinky, I tell ya some people always gotta break the norm). So if you are doing this correctly, you will land with the tip of your thumb upon the second Tin of tintal on the 3rd segment from the bottom of your middle finger, or one segment short from the top of your middle finger. The first beat of the time cycle (SUM) will be the bottom of your pinky and the last beat #16 will be the tip segment of your index.

Once you have this counting with your hand mastered then we can begin to calculate many interesting rhythmic expressions. One small rhythmic expression is phrase that repeats itself 3 times evenly within the time cycle and resolves on the last beat of the pattern on the first beat of the time cycle (Sum). This 3 beat repeating phrase is called a (tihai...ti meaning 3).Now we will delve into THE HAND OF TAL. First each finger segment is assigned a MAGIC number. The thumb does a funny thing for this...instead of just counting when you tap, you are going to count when the thumb is above in the air . Much like the thumb is on a trampoline. The space between the first tap, the up in the air, and the second tap is evenly divided in our space time continume. This is taking 1 beat and subdividing it in half. So the first tap will be 1 the up in the air is two and the next tap will be 3. This would make our finger counting turn into 32 instead of just 16 for the entire cycle of tintal. It's important to feel the up and down motion of the thumb, as if the thumb is a ball bouncing off one wall and hitting another.

Now the MAGIC numbers assigned to each finger segment and what they mean.
Dha =6.0 Dhin=5.2 Dhin=5.1 Dha=5.0
Dha=4.2 Dhin=4.1 Dhin=4.0 Dha=3.2
Dha=3.1 Tin=3.0 Tin=2.2 Na=2.1

Na=2.0 Dhin=1.2 Dhin=1.1 Dha=1.0

The first number denotes the legnth of the pattern played and the number after the . denotes the amount of 1/2 gap spaces counted between the patterns when repeated. For example here is a very simple 6 beat patten NaNaNaNaNaDha if the MAGIC number is 6.o this means there is no gap between the pattern repeated. (.0)=No gap meaning=no 1/2 beat subdivisions at all. So the pattern would be played the first time landing upon each finger, then upon the 6th beat the pattern would begin again upon the up in the air beat. This would create a pattern that alternates itself on the down beat (finger tap) upbeat (thumb in air) then on the down beat once more.
NNNNNDNNNNNDNNNNND go ahead and give it a try!
If the MAGIC number is 5.2, this means there will be 2, 1/2 gap rests between the pattern
NNNND 1/2 gap 1/2 gap NNNND 1/2 gap 1/2gap NNNND...with the last D ending on Sum.
Here's how the above pattern would look in relation to tintal.
Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
rest Na Na Na
Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
Na Dha 1/2 1/2 Na Na
Dha Tin Tin Na
Na Na Dha 1/2 1/2
Na Dhin Dhin Dha Sum
Na Na Na Na Dha!
Notice how the pattern when repeated the second time does not align with tintal, that is because it is played up in the air (the up beat).
Now go ahead and try this tihai, then give it a whirl for the other MAGIC NUMBERS. If your really feeling like an master Indian musician (Ustad), make up some patterns and insert it into this formula.

Soon I'll be inserting into this blog a video demonstrating the HAND OF TAL.