Teentaal
तीनताल
King of Talas
Also spelled: Teental, Tintal, Trital, Teen Taal
The most widely used sixteen-beat cycle, divided into four equal parts. It is the foundation of khayal singing.
16 Matras (beats)
4 Vibhags (divisions) 4 – 4 – 4 – 4
1, 5, 13 Taali (claps) on beats
9 Khali (wave) on beat
Theka
X = sam · 0 = khali · other numbers = taali, counted in order
Practise Teentaal on Tabla Online| Matra | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bol | धा | धिं | धिं | धा | धा | धिं | धिं | धा | धा | तिं | तिं | ता | ता | धिं | धिं | धा |
| Bol (Roman) | Dha | Dhin | Dhin | Dha | Dha | Dhin | Dhin | Dha | Dha | Tin | Tin | Ta | Ta | Dhin | Dhin | Dha |
| Sign | X | 2 | 0 | 3 |
How to recite it (kriya)
- 1 Beat 1 (sam): clap
- 2 Beats 2, 3, 4: count on the fingers (little → ring → middle)
- 3 Beat 5 (taali): clap
- 4 Beats 6, 7, 8: count on the fingers
- 5 Beat 9 (khali): wave the hand to the right
- 6 Beats 10, 11, 12: count on the fingers
- 7 Beat 13 (taali): clap
- 8 Beats 14, 15, 16: count on the fingers
Examined at
Learning this with a teacher
These pages will take you a long way on theory. The singing needs a guru — live online classes, one level at a time, with exam preparation built in.