Taal or Talam and Raga or Ragam in Indian Music – Class 6 Arts Chapter 8 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 6ArtsChapter 8NCERT book: Kriti - Arts Class 6

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 8 of the NCERT Class 6 Arts book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 8: Taal or Talam and Raga or Ragam in Indian Music (Music)

Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to understand the concepts of raga (melody) and rhythm (taal/talam) in North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic) classical music.

Key Ideas

Taal in Hindustani music

A taal is counted in matras (beats), grouped into vibhags (sections). Tali (clap) and khali (wave) mark the sections. The first matra is called sam.

Dadra taal — 6 matras, 2 vibhags; tali on matra 1, khali on matra 4.

Keharva taal — 8 matras, 2 vibhags; tali on matra 1, khali on matra 5.

Teen taal — 16 matras, 4 vibhags; tali on matras 1, 5 and 13, khali on matra 9.

- Bols: dha dhin dhin dha | dha dhin dhin dha | dha tin tin ta | ta dhin dhin dha

Talam in Carnatic music

Each talam has a fixed number of beats that repeats — the cycle is called an avartanam. The parts are called angams:

Laghu (|) — a clap followed by counting fingers; it can have 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9 beats. Its jaati depends on the count: tishra (3), chaturashra (4), khanda (5), mishra (7), sankeerna (9).

Dhrutam (O) — a clap followed by a wave; 2 beats.

Anudhrutam (U) — just a clap; 1 beat, used less often.

Examples:

Rupaka talam — one dhrutam + one laghu. Chaturashra jaati rupaka = 6 beats (2 + 4).

Adi talam — one laghu + two dhrutams = 8 beats (4 + 2 + 2).

Triputa tala (used in the geetam) — 7 beats, divided 3 + 2 + 2.

Two styles, shared ideas

Carnatic instruments: veena, violin, flute, nadaswaram, mridangam, ghatam, kanjira, morsing. Compositions are usually in Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil.

Hindustani instruments: tanpura, sitar, sarod, sarangi, santoor, tabla, pakhawaj. Songs are usually in Hindi, Sanskrit and Brijbhasha.

Matching terms: ragam–raga, arohanam–aroha, avarohanam–avaroha, gamakam–gamak, layam–laya.

Raga

A raga is based on a scale of swaras in ascending (aroha) and descending (avaroha) order — like a staircase of notes.

Decorating a scale with gamakas (ornamentations), repeated notes and special phrases makes it a raga.

Raga in Sanskrit means something that colours the mind. The emotional response a raga evokes is called rasa.

Jaatis of raga: 5 notes = audav, 6 notes = shadav, 7 notes = sampoorna.

Notation: a dot above a note = higher octave (taar saptak); a dot below = lower octave (mandra saptak); no dot = middle octave (madhya saptak).

Compositions are called bandish in Hindustani music and kriti in Carnatic music. A composition sung in sargam is a swaramalika.

Ragas in this chapter

Bhoop: S R G P D Ṡ / Ṡ D P G R S (five notes → audav).

Hamsadhwani: S R G P N Ṡ / Ṡ N P G R S.

Bilawal: S R G M P D N Ṡ / Ṡ N D P M G R S — the swaramalika is set to teentaal.

Yaman: the M is higher (teevra) than the regular M — this small change alters the mood. Its main mood is shringar (love). The bandish Aaj Bajaaii Kanha Bansuri describes Lord Krishna playing the flute.

Kalyani (Carnatic): same notes as Shankarabharanam except that its M is higher. The geetam Kamala Jaadala by Purandaradasa, in praise of Lord Vishnu, is set to triputa tala.

Activities

Learn raga Bhoop and Hamsadhwani scales.

Learn a swaramalika in raga Bilawal (teentaal).

Learn the bandish Aaj Bajaaii Kanha Bansuri and Guru Bin Kaise Gun Gaaye in raga Yaman.

Learn the geetam Kamala Jaadala in ragam Kalyani, and practise vocal warm-ups in Kalyani.

Key Terms

Taal / Talam — rhythmic cycle (ताल)

Matra — beat (मात्रा)

Vibhag — section of a taal (विभाग)

Sam — first beat of a taal (सम)

Tali / Khali — clap / wave (ताली / खाली)

Avartanam — one full cycle of a talam (आवर्तन)

Laghu, Dhrutam, Anudhrutam — parts (angams) of a talam (अंग)

Raga — melodic framework (राग)

Aroha / Avaroha — ascending / descending notes (आरोह / अवरोह)

Gamaka — ornamentation of a note (गमक)

Rasa — emotion a raga evokes (रस)

Bandish / Kriti — classical composition (बंदिश / कृति)

Saptak — octave (सप्तक)

Artists & Traditions Mentioned

Palghat Mani Iyer — mridangam maestro, Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padma Bhushan; first performed at age 10; trained under Thanjavur Sri Vaidyanatha Iyer; actively supported musical phrases on the mridangam; famous for his thani avartanams (solos).

Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande — developed the notation system in Hindustani music; a lawyer by profession; collected compositions in *Kramik Pustak Maalika* (six parts).

Trinity of Carnatic music — Tyagaraja (mudra: Tyagaraja; songs mostly praising Lord Rama), Muthuswami Dikshitar (mudra: Guruguha; Sanskrit scholar), Shyama Shastri (mudra: Shyama krishna; compositions on Goddess Kamakshi).

Common Mistakes

Mixing up Teen taal's tali (1, 5, 13) and khali (9).

Forgetting that the dhrutam has 2 beats and the anudhrutam 1.

Adding rupaka as 4 + 4 instead of 2 + 4 = 6.

Thinking a scale alone is a raga — a raga needs gamakas and characteristic phrases.

Let's Reflect

Clap Adi talam and Teen taal while counting aloud.

How does changing one note (like the higher M in Yaman or Kalyani) change a raga's mood?

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Hindustani taals are counted in matras and vibhags with tali and khali; the first matra is sam
✓Teen taal has 16 matras with tali on 1, 5, 13 and khali on 9; Dadra has 6 matras and Keharva 8
✓Carnatic talams are built from laghu, dhrutam (2 beats) and anudhrutam (1 beat); Adi talam has 8 beats and chaturashra rupaka has 6
✓A raga is a scale with aroha and avaroha decorated with gamakas; raga means 'that which colours the mind' and evokes rasa
✓Ragas with 5, 6 and 7 notes are audav, shadav and sampoorna jaati

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Have the whole class clap and wave Teen taal while saying the bols aloud
→Compare Adi talam and Keharva — both have 8 beats but are counted differently
→Draw a 'staircase of notes' on the board to explain aroha and avaroha
→Sing Bilawal and then Yaman to let students hear how a higher M changes the mood
→Use a tanpura app to give a steady drone while students practise swaras
→Let groups count the notes in Bhoop and Hamsadhwani to find their jaati
→Pair Hindustani and Carnatic terms (raga–ragam, aroha–arohanam) in a matching game

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the student state the matras, tali and khali of Teen taal?
Can the student explain laghu, dhrutam and anudhrutam and count Adi talam?
Can the student explain aroha, avaroha and jaati of a raga?
Can the student name the trinity of Carnatic music and one fact about each?
Can the student sing a simple swaramalika or geetam with correct rhythm?

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