Adi Tala for Bharatanatyam: 8 Aksharas and the Three Speeds

Short answer

Adi tala is a cycle of 8 aksharas, counted 4+2+2: one laghu of four, then two drutams of two. Written the way you say it: 1 2 3 4 | 5 6 | 7 8. The name means "primary rhythm", and it is the most common tala in Carnatic music, the system Bharatanatyam draws its rhythm from.

If you know a plain 8-count, the number is the same and the shape is not. Adi tala is not four pairs. It is one long group of four, then two short groups of two, and your hands mark each group differently.

How is adi tala counted?

The full Carnatic name is chaturasra-nade chaturasra-jati triputa tala. Wikipedia's page on adi tala says the tala "has eight aksharas, each being 4 svaras long". The jati, which sets the length of the laghu, is chaturasra, and chaturasra means four. That is why the laghu is four counts long.

The hand actions are called kriyas. Wikipedia's article on tala explains that Carnatic talas are shown with hand movements for each limb, with claps for beats and waves for empty sections. It describes the drutam as a downward clap followed by a second clap with the palm up. Count Studio's library marks the second count of each drutam as a wave, which is how many classes teach it, so follow your teacher's version and keep the 2+2 grouping the same.

Where do you hear adi tala in Bharatanatyam?

Often. Wikipedia notes that many kritis and around half of all varnams are set to adi tala, so if you dance a varnam, there is a good chance you are dancing to this tala. The rhythm syllables your teacher recites are called sollukattu, and they are fitted to the tala you are working in. Ask which tala and which kalam a given adavu is set to; it changes how you hold the count.

Dancers in other traditions count long cycles in groups too, not one count at a time. Kathak, for example, groups its 16-beat cycle with sam, tali and khali; there is a full explanation of how Kathak counts teentaal. Adi tala is the shorter cousin: eight counts, three groups, one clear place where the cycle starts again.

You can see all of the classical talas side by side in the Count Studio library of classical and folk counts.

What are the three speeds, kalams 1, 2 and 3?

The adavus of Bharatanatyam are traditionally practised in three speeds, according to Indian Dance: vilambita kala (slow), madhya kala (medium) and druta kala (fast). Dancers also call these the first, second and third kalam.

What changes? Not the tala. You still have 8 aksharas, grouped 4+2+2, with the same hand actions. What doubles at each speed is the number of syllables you fit into every akshara. In the Count Studio library, the sollukattu is "Tha ka dhi mi", four syllables, in chatusra nadai:

At kalam 1, each akshara gets one syllable of the pattern. At kalam 2 it gets two. At kalam 3, every akshara gets all four: Tha ka dhi mi, eight times in a cycle, 32 syllables in all. The beat your hand marks stays on the same akshara in all three. Only the syllables inside it speed up.

What mistakes do people make with adi tala?

• Counting 2+2+2+2. It is eight counts, but the first group is four. Say "1 2 3 4" before "5 6", and let the three finger counts tell you the laghu isn't over yet.
• Speeding up the tala instead of the syllables. Moving from kalam 1 to kalam 2 does not mean the cycle gets shorter. You pack more syllables into the same eight aksharas.
• Skipping the wave. The wave on the drutam tells you the cycle is about to turn. Drop it and you lose the sense of where the 5 and the 7 sit.
• Losing the start. The first akshara of the laghu is where every cycle begins and ends. Land on it and the rest follows.

How do you practise adi tala?

Start at kalam 1, with the beat, finger counts and wave, and say the count out loud: 1 2 3 4 | 5 6 | 7 8. Do not move to kalam 2 until you can stay on the 1 for ten cycles in a row. Then add the second syllable in each akshara, then the fourth. Keep the hands exactly where they were.

Count Studio has adi tala as its own count in the library, with its kriyas, and kalam 1 and kalam 2 as separate counts, so you can set the speed you are drilling and hear where each akshara falls. It is coming November 27 to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with no account and no tracking. Your music stays on your device.

Bottom line

Adi tala is 8 aksharas counted 4+2+2: a laghu of four and two drutams of two. Kalams 1, 2 and 3 are the same tala at one, two and four syllables per akshara. Learn the grouping and the hand actions first, and the speeds are just the same cycle packed tighter.