Chakradar Forms

Introduction to Chakradar Forms

In the following sections, we’ll look at a number of different chakradar forms, including traditional chakradar tukras, and chakradars made from different kinds of compositions (kayda, mukhra, etc.).

The details of these forms are mostly for tabla students, percussion aficionados, or music nerds who might be curious about exactly how a 113-beat chakradar is constructed.

Most listeners will happily skip these sections. However, I recommend you at least look at the Simple Chakradar form. You don’t need to understand all the details, but you should have a basic idea of how chakradars are put together, as they are common on both sides of the music, melody and tabla.

About the Traditional Chakradar Forms

Chakradars come in many different forms and styles, but there are some traditional forms which are learned by most tabla students. We’ll look at 5 of them in the following sections:

These five forms are discussed in Chhotelal Misra’s books, and are commonly taught in most gharanas. However, there may be some differences among players as to their names, structures, or requirements.

All of these chakradar forms are in tintal. Example of chakradars in different tals can be found in the Compositions section.

Form means structure

When we talk about the form of a chakradar, we are talking about its general structure:

  • Length of the chakradar (number of matras and number of avartans)
  • Length of each repetition
  • Length of the mukhra
  • Length of the tihai
  • Length of pause between repetitions

The five forms we will look at all have different structures. And in the cases of the Farmaishi and Kamali chakradars, the exact placement of the dhas in the tihai is also part of the form.

Chakradar forms may have different internal structures

Most chakradar forms allow for different internal structures, or variations. They may keep the same outer form (length of chakradar and approximate length of repetition), but have very different mukhra-tihai structures.

In this way, these forms are not fixed or "official". You can think of them as templates that can be adapted to many different internal structures and styles. However, two of the forms we will look at, the Farmaishi and Kamali, have specific internal structures which must be kept.

Chakradar Mathematics

The chakradar is one of the forms of classical tabla where tabla players regularly use mathematics. They might do this to calculate where a chakradar will begin and end, how long each repetition is, or how long the mukhra and/or tihai is.

Understanding the math in detail is not essential for listeners, but it is for tabla players.

In the next section on the Simple Chakradar, we will look at the math in some detail, which should help you understand the math for the other forms.

Chakradar Math and Different Lays

A chakradar’s math depends on the lay (division of the matra or beat) in which it is played. This means that the math for any chakradar can change depending on how fast or slow we play it in relation to the matras of the tal.

In other words, we can play the same chakradar over 4 rounds of the tal, over two rounds, over 1 round, or over half a round; it all depends on the speed at which we play the form in relation to the matra.

So the mathematics for any chakradar are relative; like the speed of a kayda, there is no official speed at which it must be played.

References

Misra, Chhote Lal. Tal Prabandh. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2006. (Hindi)

—. Tabla Granth. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2006. (Hindi)

—. Playing Techniques of Tabla – Banaras Gharana. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2007.