The Tabla Taal Library

A taal is a cyclic frame of beats (matras), grouped into sections (vibhags) and navigated by hand gestures: sam, the emphatic first beat where phrases resolve; tali, the claps that affirm sections; and khali, the “empty” wave where the bass drum falls silent. Each page below gives one taal's full theka — the bol sequence that fills a cycle — with sam, tali and khali marked on every matra, the vibhag structure, and a focused practice guide. Thekas are transcribed conservatively from the Playsoloist Tabla practice library; where marking conventions differ between traditions, the page says so. Start with Teental, Dadra and Keharwa; the rare long cycles at the end are for orientation training and curiosity.

Core cycles

Taal	देवनागरी	Matras	Structure	Common use
Teental	तीनताल	16	4–4–4–4	The default 16-beat cycle of Hindustani music: khayal, instrumental gats, tabla solo
Ektaal	एकताल	12	2–2–2–2–2–2	Vilambit and drut khayal — the second cycle every player learns
Jhaptaal	झपताल	10	2–3–2–3	Madhya-laya khayal and instrumental music; 10 beats in 2-3-2-3
Rupak	रूपक	7	3–2–2	Khayal, bhajan and instrumental music; the 7-beat cycle whose sam is khali
Dadra	दादरा	6	3–3	The dadra genre, thumri, ghazal, folk and film song
Keharwa	कहरवा	8	4–4	Folk, film and bhajan — the everyday 8-beat groove

Khayal & concert cycles

Taal	देवनागरी	Matras	Structure	Common use
Tilwada	तिलवाड़ा	16	4–4–4–4	Vilambit (slow) khayal accompaniment on the 16-beat frame
Jhumra	झूमरा	14	3–4–3–4	Vilambit khayal; a slow, ornamented 14-beat cycle
Ada Chautaal	आड़ा चौताल	14	2–2–2–2–2–2–2	Madhya-laya khayal; a brisk 14-beat cycle in seven twos
Chautaal	चौताल	12	2–2–2–2–2–2	Dhrupad with pakhawaj; an open, weighty 12-beat cycle
Sooltaal	सूलताल	10	2–2–2–2–2	Dhrupad; a compact 10-beat pakhawaj-lineage cycle

Thumri, dhamar & light-classical

Taal	देवनागरी	Matras	Structure	Common use
Deepchandi	दीपचंदी	14	3–4–3–4	Thumri and light-classical singing; a lilting 14-beat cycle
Dhamar	धमार	14	5–2–3–4	The dhamar (hori) genre of the dhrupad tradition
Addha	अद्धा	16	4–4–4–4	Thumri and ghazal; the swung cousin of Teental
Bhajani	भजनी	8	4–4	Bhajan and kirtan accompaniment
Dhumali	धुमाली	8	4–4	Light-classical song accompaniment; a rolling 8-beat theka

Solo & specialist

Taal	देवनागरी	Matras	Structure	Common use
Ada Teental	आड़ा तीनताल	16	4–4–4–4	A tirakita-dense variant theka on the 16-beat frame
Pancham Sawari	पंचम सवारी	15	3–4–4–4	Solo tabla showcase; an odd 15-beat cycle
Tevra	तेवरा	7	3–2–2	Dhrupad (pakhawaj tradition); 7 beats with no khali
Matta	मत्त ताल	9	4–2–3	Rare 9-beat cycle; solo and taal-study repertoire

Rare & long cycles

Taal	देवनागरी	Matras	Structure	Common use
Rudra	रुद्र ताल	11	4–4–3	Rare 11-beat cycle; advanced solo study
Gaja Jhampa	गज झंपा	15	4–4–4–3	Rare dhrupad-lineage 15-beat cycle
Farodast	फरोदस्त	14	4–4–3–3	Rare 14-beat solo-tabla cycle
Shikhar	शिखर ताल	17	6–6–2–3	Rare 17-beat cycle; kathak and solo tabla
Lakshmi	लक्ष्मी ताल	18	6–6–6	Rare pakhawaj cycle; 18 beats
Ganesh	गणेश ताल	21	7–7–7	Rare pakhawaj / kathak cycle; 21 beats
Brahma	ब्रह्म ताल	28	7–7–7–7	Rare long pakhawaj cycle; 28 beats