Starter quiz
- What is rhythm?
- the steady, regular heartbeat of the music
- the pattern of sounds of different lengths ✓
- how fast or slow the music is
- how many layers of sound there are playing at one time
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- Match these words to their meaning.
- pulse⇔the regular, steady heartbeat of the music ✓
- duration⇔the length of a sound or silence ✓
- melody⇔a combination of notes to make a memorable tune ✓
- harmony⇔when two or more notes of different pitches are played together ✓
- In musical terms, which of the following do you think best describes a 'drone'?
- a piece of music in the minor key
- a type of musical instrument
- a constant sound that runs throughout most or all of a piece of music ✓
- a sound that only features in orchestral music
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- What word do we use when we speak in time together to a steady pulse?
- 'chant' ✓
Exit quiz
- Which three of these instruments are you likely to see in a Hindustani classical music concert?
- tanpura ✓
- sitar ✓
- trumpet
- tabla ✓
- guitar
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- The three main components of Hindustani classical music are the raag, the drone, and the...
- 'taal' ✓
- What is a bol used for?
- A bol is the drum on which the taal is played.
- A bol is a vocal sound that represents a sound on the tabla drums. ✓
- A bol is a rhythm cycle that can have any number of beats.
- A bol is an instrument that plays the drone.
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- Teentaal is a 16 beat rhythm cycle. Put these bols in the correct order to show the taal Teentaal.
- 1⇔dha dhin dhin dha
- 2⇔dha dhin dhin dha
- 3⇔dha tin tin ta
- 4⇔ta dhin dhin da
Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The three key components of Hindustani classical music are taal, raag, and drone.
- The main instruments used are the tabla, the sitar, and the tanpura.
- We can speak the rhythm cycles of the taals by using the bols, which sound like the drum sounds.
- We can clap and wave the rhythm cycles which can help keep us in time.
Common misconception
Music has four beats in a bar and we always finish at the last beat in the bar.
Rhythm cycles in Hindustani classical music can have anything from 3 beats to 128 beats. The rhythm is cyclical and ends on the first beat of the rhythm cycle.
Keywords
Taal - a rhythm cycle that measures musical time in Indian music
Bol - a spoken syllable used to recite the rhythm (from ‘bolna’, the Hindi word for ‘speak’)
Tabla - a set of two drums on which the taal is played with the hands
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