RJGK 57: Beats on the unbeaten track. PART 1: Introduction
Preeti Ranjan Panda
**** RJGK 57: Beats on the unbeaten track. PART 1: Introduction ****
(Songs set to Roopak Taal and Jhaptaal)
I am deeply indebted to Surajit Bose and Ajay Nerurkar for their
detailed critique of earlier versions of this quiz and the write-up.
RJGK (a multi-level acronym for "RMIM Jhim Geeton Ki", where RMIM is
the rec.music.indian.misc newsgroup) is a quiz series that has been
alive on the newsgroup since the 20th century. In brief, you are given
a set of lyrics clues, and the objective is to identify the song
containing those lyrics. For details about the genesis and
socio-cultural impact of RJGK, please refer to our archaeology
department at: http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~subraman/rmim.html
This RJGK deals with certain aspects of an important element of music:
RHYTHM.
At the outset, let me point out that, although the introductory
comments preceding the quiz might seem sort of technical, absolutely
no technical knowledge is required for solving the quiz. Most of the
songs featured in the quiz are fairly well known, so if the aspects of
rhythm discussed in the introduction seem uninteresting to you, feel
free to skip them entirely, and jump straight to the clues section
(PART 2). Also, if you are familiar with even the basics of rhythm,
you might want to skip the intro :-)
Rhythm: "...the placement of sounds in time. In its most general sense
rhythm (Greek rhythmos, derived from rhein, 'to flow') is an ordered
alternation of contrasting elements..."
"Unlike a painting or a piece of sculpture, which are compositions in
space, a musical work is a composition dependent upon time. Rhythm is
music's pattern in time. Whatever other elements a given piece of
music may have (e.g., patterns in pitch or timbre), rhythm is the one
indispensable element of all music." - Encyclopaedia Brittanica
As children, we in India are bombarded with cartloads of extremely
sophisticated musical thoughts through listening to film and other
popular music. Such is the impact of this musical shower that most of
us can recall and sing what would be regarded in many parts of the
world as very complex melody. Our instincts make us cringe when we are
tortured by wrong notes in songs. However, there is one fundamental
aspect that typically receives lesser attention in our self-guided
musical adventures. That is rhythm, in spite of its omnipresence. The
rhythm is, of course no appendage - it is built into the tune itself.
Yet, interestingly, it is typically the melodic contour that gets
imprinted in our minds, and not rhythm. Why? This maybe an interesting
topic of discussion. At the heart of the matter must lie the primacy
of sur and melody in Indian music; it is worth noting that while the
foundation of Indian music is considered to be among the world's most
sophisticated melodic frameworks, the same cannot be said for rhythm.
While we are probably more advanced than most western music, even
trained Indian percussionists are said to be baffled by the rhythmic
patterns used in certain African music styles.
Naturally, our very first question is, should we care about rhythm
when listening to a film song at all? One can always argue that
enjoying a piece of music has little to do with knowledge of its
technical aspects (and that particular argument is not unique to
music). The counter-argument (again, not unique to music) is that, at
the very least, the knowledge can only enhance the appreciation.
(Then the first dude jumps to the other extreme, saying he would get
so engrossed with the measurement and counting that he would miss out
on the emotional appeal...finally, the second dude, Geet Kosh in hand,
stealthily approaches dude #1 from behind and whacks him
unconscious. End of conversation). However, one very important point
is that following the rhythm in a song takes us one step closer to
viewing a composition through the composer's "eyes". Why are certain
syllables emphasised more than others? Why does a particular musical
phrase have a certain length, no more, no less? etc. Paying attention
to the rhythm gives us additional insight into the composer's mind,
and that, in itself, is a very compelling argument.
The second relevant question is, how does one identify the rhythmic
structure of a musical piece? Simple: just jump, dance, or stomp on
the ground as the song plays; your in-built mental mechanisms will
modulate the intensity and duration of these jumps into a non-random
sequence; see if you notice a pattern :-) Just kidding (but only
partially). Melodic thoughts are usually composed not as free-form
contours, but in phrases. These phrases, when juxtaposed, form a
repeating pattern we call the rhythmic structure or "taal". So a
rhythm is essentially characterised by the shortest temporal pattern
that repeats in a composition. It can usually be identified by the
accented/stressed notes in a melody. For example, in a song set to a
3-beat rhythmic cycle, if we divide the tune up into groups of three
beats, the first beat in every group is prominent. This is a gross
simplification, but in general, the melodic structure reveals the
rhythmic pattern. Of course, in most cases, listening to the
accompanying percussion also helps understand the rhythm since the
percussionist plays a pattern that conforms to the rhythm.
Rhythmic structures vary a lot in their complexity. While most light
music tends to be based on relatively simple, easily identifiable
rhythms, exciting exceptions do exist (e.g., "joothe tere nain", Asha
Bhosale in DIL PADOSI HAI album, composer R. D. Burman).
Let us study an example song set to a 3-beat cycle. In principle, the
"daadra" taal that is common in Indian light music is a six beat
rhythm sub-divided 3-3, but we will approximate it with a 3-beat cycle
here. We'll get back to the sub-division funda soon after - it does
form an important element of the theme for the RJGK. Our example is
Lata Mangeshkar's "uthaae ja un ke sitam" from ANDAZ (music:
Naushad). We can notate the way the first line of the song proceeds
along the time axis as follows:
[Please view in a fixed width font.]
u thaa e ja un ke si tam
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Several points are noteworthy in this short line:
First, the opening syllable does not necessarily correspond to the
first beat in the rhythmic cycle - in general, the song can begin
anywhere in the cycle. Notice that in the first word "uthaae",
there is no stress on the "u", but a definite stress on the "tha",
which is placed on the first beat.
Second, the syllables of the words have a general tendency to follow
the beat structure - one, two, or some integral number of syllables
per beat (as in the first 5 beats above). However, this kind of
uniform distribution makes the melody rather dry and uninteresting,
and is observed in only the simplest of songs. The slight displacement
of "si" (of "sitam") from the beat creates an arresting effect. Such
well-placed off-beat notes can add plenty of beauty and elegance to a
tune. Try singing the line using equally spaced syllabes (i.e., "si"
is on the beat) and compare with the original. The slight shift
produces a huge difference in effect.
Third, the off-beat "si" is not quite randomly placed; it sets the
stage for the approaching "sam". The sam is the first beat in a
rhythmic cycle that usually carries the maximum weight. In "uthaae
ja...", one can clearly hear the distinct stress Lata places on the
syllable "tam" (of "sitam"). We notice that although the syllable "un"
does start a 3-beat group, the stress on "un" is nowhere as solid as
on "tam". Time to get back to the sub-divisions of a cycle we alluded
to earlier - the fact that this is actually a 6-beat cycle, with the
beats distributed into two groups (1 2 3) (4 5 6). We can revise the
notation as:
u thaa e ja un ke si tam
(1 2 3 )(4 5 6 )(1 2 3 ...
Thus, the fourth beat does begin a 3-beat phrase, but is not as
prominent as the sam.
Finally, let us just listen to the accompanying percussion, ignoring
the melody altogether. What pattern do we notice? Clearly, the pattern
seems to repeat after 6 beats. That should give us sufficient hint.
However, as a first approximation, we can treat the rhythm as a three
beat cycle and ignore the sub-divisions. (Naturally, this
simplification only applies to the listener; the singer, on the other
hand, can take no such liberties, for he runs the risk of ruining
an otherwise fine love affair with the Tabliya/Dholakia).
Most hindi film songs are set to one of two rhythms - "daadra taal"
(3-beat cycle), or "keherwa taal" (4-beat cycle; again, approximated
from 8 beats sub-divided 4-4). We will simplify things here by
including TEENTAAL in the keherwa family. Teentaal has 16 beats
sub-divided 4-4-4-4 and forms the framework for a huge number of
semi-classical filmi songs. However, a small fraction (probably less
than 5%) are based on other taals. This RJGK is based on songs set to
two such rhythms: ROOPAK TAAL and JHAPTAAL. These taals are
characterised by the following structures:
Roopak: 7 beats sub-divided as: 3-2-2
Jhaptaal: 10 beats sub-divided as: 2-3-2-3
Although Jhaptaal is a 10 beat cycle, we will approximate it with 5
beats, sub-divided 2-3.
After daadra and keherwa, roopak and jhaptaal happen to be the two
most popular taals we find in filmi music, with roopak being a little
more widespread than jhaptaal. Why choose these two specific taals for
the RJGK? An "RJGK on keherwa songs" makes little sense, since close
to half of all hindi songs would fall in this category. So the
relative rarity of roopak and jhaptaal makes them interesting
candidates. However, they are interesting in another compelling sense:
the taals are ASYMMETRIC in the sense that the internal sub-divisions
of roopak and jhaptaal are of unequal lengths. When we listen to a
song set to jhaptaal, we find the melodic phrases grouped into the
repeating temporal pattern: 2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3... This grabs our
attention and forces us to listen more carefully.
Let's examine the quintessential jhaptaal song of all times to
understand what the hullabaloo is all about. Our example, of course,
is "aansoo bhari hai ye jeevan ki raahen" (PARVARISH, music: Dattaram)
sung by Mukesh.
aan soo bha ri hai ye
(1 2 )(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 3 )
jee van ki raa hen ko
(1 2 )(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 3 )
ee u na se
(1 2 )(1 2 3 )...
There's an an awful lot of clutter in this textual notation, but the
point is simply to illustrate that the melodic phrases occur in a
repeating 2-3 pattern. That is the essence of jhaptaal rhythm.
Notice, again, that certain notes are placed off-beat; in particular
the off-beat "ko" heightens the anticipation before the next cycle
begins "..ee unse kehde", which reminds us of the earlier discussion.
The exact temporal positions of notes are not always dictated by the
music composer. Rhythmic play is one area where a singer can
intelligently improvise on the skeletal tune provided by the MD - it
is the singer's responsibility to not sound like a robot, i.e., not to
merely implement the algorithm: "emphasise the n-th beat, where: n mod
5 = 1 or 3"
Finally, a look at a sample composition in roopak taal. The song
should ring a bell - it's the one with an alleged invocation of the
"grovelling" image that makes feminists stand up in revolt, borrow
their uncles' machine guns, and spray-paint the countryside with
randomly directed rubber bullets. "aap ki nazron ne samjha" (Lata,
ANPADH, Madan Mohan).
aa - p ki - na za
(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 )
ron - ne sa ma jha -
(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 )
pya - r ke - qaa -
(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 )
bil - mu jhe - - -
(1 2 3 )(1 2 )(1 2 )
The 3-2-2 pattern should be distinctly clear. If not, let us listen to
the percussion accompaninent. It runs all through the song, in a very
straightforward pattern - essentially highlighting all the beats
marked "1" in the notation above, that is, marking the beginning of
every sub-division of the taal. Keeping track of the rhythm also
explains that little ornamentation on "mujhe" (4th line above). Since
the next line "dil ki ae dhadkan thahar ja" begins only in the next
cycle, the gap must be filled by a murki or whatever melodic device.
And it can last 4 beats, no more, no less.
That completes the illustrations. Actually, the entire deal with
identifying rhythmic structure is simpler (in most cases) than it is
made to sound above, but I should admit that the identification is not
always trivial. I usually have a difficult time differentiating Roopak
from Deepchandi taal based on the melodic structure alone, the latter
being a 14-beat taal (sub-divided 3-4-3-4) which I find confusingly
close to Roopak, though knowledgeables will disagree.
I should mention that above description of taal in terms of grouping
of notes is incomplete. A more formal definition does exist, with
specific tabla bols assigned to each beat. Listening to the percussion
accompaniment helps differentiate between taals that are otherwise
structurally similar. But then again, in filmi compositions, the
percussion seldom follows the textbook. In any case, to begin with, we
can infer the taal of a song by just following the melodic structure.
So what's the big deal about roopak and jhaptaal? Are they inherently
superior in some sense to the more popular daadra and keherwa. Far
from it. The quality of a composition has no bearing on what taal is
used. Also, it is not true that roopak/jhaptaal songs are inherently
more difficult. At an elementary level, there is an added complexity
arising from the asymmetry. However, one gets used to it pretty fast,
and following the beats is seldom a problem. Rhythmic complexity
usually arises from the occasional non-"tight-conformance" of a
composition to the underlying rhythm. In the examples above, as also
in most film songs, the rhythmic structure is clear and explicit. But
sometimes, wily composers withhold the pattern for too long, or throw
in rather unstructured phrases into a composition, making it difficult
to get a handle on the flow of notes. And this can be done
irrespective of what taal is used. One song that always foxes me is
"pyaara hamaara munna nainon ka taara" by Lata (SANSAR, MD:
E. S. Sastry/M. D. Parthasarathi/B. S. Kalla). The jhaptaal pattern is
distinct at the phrase "cham cham sitaara, cham cham sitaara", but is
obfuscated in many other sections.
So the only "big deal" is that these taals are structurally more
interesting. Unfortunately, their use has dwindled in recent years.
While I was easily able to cover songs from the 1940's, 50's, 60's,
and 70's in the RJGK, I was unable to come up with a single worthy
candidate from the eighties and nineties. I guess I did not search
hard enough, because the other day, I did spot the Roopak taal rhythm
in a decent song "piya haaji ali" composed by A. R. Rahman in the
recent film FIZA.
A few words about the other taals that have been employed by hindi
film composers. As mentioned before, teentaal has been widely used in
many semi-classical songs - "madhuban mein raadhika" (KOHINOOR),
"jhanak jhanak tori baaje paayaliya" (MERE HUZOOR), etc. One
interesting rhythm that finds wide popularity in Hindustani classical
music, especially in the vilambit (slow) tempo, but is very rare in
films, is EKTAAL. This is a 12-beat rhythmic cycle, technically
subdivided 2-2-2-2-2-2, but often also split 3-3-3-3. The standard
filmi Ektaal composition is "ketaki gulaab juhi champaka ban phoole"
(Bhimsen Joshi and Manna Dey, BASANT BAHAR, Shankar Jaikishan). Other
Ektaal compositions I am aware of are "manamohan bade jhoothe" (SEEMA,
Shankar Jaikishan), "jaa main tose naahi boloon" (SAUTELA BHAI, Anil
Biswas), "pavan deewaani na maani" (DR. VIDYA, SDB). A few others I
haven't heard but have seen mentioned by Chetan and Vish on RMIM a
while ago are:
"tum tananana" (KINARA, RDB)
"barase ghan saari rain" (TARANG, Vanraj Bhatia) (Vilambit)
"ek ritu aaye, ek ritu jaaye" (SAU SAAL BAAD, Lata + Manna, LP)
I mentioned "joothe tere nain" sung by Asha Bhosale earlier. Inferring
the rhythmic structure for that song should be an interesting
exercise. Finally, there are a few other classes of rhythmically
interesting compositions - those in which multiple taals are used
within the same song, those where parts of a song are sung free of
rhythm as is common in many ghazals, etc. But these are topics for
another day.
Enough babbling. If you are reading this line, I know you didn't read
everything in this article, and merely fast-forwarded to the
end-of-file. You are smart. Let us move on to the more interesting
part. Please read Part 2 of this quiz for the actual clues.
Best Regards,
Preeti Ranjan
Ket...@att.net
>Rhythmic structures vary a lot in their complexity. While most light
>music tends to be based on relatively simple, easily identifiable
>rhythms, exciting exceptions do exist (e.g., "joothe tere nain", Asha
>Bhosale in DIL PADOSI HAI album, composer R. D. Burman).
It's a 17 beat structure, atleast in the mukhdaa. Far more interesting is Lata's
"Jaa re jaa, main tose na bolun" from Mr. Romeo(RDB).
>Finally, let us just listen to the accompanying percussion, ignoring
>the melody altogether. What pattern do we notice? Clearly, the pattern
>seems to repeat after 6 beats. That should give us sufficient hint.
>However, as a first approximation, we can treat the rhythm as a three
>beat cycle and ignore the sub-divisions. (Naturally, this
>simplification only applies to the listener; the singer, on the other
>hand, can take no such liberties, for he runs the risk of ruining
>an otherwise fine love affair with the Tabliya/Dholakia).
Hey..I deny any relationship with any singer(s). Worship maybe, but love never.
:)
Ketan
Preeti Ranjan Panda
>
> >Rhythmic structures vary a lot in their complexity. While most light
> >music tends to be based on relatively simple, easily identifiable
> >rhythms, exciting exceptions do exist (e.g., "joothe tere nain", Asha
> >Bhosale in DIL PADOSI HAI album, composer R. D. Burman).
>
> It's a 17 beat structure, atleast in the mukhdaa. Far more interesting is Lata's
> "Jaa re jaa, main tose na bolun" from Mr. Romeo(RDB).
Although treating it as a 17-beat rhythm makes it easier to keep
track of the beats, I think the more correct designation is 8.5 beats
(as Asha Bhosale herself mentions). Does this taal exist in the books?
Or is it RDB's creation?
I don't think I have heard "Jaa re jaa". What rhythm is used?
Regards,
Preeti Ranjan
Arun Sampath
hindustani music, like me. Thanks,
For the carnatic music oriented folks, the two taals described here fall
into a category called Chaapu taala. (taala/thaala in Kannada/Telugu and
taalam/thaalam in Tamil being equivalant to taal in Hindi). There are three
chaapu taalas in carnatic music namely Khanda (5 beats) chaapu, Mishra (7)
chaapu and Sankeerna (9) chaapu. The former two are the ones that are widely
used.
The Roopak taal described by Preeti Ranjan would be Mishra Chaapu taala and
is described as
ta ki ta ta ka ta ka
1 2 3 1 2 1 2
Examples of some carnatic compositions would be
Shankari ninne ika chaala nammithi (Thyagaraja, Kamavardhini)
Eka dantam bhaje aham eka neka phala pradham (Muthuswamy Dikshitar,
Bilahari)
The Jhaptaal equivalent would be Khanda chaapu and goes like
ta ka ta ki ta
1 2 1 2 3
It has five beats to it (not 10 as in Jhap taal) and is the closest to it
AFAIK.
A popular compostion set in this taala is
Anupama gunaambudhi (Thyagaraja, Atana)
Going further, the 3 beat cycle mentioned in the post (daadra) is called
tisra in carnatic and the 4 beat cycle (keherwa) would be chaturashra. Just
like teentaal is widely used in Hindustani, Adi taala is the most common
taala in carnatic. It has 8 beats (i.e half of teentaal).
The carnatic roopak taal is quite different from the hindustani roopak
mentioned here. The former has 6 beats to it (2-4).
A
sud...@my-deja.com
Thanks for putting together very interesting and informative
quiz. Would it be possible for you to list some good songs in
Jhap Taal and Teen Taal.
Jhap Taal it seems was discovered by Kishore Kumar, on his second
visit to Delhi:
Doobega Nahin Tarega, Jhap Jhap x 2 times
Pyar Se Hum Nahin Darega
Chahe Yeh Zamana Kahe Hum Ko Diwana
Teen Taal probably was unearthed by: Shamshad Begum, when she threw
invitation to her sweetheart
Aaja Mausam Hai Rangeen, Aaja
Ek Do Teen
Raat Ko Chhup Chhup Ke Milna
Duniya Samjhe Paap Re, Baap Re (chorus)
Sudhir
-- - - - --
Preeti Ranjan Panda <pa...@synopsys.com> wrote:
>
>
> **** RJGK 57: Beats on the unbeaten track. PART 1: Introduction ****
>
> (Songs set to Roopak Taal and Jhaptaal)
>
>
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Preeti Ranjan Panda
>
> ... Would it be possible for you to list some good songs in
> Jhap Taal and Teen Taal.
I plan to post at a later date the list of songs I had compiled
under each taal in order to select candidates for the RJGK quiz.
> Jhap Taal it seems was discovered by Kishore Kumar, on his second
> visit to Delhi:
>
> Doobega Nahin Tarega, Jhap Jhap x 2 times
> Pyar Se Hum Nahin Darega
> Chahe Yeh Zamana Kahe Hum Ko Diwana
The Mukesh song "jap jap jap jap jap re" is NOT set to jap-taal!
regards,
Preeti Ranjan
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Mukesh's voice is better than it sounds
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