How to count Gaps ( Pauses ) in the Tihai - Vishwamohini Editor

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How to count Gaps ( Pauses ) in the Tihai

By Shivraj Sawant 1,880 views Tags: Tihai, Gap

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Sometimes we say â€œThat artist has got very good layaâ€, for me it means, he has got very good sense of Gap/Pause between two beats/notes. Music is a combination of notes & gaps, moment you change the gap, you create new rhythmic experience.

Consistent gap between two beats is the fundamental element to establish Rhythm as well as Tempo. Have you ever studied how to take a pause or do you know how many beats you passed in a pause? Study of pauses is equally important as musical notes, which will definitely help to produce interesting rhythmic patterns.

Normally we have fear about gaps, because it creates emptiness for which we are not normally used to. It happens because, when we practice, we concentrate on building our physical strength to play music. Such strength building exercises demands continuous practice to stretch muscles. So to get used to gaps, it is necessary to spare some time to play compositions which consists of various gaps. Practice such compositions in various speeds.

Counting Gap is equally important as Strokes, and Tihai is a compositions type where you can study and play with Gaps
Most important topic we learn in Tihai is "How to count gap?".

In this article, I am going to give you some hints for beginners to count Gaps correctly so that your Tihai will come on Sam.

We will learn how to count gap of 1 beat, 2 beats, 3 beats and 5 beats. These are very commonly used gaps in many Tihai patterns

1 Beat gap
[melody start]
[1|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-][tabla]
[S1|-][notations]
[melody end]
2 Beats gap
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|-][tabla]
[S1|-|-][notations]
[melody end]
3 Beats gap
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|-|-][tabla]
[S1|-|-|-][notations]
[melody end]
5 Beats gap
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap|Gap|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[S1|-|-|-|-|-][notations]
[melody end]
Basically Gap means where we do not play any stroke, but beginners find it difficult to take exact pause.

So the trick is to play a light weight stroke on Gap and take a feel of Gap. Practice in this way in the starting phase & slowly remove support of light weight stroke to master Gaps

So in further part of article I am going to share some useful strokes for counting Gaps of 1, 2, 3, and 5 beats.

1.
Lets consider 1 beat gap, here is an example of Tihai with 1 beat gap in Teentaal
[melody start]
[Dha|Dhin|Dhin|Dha|Dha|Dhin|Dhin|Dha|Dha|Tin|Tin|Ta|Ta|Dhin|Dhin|Dha][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
Instead of Gap, try to play below strokes with light weight.
[melody start]
[1|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|G3][tabla]
[D1|T4][tabla]
[melody end]
Observe 6th and 12th beat in below Tihai, So Tihai will become
[melody start]
[Dha|Dhin|Dhin|Dha|Dha|Dhin|Dhin|Dha|Dha|Tin|Tin|Ta|Ta|Dhin|Dhin|Dha][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|G3|D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|G3|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
2.
Lets consider 2 beats gap, here is an example of Tihai with 2 beats gap in Mattataal [ 9 beats Taal ]
[melody start]
[Dhin|TiRaKiTa|Dhi|Na|Ti|Na|Dhi|Dhi|Na][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|-|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
Instead of Gap, try to play below strokes with light weight.
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|N2][tabla]
[D1|G1|N2][tabla]
[melody end]
Observe 6th beat in third row and 5th beat in fourth row in below Tihai, So Tihai will become
[melody start]
[Dhin|TiRaKiTa|Dhi|Na|Ti|Na|Dhi|Dhi|Na][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|N2|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|N2|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
3.
Lets consider 3 beats gap, here is an example of Tihai with 3 beats gap in Zaptaal [ 10 beats Taal ]
[melody start]
[Dhin|Na|Dhin|Dhin|Na|Tin|Na|Dhin|Dhin|Na][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|-|-|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|-|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]

Instead of Gap, try to play below strokes with light weight.
And once you are comfortable with gap you can replace "Kat" with word  "Aaa" without stroke.
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|K4|-][tabla]
[D1|-|T4|-][tabla]
[Dha|-|Aaa|-][lyrics]
[melody end]
Observe 7th beat in third row and 5th beat in fourth row in below Tihai, So Tihai will become
[melody start]
[Dhin|Na|Dhin|Dhin|Na|Tin|Na|Dhin|Dhin|Na][lyrics]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|K4|-|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|K4|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
4.
Lets consider 5 beats gap, here is an example of Tihai with 5 beats gap in Ektaal [ 12 beats Taal ]
[melody start]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|-|-|-|-|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|-|-|-|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]

Instead of Gap, try to play below strokes with light weight.
And once you are comfortable with gap you can replace "Kat" with word  "Aaa" without stroke.
[melody start]
[1|Gap|Gap|Gap|Gap|Gap][lyrics]
[D1|-|K4|-|K4|-][tabla]
[D1|-|D1|-|T4|-][tabla]
[Dha|-|Aaa|-|Aaa|-][lyrics]
[melody end]
Observe 7th and 9th beat in second row and 5th and 7th beat in third row in below Tihai, So Tihai will become
[melody start]
[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12][lyrics]
[D1|D1|T4|T8|D1|-|K4|-|K4|-|D1|D1][tabla]
[T4|T8|D1|-|K4|-|K4|-|D1|D1|T4|T8][tabla]
[D1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-][tabla]
[melody end]
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