Rhythm interpretation in Indian and western music

INTERPRETATION OF RHYTHM  IN INDIAN MUSIC VS WESTERN MUSIC

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In Indian music the Rhythm is interpreted in the form of Taal or Lai. Most 

of you would like to know what is Taal, well this is a kind of Rhythmic 

cycle. So it is cycle or circular in nature. In indian music we have 

different kinds of cycles like 6 beats, 7 beats, 8 beats, 12 beats, 14 beats 

and 16 beats etc. but in western music rhythm is interpreted as time 

signature. So the time signature is a kind of linear concept rather than a 

cyclic concept. In time signature you have bars and beats in  , each 

bar has the same number of beats. The most common time signature is 2/4, 

which means that in each bar there will be two beats. The other common time 

signature is 4/4 which means you will have four beats in each bar. Then we 

also have another example 3/4 which means there will be three beats in each 

bar and it goes on in the same pattern. You must have noticed that in indian 

music the speed of same Taal can be doubled to give a variety to the melody. 

In indian music it is important for the singers to understand the Taals, 

only then they will be able to perform well. So anyone who seems to be 

interested in Indian music must also learn to sing in different Taals, that 

would certainly help to enhance the quality and the variety in singing. The 

cycle of Taal needs to be followed and kept in mind while performing. It is 

widely believed that the person who does not understand the concept of Taal 

can not cope with the melody singing. It is strongly recommended that the 

performers must practice singing with different Taals daily and they must 

also learn to improvise the melody in all the three octaves. hard work 

always pays back.