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Chapu tala · 7 units

Misra chapu

Confidence: medium Last verified:

Structure

3+4: 7 units in one cycle.

312341234
7 units in 2 groups. The highlighted box starts each group.
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

Computed tones, evenly spaced. Real singing uses gamakas and may tune notes slightly differently.

Explanation

Misra chapu is one of the chapu talas. A chapu tala is described by its groups of units: this one is 3 then 4 units (3+4), 7 units in one cycle. The word chapu is said to mean "beat".

Voiced "ta ki ta | ta ka dhi mi" (CarnaticStudent), a group of three followed by a group of four.

Unlike the 35 suladi talas, which are built from laghu, drutam and anudrutam, the sources describe chapu talas by their groups only. Chapu talas do not have defined angas in the sources checked: a forum discussion among practitioners concludes that there are none, and that some players equate a chapu tala with a fast form of a suladi tala, but that is an opinion, not a rule.

How it is counted

Counted in a group of 3 then a group of 4, 7 units in all. The sources checked describe no standard hand actions for chapu talas, so none are given here.

Spoken as: ta ki ta | ta ka dhi mi.

Where it is used

  • The CBSE-hosted answer key gives Tyagaraja's Nidhi chala sukhama (raga Kalyani) as an example.
  • Wikipedia says many padams are set to Misra chapu, and that there are kritis in both Misra and Khanda chapu.
  • A forum contributor says some Dikshitar kritis that certain sources list as Tisra Triputa (for example Sri Mahaganapatiravatu, raga Gowla) are usually sung in Misra chapu.

Ragas with the most songs in this tala: Mayamalavagowla (1).

How likely you are to meet it

●●○ (rating 2 of 3: 1 = met very often)

Editorial rating: Khanda and Misra chapu are met fairly often, while the others are rare in the sources checked.

Related talas

How this was checked

  • Partly agree: Misra chapu is counted as 3+4 (7 units). Sources: Carnatic Music (Code 032), Class XII (Melodic Instrument), Session 2020-21, Marking Scheme; Practice four widely used Carnatic talas; Angas for Chapu talas?; Tala (music). The sources agree on the groups; Wikipedia counts the whole cycle as twice as many.

References for this page

Type at least two letters. Try a raga name, a tala, or a word like "gamaka".