Since the time the art of music was found, musicians have been making compositions and songs. But much of the ancient stuff is out of our reach as there was no standard notation system to save it. The inventions of different notation systems have made it possible to put a tune on a piece of paper or now even on the screen of a computer monitor. The music notation systems have been the greatest tool to capture the music in its somewhat originality. Even today, when audio recorders surround us, notation still remains the only way to figure out every note played in its original place.

The western world invented (or agreed on) staff notation a while ago and it has become a widely understood music notation system all over the world. However, Hindustani or Northern Indian music has its own notation system. Indian melody can easily be written in the staff notation system but as you are going to see that Indian rhythm cannot be written properly. This was one of the reasons I have included this post on this site. The other reason is that if you eventually like to get some music composition books on Indian music, they will be written in this system.

Indian notation system is really easy system once you get the hang of it, which can take up to five minutes. But if you still feel comfortable with staff notation that is not a problem, I will suggest some minor additions. You can add those to your Indian compositions or the compositions you make in Indian rhythm structure.

There are a few notation systems in India but the most famous one in northern music is the one invented by music Pundit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. This is simply called the ‘Bhatkhande notation system’. I will refer to it as the Indian notation system, as this is the only one you will ever have to learn. This is the only system used by Northern Indian classical and pop musician all around India and the world.

Basics of Any Music Notation:
Every music notation system has two things in common, time and pitch. Staff notation shows them horizontally and vertically. In staff notation, the notes are placed on five lines and their time values are shown in different kind of tails. When writing drums all the lines are assigned to different sounds and their time value is still shown by similar tails as notes. I assume that you already know a little bit of staff notation. If you don’t, you don’t have to learn it for this now, just learn the Indian system.

Basics of Indian Music Notation:
Indian music is based on Raag and Taal (Rāga and Tala) system. Raags are melodic phrases and Taals are rhythmic patterns. Raags pose no problem when written in standard staff notation as Northern Indian music notes are the same as western music, but Taals do. Every piece of Indian music is written in a Taal, unless it is a rhythm free piece. So the basics of Taals, are the basics of Indian notation system.

Taal structure will be explained in detail in the rhythm section. Here all we have to know is that Indian Taals (rhythmic Patterns) are divided into sections. Every Taal is a group of 2 or more sections. First beat of every section is defined as hard or soft, so it determines the accents. This gives every Taal a certain flow. Two Taals may have same number of beats, but if their divisions are different then they will sound different from one another. To understand it better let’s first see how to write Indian Rhythm in Indian Music Notation system.

Writing Rhythm:
Indian notation can be written on any piece of paper. The beats are written on the top of the page and they all have equal time value. Then they are divided into columns where the sub-bars (sections) start. Any note or boles (sounds of Tabla) are written under that. If there is one sound under one beat then its value is equal to one beat. If two are written under one beat then their value is half-beat and so on.

Let’s see an example:
Suppose you are playing in 8/4. To write this we will write 8 beats in a line and then divide them into two columns. Have a look:
Taal Kehrva
(8 beats 2 sections)

Above is an example of a Taal (rhythmic Pattern) called Kehrva. It has eight beats that are divided into two equal sections of four beats each. Taal signs show the status of the first beat of that section.

1. ‘x’ is used to show the very first beat of the Taal,  it is called Sum (or The Sum).
2. ‘0’ is used to show the Khali (empty point) in the Taal. Generally this point is in the middle of a Taal and a lighter part (light sounds) of the Taal begins here.
3. The numeric numbers (2, 3 etc.) are used to show other sub-bars’ start points and are called Taalis (clap points). Sum (the first Beat) is always the first Taali. So in the above example Taal Kehrva has only one Taali and one Khali.

Here is another example of Aik Taal (name of a rhythmic pattern of 12 beats). It is a little more complex than the Kehrva Taal.

Aik Taal
(12 beats, 6 sections)

So Aik Taal has 4 Taalis and 2 Khalis.

The words written in the Theka (pattern) line are the sounds of Tabla. We will discuss those later. A comma separates two sounds.

That is all you have to know to write rhythm in Indian notation system.
Next, we will bring melody into the mix.

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