Book in Focus
A New Approach to Understanding Rhythm in Indian Music"/>
  • "[Second Thoughts on Capitalism and the State is a] profoundly reflective book shows a pathway forward for academics and activists alike who are stymied by the disconnect between deep critical scholarship and emancipatory social change, yet who will still not give up the good fight."

    - Professor Diane E. Davis, Harvard University

24th April 2023

Book in Focus
A New Approach to Understanding Rhythm in Indian Music

By Dr Meera Subramanian


The Background of this Book

I started writing this book on a hot summer day in June 2020 amidst a lacklustre silence created by the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. As I was sitting on my veranda, a sudden rainy spell emerged, along with the welcoming gush of a cool breeze. I imagined hearing sounds like rhythmic drum strokes, ‘ta ki ta’, ‘ta ka dhi mi’, ‘dhā dhin nā’ and so on, in the movements of nature around me. My body spontaneously swished and swayed in harmony, like the trees around me, inspiring me to clap, dance and sing joyfully…. reminding me of the rhythms of familiar old Indian songs that I know resemble these natural drum strokes.

Ironically, the foreboding silence of the COVID-19 pandemic has provided me with a great opportunity to contemplate deeply upon and derive joy and inspiration from my favourite subjects – music and rhythm. And that very inspiration has resulted in the creation of this book, keeping me occupied all the time, so that I can evoke the same Rasa (emotion) of joy (Ānanda) in the hearts of my readers and myself.

However, there is a necessity for music appreciation at all times, as the pandemic is not a permanent phenomenon in the world. Even during non-pandemic times, the modern lifestyle has made everyone lonely, lacking community interactions, which is against human nature. Music has always been known to have therapeutic value for everyone, at all times, particularly as a stress reliever.

This book reflects what I had learned about Indian rhythms from my PhD thesis (2018), where I undertook a comparative study of Vṛtta-s (i.e., melodic metrical drum strokes) within the framework of rhythms in Karnāṭak music. I had always felt the urge to contribute to further knowledge of Indian rhythms by studying and comparing selected rhythms of Karnāṭak music with those of another genre, i.e., Hindustānī music.

Why Rhythms?

Because rhythms form an important part of not only music and poetry, but also our lives. Rhythm is cyclic and repetitive. There is a certain aesthetic beauty and charm in its constant time patterns and beats. In the rhythms of nature, we can observe the recurring cycles of the day followed by night; in the rise and fall of tides in the seas and oceans; in the ticking of heartbeats in human beings and animals, and so on. These time patterns in nature may be regular or irregular. Rhythm is found in manual occupations like rowing a boat, pounding and threshing grain, sawing wood, etc. Machines have rhythm too: e.g., a clock ticking; a train chugging along a track, etc.

Rhythm along with melody and lyrics, keeps the mind occupied and alert and helps with an all-round development of our personality.

Rhythms, not only in Karnāṭak and Hindustānī music but also in all systems of music, need to be preserved, sustained and developed for the benefit of posterity. They are a valuable part of the performing arts and world cultural heritage. That is why it is very important to find ways to preserve compositions, because, in them, along with the preservation of rhythm, the lyrics and melody are also conserved.

What is the New Approach?

This book extensively analyses some significant traditional Indian rhythms by introducing a novel visual approach towards representing these rhythms (for example, Tāḷa/Tāl) in a colour-coded, graphic, tabular ICT (Information Communication Technology) format. This technique has been applied because, according to the United Nations Millennium SDGs (Sustainable development Goals, 2030), ICT should be used for supporting and promoting social and educational benefits through low-cost online platforms and software tools (e.g., R libraries).

This book offers insights into structural aspects of beauty in Indian rhythms, and covers examples from ancient to contemporary music, including folk, classical and popular film songs.

With the increasing use of aspects of IT in some way or the other, for day-to-day livelihood, by ordinary citizens of the world, it may be helpful to take the first step in the current classical presentation of rhythm to the next step of IT application.

My Objective, Why Have I Chosen this Approach?

My objective in writing this book is to make this approach interesting to a wide variety of readers, and to create in them an interest in understanding these rhythms through some Indian musical compositions. Future researchers can expand on this concept further.

For Whom is it Useful?

Musicians, music lovers, poets, dancers, academia, students, teachers and researchers can relate to this book and appreciate Indian rhythms through its novel approach.

The Compositions

These compositions cover a wide range of musical forms in two major genres of Indian music: Karnāṭak and Hindustānī, which I have chosen for presenting these rhythms. They are composed by various Indian composers from ancient to modern times, in different Indian languages.

There are a total of 13 chosen compositions, divided into four rhythmic groups. In each of these groups, the focus is on the similarity in the duration of the rhythms in both the Karnāṭak and Hindustānī genres, even though the names of the rhythms are different.

How is the New Approach Useful?

The tabular informative approach used in this book may also be applied to the study of other forms of traditional music across the world, such as the folk music of Eastern Europe and indigenous music from other parts of Asia, the Americas, Australia and Africa. It may facilitate future generations to appreciate better the concept of rhythms in music. There is, of course, a large scope for improving this approach by future researchers. Hence, this book can be considered a forerunner for such purposes.


Dr Meera Subramanian, is a scholar, musicologist, teacher and Karnāṭak music vocalist. She received her PhD from the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts of the University of Delhi, India, in 2018. Over the last decade, she has contributed articles on music to many journals, and has given solo and group performances in Karnātak music in various temples and functions.


A New Approach to Understanding Rhythm in Indian Music is available now at a 25% discount. Enter code PROMO25 to redeem.

Read Extract