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    Pancham Sawari Taal practice

    Choose tabla, spoken bols, or both. Set the pace and press play.

    Taal: Pancham Sawari15 matras

    Interactive Pancham Sawari player

    Tap or click a matra to change its bol.

    Vibhag 1
    Vibhag 1X · Sam · Clap
    Vibhag 2
    Vibhag 22 · Tali · Clap
    Vibhag 3
    Vibhag 30 · Khali · Wave
    Vibhag 4
    Vibhag 43 · Tali · Clap

    Pancham Sawari structure

    Pancham Sawari (also written Pancham Swari or Pancham Sawari Tal) has 15 matras grouped into vibhags of 3, 4, 4, 4. A fifteen-matra taal, heard mostly in tabla solo and Kathak. A theka is the bol pattern played over the cycle.

    Bol patterns vary by teacher and tradition. Follow your teacher’s version for class.

    Sam, tali, and khali

    Sam · matra 1
    The first matra and the cycle’s return point. Mark it with a clap.
    Tali · matras 4 and 12
    Clap on the first matra of each of these vibhags.
    Khali · matra 8
    Wave at the start of the vibhag; keep counting every matra.

    Pancham Sawari theka

    One familiar written version, with each bol placed on a matra:

    1. Matras 1–3Dhin · Na · Dhidhi
    2. Matras 4–7Kat · Dhidhi · Nadhi · Dhina
    3. Matras 8–11Tikra · Tina · Tirakita · Tuna
    4. Matras 12–15Kata · Dhidhi · Nadhi · Dhina

    Sources divide Pancham Sawari differently; this is one common arrangement.

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    Tabla audio: Subodh Deolekar, Tabla strokes dataset (2020), used under CC BY 4.0.

    Hindi voice: AI-generated. Follow your teacher’s pronunciation.