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    Tilwada Taal practice

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

    Taal: Tilwada16 matras

    Interactive Tilwada 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

    Tilwada structure

    Tilwada (also written Tilwara or Tilvada) has 16 matras grouped into vibhags of 4, 4, 4, 4. A slow sixteen-matra taal. It shares Teentaal’s four vibhags and clap pattern but has its own theka. 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 5 and 13
    Clap on the first matra of each of these vibhags.
    Khali · matra 9
    Wave at the start of the vibhag; keep counting every matra.

    Tilwada theka

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

    1. Matras 1–4Dha · Tirakita · Dhin · Dhin
    2. Matras 5–8Dha · Dha · Tin · Tin
    3. Matras 9–12Ta · Tirakita · Dhin · Dhin
    4. Matras 13–16Dha · Dha · Dhin · Dhin

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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.