Ektaal tabla online: 12 beats, theka and free practice player
Ektaal has 12 beats in six sections of two. You clap on beats 1, 5, 9 and 11 and wave on beats 3 and 7, so the cycle has two waves. Its theka runs Dhin Dhin, DhaGe TiRaKiTa, Tu Na, Kat Ta, DhaGe TiRaKiTa, Dhin Na.
Free, no sign-up. SurRoots opens on the Tabla panel with Ektaal already chosen. Press play.
New to the words? A matra is one beat. A vibhag is a section of the cycle. Sam is the first beat, marked X. Khali is a beat you wave, marked 0; the other marks are claps (tali). The theka is the taal’s basic pattern of bols, the spoken names of tabla strokes.
Ektaal at a glance
| Beats | 12 |
|---|---|
| Sections (vibhag) | 2+2+2+2+2+2 |
| Clap and wave | Claps on beats 1, 5, 9 and 11; waves on beats 3 and 7 |
| Pattern | Clap, wave, clap, wave, clap, clap |
| Tempo | Slow and fast; medium-tempo Ektaal is rare in recordings |
| Often heard in | Khayal (above all slow, bada khayal) and Rabindra Sangeet |
| Also spelled | Ektal, Ek Taal |
The Ektaal theka, section by section
| Section | Beats | Mark | Bols |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | 1 to 2 | X · sam · clap | Dhin Dhin |
| Section 2 | 3 to 4 | 0 · khali · wave | DhaGe TiRaKiTa |
| Section 3 | 5 to 6 | 2 · clap | Tu Na |
| Section 4 | 7 to 8 | 0 · khali · wave | Kat Ta |
| Section 5 | 9 to 10 | 3 · clap | DhaGe TiRaKiTa |
| Section 6 | 11 to 12 | 4 · clap | Dhin Na |
Bols are the spoken names of tabla strokes. Where a bol is spelled differently by different teachers, we say which spelling we print in the section below.
Why a taal with four claps is called “one clap”
Ek means one, and Courtney translates the name literally as “one-clap”. He adds that how it got that name is a mystery, since the cycle has four claps. Gangolli’s course notes give a reason: the taal used to have only one tali and one khali. Either way, do not count claps to recognise Ektaal. Count the two waves, on 3 and 7.
How to count Ektaal
Count twelve beats in pairs:
1 2 | 3 4 | 5 6 | 7 8 | 9 10 | 11 12
Clap on 1 (sam, X), wave on 3 (0), clap on 5 (2), wave on 7 (0), clap on 9 (3) and clap on 11 (4). Beats 4 and 10 carry TiRaKiTa, four quick bols inside one beat.
Teachers do not all group these twelve beats the same way. Gangolli notes some think of them as 4+4+4, as six pairs, or as 4+4+2+2, and says the important thing is the khali at 7. SurRoots and most of the sources below use six pairs.
Kat Ta or Kat Tin?
The bols agree except on beat 8. DigiTabla, Courtney and Gangolli write Kat Ta; SwarGanga writes Kat Tin. DigiTabla adds that players learn the same spoken bols but may play certain ones differently, especially Tu, Na, Kat and Ta. SurRoots shows beat 8 as Tin.
How fast is Ektaal played?
Ektaal is the taal of slow khayal: Courtney says the slow movement, bada khayal, is performed almost exclusively in very slow Ektaal, though Ektaal is also used in fast khayal. A study of Hindustani recordings found the same split: plenty of slow (vilambit, 10 to 60 matras per minute) and fast (drut, above 150) Ektaal, and almost no medium-tempo (60 to 150) Ektaal. In SurRoots, one BPM is one matra per minute, the same unit.
One Ektaal cycle takes 9 seconds at SurRoots’ Slow preset (80 BPM), 6 seconds at Medium (120) and 5 seconds at Fast (145).
Practise Ektaal with SurRoots
- Press Open Ektaal in SurRoots. The taal menu is already set to Ektaal (12).
- Pick a tempo (start with Slow) and press the round play button.
- Clap and wave along. Basic keeps a steady theka with no variations; Pro adds variations, fills and a tihai.
- Press the tabla’s stop button once to end on sam, the way a tabla player would.
Try this: at Slow (80 BPM), clap the six pairs and notice how little time TiRaKiTa gets on beats 4 and 10. Then listen to how the cycle feels when you double the tempo with the ÷2 and ×2 buttons.
Questions about Ektaal
Why is Ektaal called one-clap if it has four claps?
The name literally means “one-clap”. David Courtney calls the reason a mystery, since the cycle has four claps. Gangolli’s notes say it once had only one tali and one khali.
How is Ektaal different from Teentaal?
Ektaal has 12 beats in six sections of two, with two waves (beats 3 and 7). Teentaal has 16 beats in four sections of four, with one wave (beat 9). Ektaal is the usual taal for slow khayal.
Is the eighth beat Ta or Tin?
Sources differ. DigiTabla, Courtney and Gangolli write Kat Ta; SwarGanga writes Kat Tin. SurRoots shows Tin.
The other six taals in SurRoots
- Teentaal: 16 beats, 4+4+4+4. The most common taal in north Indian classical music.
- Jhaptaal: 10 beats, 2+3+2+3. A medium-tempo taal with uneven sections.
- Rupak: 7 beats, 3+2+2. The one taal that starts on a wave.
- Dadra: 6 beats, 3+3. The light-music taal of film songs, bhajans and ghazals.
- Keherwa: 8 beats, 4+4. The folk-and-film taal, spelled four ways.
- Deepchandi: 14 beats, 3+4+3+4. Four silent beats and two versions.
Sources
Beats, sections, marks and bols checked against these pages on 6 November 2026. Where they disagree, we say so above rather than pick one quietly.