Jhaptaal tabla online: 10 beats, theka and free practice player
Jhaptaal has 10 beats in sections of 2, 3, 2 and 3. You clap on beats 1, 3 and 8 and wave on beat 6. Unlike Teentaal, the sections are uneven, so count it as “1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 3”. The theka is Dhin Na, Dhin Dhin Na, Tin Na, Dhin Dhin Na.
Free, no sign-up. SurRoots opens on the Tabla panel with Jhaptaal 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.
Jhaptaal at a glance
| Beats | 10 |
|---|---|
| Sections (vibhag) | 2+3+2+3 |
| Clap and wave | Claps on beats 1, 3 and 8; wave on beat 6 |
| Pattern | Clap, clap, wave, clap |
| Tempo | Medium tempo (60 to 150 matras per minute); not played fast |
| Often heard in | Khayal, tarana, bhajan and Rabindra Sangeet |
| Also spelled | Jhaptal, Jhap Taal |
The Jhaptaal theka, section by section
| Section | Beats | Mark | Bols |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | 1 to 2 | X · sam · clap | Dhin Na |
| Section 2 | 3 to 5 | 2 · clap | Dhin Dhin Na |
| Section 3 | 6 to 7 | 0 · khali · wave | Tin Na |
| Section 4 | 8 to 10 | 3 · clap | Dhin 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.
How to count an uneven cycle
The ten beats fall into two short groups of two and two longer groups of three:
1 2 | 3 4 5 | 6 7 | 8 9 10
Clap on 1 (sam, X), 3 (marked 2) and 8 (marked 3). Wave on 6 (0). The wave covers a two-beat section, Tin Na, which is the only place the cycle has a Tin. If you have been counting Teentaal in fours, note that here the next clap comes after two or three beats, never four.
Why uneven sections change how it feels
Unlike Teentaal, Jhaptaal is not symmetrical. The Frontiers study quotes the musicologist Chakrabarty (2000): taals with sections of unequal length are best suited to slow and medium tempi, where the accents are prominent and it is still easy to keep the whole cycle in mind. That matches the study’s own recordings, where Jhaptaal sits in medium tempo and not in fast.
Where you will hear Jhaptaal
Courtney calls it the most common 10-beat taal in northern India, found in khayal, tarana, bhajan and Rabindra Sangeet. Gangolli lists it among the thekas in common use.
Where the sources differ
Almost nowhere. SwarGanga, Courtney, Gangolli and DigiTabla all give the same 2-3-2-3 split and the same bols; they only spell them a little differently (SwarGanga writes dhiM and tiM, DigiTabla dhin and tin). We print DigiTabla’s spelling, Dhin and Tin.
How fast is Jhaptaal played?
Jhaptaal is a medium-tempo (madhya) taal. In a study of Hindustani recordings, the authors found medium tempo, 60 to 150 matras per minute, was where Jhaptaal lived: they found no fast (drut) Jhaptaal and only six slow (vilambit) pieces. SurRoots’ BPM is the same unit, and its three presets (80, 120 and 145 BPM) all fall inside that medium band.
One Jhaptaal cycle takes 7.5 seconds at SurRoots’ Slow preset (80 BPM), 5 seconds at Medium (120) and 4.1 seconds at Fast (145).
Practise Jhaptaal with SurRoots
- Press Open Jhaptaal in SurRoots. The taal menu is already set to Jhaptaal (10).
- 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: set Medium (120 BPM) and say “1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 3” aloud, clapping on the first number of each group and waving on the third group’s start.
Questions about Jhaptaal
How do I count Jhaptaal?
In groups of 2, 3, 2 and 3: “1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 3”. Clap on beats 1, 3 and 8, and wave on beat 6.
Is Jhaptaal used for fast music?
Not in the recordings studied. A study of Hindustani recordings found Jhaptaal in medium tempo (60 to 150 matras per minute), with no fast examples and very few slow ones.
Where is the khali in Jhaptaal?
On beat 6, the start of the third section. You wave your hand, and the bols are Tin Na.
The other six taals in SurRoots
- Teentaal: 16 beats, 4+4+4+4. The most common taal in north Indian classical music.
- Ektaal: 12 beats, six pairs, two waves. The taal of slow khayal.
- 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.