Dhol Beats - Breaks / Thora's and Tirkits

Na * Dha Na Dha Na Dha *

Kin Ge Na-Na Kin Ge Na-Na Dha *

Kin Ge Na Kin Ge Na Dha *

Kin Ge Na-Na Dha Dha Dha Dha *

Above there are 4 different types of breaks / thora's that you can integrate within your dhol playing. Let's take it one step further and I'll show you exactly how...

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Kin Ge Na-Na Kin Ge Na-Na Dha *

In the above compilation you can see that short simple chaal is played and repeated three times followed by a single thora (bar 25 - 32)...

Let's now look at a variety of different tirkits..

Dha TIR KIT Dha TIR KIT Dha *

Dha Dha TIR KIT Dha Dha TIR KIT

Dha Take TIR KIT Take Take TIR KIT

Dha Take TIR KIT Take Take TIR KIT
Kin Take TIR KIT Take Take TIR KIT

When playing the tirkit's be mindful that you need to position them within the correct order alongside chaal. I have deliberately placed them in different positions on the video so that you are able to tell the difference between those that sound right and those that do not.

As a general rule of thumb, with an 8-beat long tirkit, use it as the whole bar replacement for the 4th, 8th etc bar of chaal so that the final beat of the tirkit is where the final beat of that 4 beat cycle is.

To give you an example, if you would like to play the tirkit within the first four bars of chaal, then ensure you play 3 bars of chaal and replace the fourth bar with the 8 beat tirkit. Alternatively, if you would like to play it within a 16 beat cycle then play 15 bars and replace the 16th with the 8 beat tirkit.

If you are playing an extended tirkit with for example 16 beats, then simply play one less bar of chaal so it will fit within the composition. With the previous example of 16 bars of chaal you would play 14 bars and then implement the 16 beat tirkit to replace the 15 and 16th bars of the composition.

So lets play four bars of chaal and implement the tirkit..

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Dha TIR KIT Dha Dha TIR KIT

As you can see in bars 25 - 32, we have implemented a 8 beat tirkit..

So what happens when the tirkit is extended so 16 beats? Well let's have a look right now.. We will extend the chaal to 8 cycles and cut it off after 6 so we have a spare 16 beats to implement the 16 beat tirkit.. Make sense? Check it out..

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Na Na Na Na Dha Dha Na

Dha Take TIR KIT Take Take TIR KIT

Kin Take TIR KIT Take Take TIR KIT

As you can see we have 6 cycles of chaal followed by a sixteen beat tirkit (41-56) and we are still in time and in the correct format..

Hope all of that made sense, I must admit that it has become quite complex towards the end.. Feel free to comment, ask questions and share with your friends. Peace!