A Theka (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Ṭhekā) literally means "support, prop". The term also refers to a musical composition in

classical Indian music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

for percussion instruments that establish a rhythm (''

Chanda Sanskrit prosody or Chandas refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Chandas" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , page 140 It is the study of Metre (poetr ...

''), beats (''Matras'') and the metric cycle of beats ('' Tala'') in a performance. A ''theka'' is the basic rhythmic phrase of a particular ''tala''. It is the underlying repeated pattern that shapes the time cycle of a musical expression.Kayal
Encyclopædia Britannica, Quote: "The rhythm of the melodic performance is nonmetric, but the percussion accompaniment is cast in a tala, and the time cycle is shaped by the repeated pattern (theka) performed by the accompanist." ''Theka'' is a term used by the drummers such as the ''

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

'' players.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *{{cite book, first=Emmie, last=Te Nijenhuis , author-link=Emmie te Nijenhuis , title=Indian Music: History and Structure , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrgfAAAAIAAJ , year=1974, publisher= BRILL Academic, isbn=90-04-03978-3 Indian classical music Hindustani music terminology Carnatic music terminology

See also

References

Bibliography