Please note: Answers to some of these questions are explored more fully in the Takadimi article or in The Rhythm Book.
What is the connection to Indian music?
Who developed this system?
How does Takadimi compare to other systems?
Where does Takadimi work best?
What about counting the beat?
You use the term “Western tonal rhythm.” Can you explain?
What is the connection to Indian music?
In Indian music, “takadimi” is the expression used to vocalize a division of the pulse into four. Indian musicians learn long and complex pieces by memorizing long and complex sequences of syllables. Indian music is not metric and does not divide the beat in patterns the way Western musicians think of it. So the Takadimi system borrows the term from Indian music, but applies it in a very different way. We like the “word” takadimi because it is easy to say quickly. The consonant/vowel combinations seems to work together for good speed and accuracy. (Indian musicians can say it repeatedly at almost imperceptible speeds.) And because it is not based in any way on English, is quite adaptable to other languages.
Takadimi has roots in classical Indian music (see above). The word and some notion of applying it to Western rhythm were introduced in the US by jazz musicians in the mid-20th century, who began to explore Indian musical traditions and incorporate these sounds and organizational concepts in their own music.
The rhythm system described in these pages was developed in the mid-1990s by a number of faculty teaching at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. In 1996, after several years of experimenting and trying ideas in the classroom, three colleagues, Richard Hoffman, William Pelto, and John W. White, wrote an article titled “Takadimi: A Beat-Oriented System of Rhythm Pedagogy” published in the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy (vol. 10). In the years since, many others have learned about Takadimi through reading the article, attending workshops, in college courses, or by word of mouth.
How does Takadimi compare to other systems?
We believe that using rhythm solfege is important to learning. Both research and experience suggests this is true. (see Bibiography) We also believe that beat-oriented systems are better for learning than notation- or language-based systems. Again, research supports this position.
There are a number of beat-oriented systems, any of which can benefit learning. The Takadimi article explores these other system in some detail. Teachers who use Takadimi usually come to the conclusion that it has some advantages over the others. I will summarize them:
- The syllables are easy to say, and have no English laguage bias.
- Simple and compound meter coordinate easily. (The syllable “di” coordinates the mid-point in both types.)
- Each attack point has a different syllable, so each pattern has a distinct sound.
- Complex applications like “2 against 3”, “3 against 4,” mixed meter, and asymmetic meter follow naturally from the same syllbales and concepts.
- The syllables work well pre-notationally with children and can be used in call and response games with no other musical knowledge.
- The nomenclature matches what is most often taught in college, so it can be used seamlessly from pre-school through grad school.
Where does Takadimi work best?
While Takadimi was developed with college classes in mind, it is being used successfully in many K - 12 music programs, in ensembles and church choirs, by private percussion and piano teachers, and of course in colleges. Because it can be used before learning to read music notation, it works well for introducing basic concepts with children. But the system is also robust enough to handle quite complex modern rhythms as well.
topTakadimi is not a counting system. It differs in this way from the familiar “1 ee and uh” and similar methods. Counting or knowing where in the measure you are is important. It is our opinion, however, that this information should be perceived separate from the rhythm patterns. This is clear from experience. In ensembles the conductor shows the beat (or a related level of steady pulse) while the other performers perform the rhythm. We may tap our foot or move our hand with the beat, but the rhythm and the beat remain on separate levels or layers of experience. Takadimi focuses on the surface rhythm. Awareness of the beat is critical, but is carried out in another way, through conducting for example.
topYou use the term “Western tonal rhythm.” Can you explain?
Even though the word “takadimi” comes from India music, the rhythm we are talking about here is Western tonal rhythm, that is, the rhythm associated with tonal music popularized in Europe and the US since about 1600. Most classical music and virtually all popular, jazz, and folk music could be described as “Western tonal music.” Indian music, African music, and the music of many other places in the world is not based on the same rhythmic and metric system as tonal music. In Western music, regular pulses are grouped into patterns of strong and weak beats. These patterns are normally very short, only 2, 3, or 4 beats long, and are written as measures in tonal music. Non-western most often is not grouped in short recurring metric patterns, but rather features long cycles.
The rhythm we are talking about here, then is metric music with short recurring patterns of beats we group into measures. This is the kind of rhythm and meter that grew up along with tonal music in Western Europe in the 1600s and 1700s, and so it is called Western tonal rhythm.
