The next step is to learn to simultaneously play the kānsā in chotār tāl and sing the lyrics. Expect a somewhat longer learning curve here but be persistent. First, repeatedly listen to the audio below of the last stanza of the popular bhajan "Vaishnav Jan To". The rāga is kālero. The tāl for this stanza is chotār. Notice the slow tempo in the beginning with a call "hare ho...".
At first, sing and play the tāl with hands without using kānsā.
વણલોભી ને કપટરહિત છે, કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યા રે;
ભણે નરસૈયોં તેનું દર્શન કરતા, કુળ ઇકોતેર તાર્યા રે ... ૪
van-lobhi ne kapat-rahit chhe, kām krodh ni-vāryā re
bhane nar-sai-yo tenu darshan kar-tā, kul iiko-ter tāryā re ... 4
chotār (or chotāl)
He is the true Vaishnava who knows and feels another's woes as his own;
While serving others in suffering and pain, doesn’t entertain pride in one’s mind.
Until you are able to simultaneously play the tāl and sing the lyrics, keep listening to the audio a minimum of fifty times daily. You may find it difficult to simultaneously play the kānsā and sing but keep at it daily for a month or two and eventually you will be able to do this with ease. The ending for the chotār tāl is very simple though.
The chotār tāl is the default tāl in many hindolā bhajans for Janmāshtami - a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. For rāgs such as malhār, malhār chhappe, hindolā-ni sāmeri, rishikesh sāmeri, bihāg fer and mevādo, chotār is played by default. Learning to play chotār and simultaneously sing the hindolā bhajans will also have a longer learning curve. For simplicity here, we are just learning to play chotār with rāg kālero only. In the next section, we will look into fast chotār and gisaliyu tāls.
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