The first composition

The first composition we will play today is terekete takataka. This composition is the foundation of the bols we will be dealing frequently in future.

Te Re Ke Te | Ta Ka Ta Ka

Refer bols and sounds for knowing how to play these.

Once you are comfortable with the basic composition, we can add variations in it.

Te Re Ke Te | Ta Ka Ta Ka | Ta Ka Te Re | Ke Te Ta Ka

Te Re Ke Te | Ta Ka Te Re | Ke Te Ta Ka | Te Re Ke Te

Ta Ka Ta Ka | Te Re Ke Te | Ke Te Ta Ka | Te Re Ke Te

Ta Ka Ta Ka | Te Re Ke Te | Te Re Ke Te | Ke Te Ta Ka

The bols

In the first lesson, I have mentioned the basic strokes and bols of tabla.

Right hand: tha/na, thi/thin, the/thi/thit, te/re, thu/thun, din
Left hand: ka/ke/ki/kat, ga/ge/gi
Combined: dha(ga+tha), dhin(ga+thin)

In today's lesson, I will explain you how to play these bols.

Right hand bols

tha/na : Keep ring and small fingers on lower right side of syahi, middle finger on air, strike the chanti part in the left side with the beginning of the index finger and immediately lift the same. There will be an open sound which is na/tha.

thi/thin : Keep ring and small fingers on lower right side of syahi, middle finger on air, strike the left maidan part pushing towards the syahi part with the beginning of the index finger and immediately lift the same. This sound is thi/thin.

the/thi/thit : Keeping middle, ring and small fingers straight and together, hit the syahi so that middle finger hits exactly at the middle of syahi, this is a closed bol, therefore, do not lift the fingers immediatelt after hitting.

te/re : This is a closed bol which is played on the syahi. This bol is played with the index finger hitting straight on the middle of the syahi and not immediately lifting the same. Usually this bol is played after the.

thu/thun : Index finger hitting the lower right of the syahi and immediately lifting produces this sound. This is an open bol. It is to be noted that the none of the fingers should touch the skin while playing this bol.

din : Keep index, middle, ring and small finger together straight and hit the lower syahi part and come back. It is an open bol.

Left hand bols

ka/ke/ki/kat : This is the bol which is closed and played on the bayan. Keep the wrist near the lower side of syahi, where distance between syahi and chanti is long and hit the syahi with all the fingers with palm. While playing this bol, the tip of the fingers touch the maidan of the upper side. This is a closed bol.

ga/ge/gi : This is the bol which is open and played on the bayan. Keep the wrist near the lower side of syahi, where distance between syahi and chanti is long. Keep the hand palm and fingers curved(half closed). Now hit the other side of syahi where distance between chanti and syahi is less with the tip of the index or middle finger and lift back. Do not press the dayan too much with the wrist.

Combined bols:

dha(ga+tha) : Play ga and tha together.
dhin(ga+thin) : Play ga and thin together.


Assignment : Identify the bols below based on the description above.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Posture and hand position

Welcome to TablaWiki. In this lesson, I will discuss about the posture and hand positions while playing tabla.

Beerasana position is the most common posture tabla players follow. But any comfortable equivalent posture is alright. While playing, you should not shake other parts of the body. You should keep your back straight.

The distance between you and the tabla should be kept at minimum. Also, there should be hardly any gap between the two tablas. A lot of players keep the dayan angling against the player.

The bayan's syahi is not in the middle of the skin. Most of the players keep the syahi to the far side from them. Both the hands should not be too straight or too much folded while playing.

Tabla position(picture courtesy: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Tabla.jpg)

The learners should pay utmost importance about the posture in the initial days so that it continues to stay with them in course of time.

For dayan, we can keep the fingers in two different categories. In one part, thumb and the index finger and in another part its middle, ring and the little finger. These two categories create different sounds(bols) in tabla. As an initial position, when we keep our hand on dayan, it should be noted that the ring finger stays in the right hand of the syahi's initial part and the little finger always stick to the ring finger. These two fingers need not be straight, but slightly bent in the joint. The middle finger should be above the syahi. It should not touch the syahi, rather 1/2 inch to 1 inch above the same. The index finger should be towards the chanti. The thumb sits near the gajara but it should not hang it from there.

While playing, the hands should neither rise too much above the skin nor the fingers are too much open. It should be such that the player can comfortably play any kind of bol without much unnecessary movement.

Similarly, in case of bayan, the wrist in the back of the hand should sit at the edge of the syahi, which is towards the player. This way, the fingers will sit half folded in the other side of the syahi. The portion between wrist and elbow joint sits near the gajara.

Tabla playing posture and hand position

Origin | The first lesson

Music, Rhythm and Avanaddha Vadya

Welcome to TablaWiki. It is my humble attempt to give back whatever I have learnt in the field of tabla so far. If anyone is benefited out of this attempt, I would be really happy.

Sarangadev's renowned book Sangeeta Ratnakara mentioned - 

"Geetang Vadyang tatha Nhrytyam Trayang Sangeetam Uchyote" - which means song, instrument or dance are nothing but sangeet or music. 

The basic elements of music are melody, harmony and rhythm. Tabla falls in rhythm music. Then Indian music instruments are divided into four categories, namely Tata vadya(string instruments), Sushira vadya(wind instruments), Avanaddha vadya(membrane covered) and Ghana vadya(solid percussion instrument). Tabla is a an avanaddha vadya where the open end is covered with skin surface, which is slapped to produce sound. 

The science of tabla sound is really interesting. The placement of different parts of your palm, finger with different shape, force, duration, impulse time create mesmerising melodies and rhythms.

Origin

The history of tabla is very old. You can read more about it in history and origin. In a nutshell, some people think that the origin of tabla is from moghuls, but some researchers say its India's indigenous instrument. There are mentions of tabla like instruments along with Mridangam in pre fifth century india's temples. Many researchers think that Amir Khusro, the 13th century iconic musician, poet and scholar who is the father of Sufi music, invented tabla considering his immense contribution to Indian music at that time. He is known to have invented many other musical instruments during that time as well. However, till now, no one is agreed upon single theory of tabla origin.

Tabla
picture courtesy: https://www.pinterest.com/hanahhaydari/music/

Lesson

The tabla theory lessons are going to be very brief considering that a lot of materials are already available in the internet. Having said that, the tutor will try to give the right direction to the learners. Now if you do not have a pair of tabla, its high time you should buy one. How to choose one, the tutor will guide you.

Components 

It is very important to know each component of tabla. It has two basic parts, the dayan(right) part and that bayan(left) part considering a right handed person. The dayan gives treble sound whereas the bayan gives bass. Without the skin and other parts, both dayan and bayan are just like hollow containers with one side open. The dayan is typically made of wood whereas bayan is made of either clay or steel most commonly. The layers of skins(leather) are lied on the open side precisely inline with gajara(refer picture) and tied with baddhi(braces made out of leather). Syahi is a round black coloured layer made out of flour, water and iron fillings. It is nicely described in the wiki. Gatta is a wooden cylindrical part in dayan for tightening or loosening the baddhi so that pitch of the playing surface can be adjusted. Gadi is the ring at the bottom where each tabla sits. For fine tuning, along with the gatta, gajara is also used by hammering it down for higher pitch and hammering up for lower pitch. Maidan is the base skin where syahi is fixed. Another layer of skin is seen towards the edge near the gajra, which is called chanti.

Basic strokes and bols

Right hand: tha/na, thi/thin, the/thi/thit, te/re, thu/thun, din

Left hand: ka/ke/ki/kat, ga/ge/gi

Combined: dha(ga+tha), dhin(ga+thin)

Apart from the above, there are other bols which are played often. They are - dhe, dhik, kran, thik, ne, rha etc. These are not independent bols but combination of two or more bols. Just an FYI, the bols may be little different in different geographical locations and different gharanas.  

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