tabla
Thabla, tubblaa

Classification Indian Percussion instrument, goatskin heads with syahi Professional Tabla form Pakrashi. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Percussion redirects here. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Tabla. ... Playing range Bolt tuned or rope tuned with dowels and hammer Related instruments Pakhavaj, Mridangam, Khol The playing range of a musical instrument is the region of pitch in which it can play, i. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The Pakhavaj, also called Mardal, Pakuaj, Pakhvaj or Mardala, is an ancient Indian barrel shaped percussion instrument which is similar to the mridangam. ... The mridangam is a percussion instrument from South India. ... Small drumhead of a khol The khol also known as a mrdanga is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music (bhakti). ... More articles Zakir Hussain, Hindustani classical music, Amir Khusrau, Alla Rakha, Trilok Gurtu, Chatur Lal To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Hindustani Classical Music is an Indian classical music tradition that took shape in northern India in the 13th and 14th centuries AD from existing religious, folk, and theatrical performance practices. ... Abul Hasan Yaminuddin Khusrau (1253-1325 AD), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi, is one of Indias greatest poets. ... Ustad Allah Rakha (April 29, 1919 - February 3, 2000) was a master of the tabla, a classical Hindustani instrument. ... Trilok Gurtu is an Indian percussionist, widely acclaimed by his unique and awesome approach to music. ... Chatur Lal (born in Udaipur in 1925, died in 1965) was a tabla maestro, born into a musical family in Rajasthan, India. ...

The tabla (Hindi: तब्ला, tablā, Urdu: تبلہ) is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word which means "drum". Hindi (DevanāgarÄ«: or , IAST: , IPA:  ), an Indo-European language spoken all over India in varying degrees and extensively in northern and central India, is one of the 22 official languages of India and is used, along with English, for central government administrative purposes. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... Percussion redirects here. ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Hindustani Classical Music is an Indian classical music tradition that took shape in northern India in the 13th and 14th centuries AD from existing religious, folk, and theatrical performance practices. ... A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played by striking it with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. ... Arabic redirects here. ...

History

The history of this instrument is at times the subject of heated debate. The most common historical account credits the 13th century Indian poet Amir Khusrau as having invented the instrument, by splitting a Pakhawaj into two parts. However, none of his own writings on music mention the drum (nor the string instrument sitar). Another common historical narrative portrays the tabla as being thousands of years old, yet this is mere conjecture, based on slipshod interpretations of iconography. Reliable historical evidence places the invention of this instrument in the 18th century, and the first verifiable player of this drum was Ustad Siddar Khan of Delhi. (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Abul Hasan Yaminuddin Khusrau (1253-1325 AD), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi, is one of Indias greatest poets. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Diagram of some sitar parts. ...

Gharānā — tabla tradition

The transformation of the tabla from a religious-folk instrument to an instrument of art-music occurred in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, when significant changes took place in the feudal court music of North India. The majority of the performers were Muslim and resided in or near the centers of Mughal power and culture such as Delhi, Lucknow, Allahabad, Hyderabad, and Lahore. However, one notable group of Hindu hereditary musicians was located in the holy city of Varanasi. In public performances, tabla players were primarily accompanists to vocalists and instrumentalists; however, they developed a sophisticated solo repertoire that they performed in their own musical gatherings. It is this solo repertoire along with student-teacher lineages that are the defining socio-cultural elements of tabla tradition known by the Hindi term gharānā (ghar = "house" Hindi, -ānā = "of the" Persian). The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... For other uses, see Delhi (disambiguation). ... , Varanasi (Sanskrit: वाराणसी VārāṇasÄ«, IPA:  ), also known as Benares (Hindi: , Urdu: , IPA: ), or Kashi (Hindi: ), is a famous Hindu holy city situated on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... For the 1961 Hindi film, see Gharana. ...

Most performers and scholars recognize two styles of gharana: Dilli Baj and Purbi Baj. Dilli (or Delhi) baj comes from the style that developed in Delhi, and Purbi (meaning eastern) baj developed in the area east of Delhi. They then recognize six gharānās of tabla. They appeared or evolved in the following order, presumably:

1. Delhi gharānā
2. Lucknow gharānā
3. Ajrara gharānā later followed by
4. Farukhabad gharānā
5. Benares gharānā
6. Punjab gharānā

Other tabla performers have identified further derivations of the above traditions, but these are subjective claims. Some traditions indeed have sub-lineages and sub-styles that meet the criteria to warrant a separate gharānā name, but such socio-musical identities have not taken hold in the public discourse of Hindustani art music, such as the Qasur lineage of tabla players of the Punjab region. The Delhi Gharana is the oldest of all tabla gharanas, and is also the first to establish improvisation rules. ... Lucknow is one of the six main gharānās in tabla. ... Banaras gharānā is one of the six most common styles of playing of the Indian tabla. ... Punjab Gharana (sometimes called Punjabi or Panjabi Gharana), is a style and technique of tabla playing used in the Punjab region of India. ...

Each gharānā is traditionally set apart from the others by unique aspects of the compositional and playing styles of its exponents. For instance, some gharānās have different tabla positioning and bol techniques. In the days of court patronage the preservation of these distinctions was important in order to maintain the prestige of the sponsoring court. Gharānā secrets were closely guarded and often only passed along family lines. Being born into or marrying into a lineage holding family was often the only way to gain access to this knowledge. Tabla Positioning typically depends on the gharānā (technique) the tabla player is using. ... A bol, is a mnemonic syllable. ...

Today many of these gharānā distinctions have been blurred as information has been more freely shared and newer generations of players have learned and combined aspects from multiple gharānās to form their own styles. There is much debate as to whether the concept of gharānā even still applies to modern players. Some think the era of gharānā has effectively come to an end as the unique aspects of each gharānā have been mostly lost through the mixing of styles and the socio-economic difficulties of maintaining lineage purity through rigorous training.

Nonetheless the greatness of each gharānā can still be observed through study of its traditional material and, when accessible, recordings of its great players. The current generation of traditionally trained masters still hold vast amounts of traditional compositional knowledge and expertise.

This body of compositional knowledge and the intricate theoretical basis which informs it is still actively being transmitted from teacher to student all over the world. In addition to the instrument itself, the term "tabla" is often used in reference to this knowledge and the process of its transmission.

Nomenclature and construction

The smaller drum, played with the dominant hand, is called dāyāñ (lit. "right"; a.k.a. dāhina, siddha, chattū) and can also be referred to individually as "tabla." It is made from a conical piece of wood hollowed out to approximately half of its total depth. One of the primary tones on the drum is tuned to a specific note, and thus contributes to and complements the melody. The tuning range is limited although different dāyāñ-s are produced in different sizes, each with a different range. For a given dāyāñ, to achieve harmony with the soloist, it will usually be necessary to tune to either the tonic, dominant or subdominant of the soloist's key. Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. ... This article is about the musical term solo; for other uses, see solo. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the scale. ... In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. ...

The larger drum, played with the other hand, is called bāyāñ (lit. "left"; aka. dagga, duggī, dhāmā). The bāyāñ may be made of any of a number of materials. Brass is the most common; copper is expensive, but generally held to be the best, while aluminium and steel are often found in inexpensive models. One sometimes finds wood used, especially in old bāyāñs from the Punjab. Clay is also used, although not favored for durability; these are generally found in the North-East region of Bengal. The bāyāñ has a much deeper bass tone, much like its distant cousin, the kettle drum. Bass (IPA: [], rhyming with face), when used as an adjective, describes tones of low frequency or range. ... In music, timbre, or sometimes timber, (from Fr. ... Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. ...

The playing technique for both drums involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different types of sounds; these are reflected in the mnemonic syllables (bol). On the bāyāñ the heel of the hand is also used to apply pressure, or in a sliding motion, so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay. This "modulating" effect on the bass drum and the wide range of sounds possible on the instrument as a whole are the main characteristics that make tabla unique among percussion instruments. A bol, is a mnemonic syllable. ... This article is about pressure in the physical sciences. ... Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. ...

Both drum shells are covered with a head (or puri) constructed from goat or cow skin. An outer ring of skin (keenar) is overlaid on the main skin and serves to suppress some of the natural overtones. These two skins are bound together with a complex woven braid that also gives the entire assembly enough strength to be tensioned onto the shell. The completed head construction is affixed to the drum shell with a single continuous piece of cow or camel hide strap laced between the braid of the head assembly and another ring (made from the same strap material) placed on the bottom of the drum. The strap is tensioned to achieve the desired pitch of the drum. Additionally, cylindrical wood blocks, known as ghatta, are inserted between the strap and the shell allowing the tension to be adjusted by their vertical positioning. Fine tuning is achieved by striking vertically on the braided portion of the head using a small hammer.

The skins of both drums also have an inner circle on the head referred to as the syahi (lit. "ink"; a.k.a. shāī or gāb). This is constructed using multiple layers of a paste made from starch (rice or wheat) mixed with a black powder of various origins. The precise construction and shaping of this area (especially on the smaller drum) is responsible for modification of the drum's natural overtones, resulting in the clarity of pitch and variety of tonal possibilities unique to this instrument. The skill required for the proper construction of this area is highly refined and is the main differentiating factor in the quality of a particular instrument. A drumhead is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Tabla. ...

For stability while playing, each drum is positioned on a toroidal bundle called chutta, consisting of plant fiber or another malleable material wrapped in cloth. A toroid is a doughnut-shaped object whose surface is a torus. ... It has been suggested that Textile be merged into this article or section. ...

There are basically two styles of tablas in general use: Bombay and Calcutta. The Bombay, also made in and around Pune, depending on quality, uses thicker skins and straps and has a thicker but smaller gab. The Bombay style tabla is a bit more rugged and can be played louder and with more mid-tone resonance without the worry of damaging the head. The Calcutta/Kolkata style tabla uses thinner skins, thinner straps and has a larger, thinner gab and is sharper in timbre with generally a little more sustain in the upper register. The drawback of the Calcutta-style tabla is that it will need to be reheaded a bit more often. There are hybrid tablas with the better characteristics of both locales. Zakir Hussain and Anindo Chatterjee regularly use both styles of tablas as well as hybrids made by the best makers.

See also

• tala
• bol
• Tabla terminology

In Indian classical music, Tala (tāl (Hindi), tāla (anglicised from talam; in Sanskrit), literally a clap, is a rhythmical pattern that determines the rhythmical structure of a composition. ... A bol, is a mnemonic syllable. ... Words associated with the tabla: Ustad - a muslim master of the tabla technique and gharānā, or school. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Tabla

• Virtual Tabla - Try playing the Tabla online
• Tabla Site -Hindustani Music Resources
• Intro and links by "Toronto Gharana"
• A Brief Introduction to Tabla and Indian Tal-s
• Info About Tabla from Rhombus Publishing
• Papers and musical excerpts by ethnomusicologist James Kippen
• Article on making the tabla
• Ravi Shankar teaches about tabla