Drums of India - I “The Tabla”

Tabla is a traditional Indian drum which consists of a pair of drums different in size. It is said that the Tabla was invented by Amir Khusro in sometime in the 13th Century. Amir Khusro was a court poet and a prolific musician in the court of the Khilji Dynasty of North India. It is believed that he broke a “Pakhawaj”, another Indian drum into two pieces to create the “Tabla”.

The Tabla as said before is a pair of two drums, one small and one bigger. The bigger is usually played with the left hand and is called the Dagga or Baayaa. This is played with the fingers of the left hand to create the Bass sound. The smaller one is played with the fingers of right hand and is called the Daayaa or Tabla. The Dagga is usually made of big pot shaped aluminium, copper or even clay. Goat skin is tightly tied on this pot and is made like a drum. A tar like paste is also applied on the skin which is called “Syahi” this dries up and helps in producing melodious bass from the Dagga. It is also packed at the border by another layer of goat skin. This is called “chaanti”. The daayaa also is similarly made like the Dagga but it is made of a smaller wooden block cut in the shape of a trunk of a coconut tree. It is hollowed till half way of the block and then is covered by goat skin and syahi and chaanti. The baddi, or leather strips which tighten the goat skin or the maidan to the Daayaa is adjusted by bamboo shaped small finger sized wooden pieces called the Gattu or Gutta. The daayaa is tuned with the singer’s pitch by adjusting the gattus and the mohri with a small hammer. This gives the daayaa a melodious sound.

Tabla has been the most commonly used percussion instrument in Indian Classical and folk and traditional music. This instrument has been appreciated world wide because of its melodious sound and rhythm. Tabla is also used in several western compositions to give it a unique feel. There have been and there are many maestros of tabla who have attained mastery in the Art of playing the Indian drum. Ustad Alla Rakha and his son Ustad Zakir Hussain have made the tabla popular all over the world. The tabla maestros of the present generation are Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Taufique Qureshi, etc. These maestros have experiment the use of tabla in Fusion music with the western instruments.

The series of music “Elements” released by the Music Company, “Music Today” is a collector’s delight. This series features music describing the five elements of nature. Amongst these five albums, the part “Space” has been directed by Ustad Zakir Hussain. This album is the ultimate experience to explore the Tabla.

The Tabla is taught by different gurus hailing from different “Gharanas” or Universities of Tabla teaching. Amongst the 7 Gharanas, Delhi and Punjab Gharana have produced the largest number of Tabla players in India and around. Every Gharana has a unique style of arranging the “Bols” (divisions of rhythm) as per their tradition and style. The rhythms remain the same usually in subdivisions of 6 and 8. But different Gharanas have different styles of presenting and playing the same rhythm. The rhythm patterns are called Taala. This is the Hindustani version of beats. There are levels of learning the Tabla in music schools or gurukuls. This study pattern is similar to the pattern of any other school or education institute. A pupil can become Bachelor of Music is a period of 7 years and a Visharad in 5 years. The first Taal or Rhythm which is taught to the pupil is the “Daadra” which is of 6 beats. Then cometh the 8 beat “Keherwa”. The starting Bol of each Taal is called the “Summ”. Summ starts the rhythm. The off beat is called the “Khaali”. A rotation of the Taal is not complete without at last one “Khaali”. The Summ and the Khaali and other bols are depicted by different weights of sounds.

Tabla is the most precious and respected percussion instrument of India and the Indian sub continent. Tabla is played as accompaniment with all other lead instruments and vocals in India and around. There is a different style of playing the tabla with different genres of Hindustani music like ghazals, bhajan, qawwali, geet, etc.

Linus Orakles
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