A tabla is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the main drum instrument in Hindustani classical music. It can be played alone, with other instruments and singing, or in larger musical groups. The tabla is often used in popular and folk music performances in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It is an important instrument in the bhakti devotional traditions of Hinduism and Sikhism, such as during bhajan and kirtan singing. It is also one of the main instruments used in qawwali music by Sufi musicians. The tabla is used in dance performances like Kathak. It is a rhythmic instrument.

The word "tabla" likely comes from "tabl," the Arabic word for drum. Scholars disagree about the instrument's origin, but the earliest evidence shows it evolved from traditional drums of the Indian subcontinent. Drum-like structures are mentioned in ancient texts from the Vedic era.

The tabla has two small drums of slightly different sizes and shapes. Each drum is made from hollowed-out wood, clay, or metal. The smaller drum (dayan/tabla) is used to create high-pitched and tonal sounds, while the larger drum (baya/dagga) is used to make low-pitched sounds. The drums have hoops, thongs, and wooden rods attached to their sides. These parts help adjust how tight the drum surfaces are, which helps tune the drums.

Playing the tabla requires complex techniques. Musicians use their fingers and palms in different ways to create many types of sounds and rhythms. These rhythms are often remembered using special syllables called "bol."

Origins

According to a legend, the tabla came from an ancient drum called mridana, which a god named Krishna is said to have cut in half. The history of the tabla began in Afghanistan, but it is unclear which ruler brought it to India. There are two main groups of ideas about its origin: one suggests the instrument was already in India, while the other says it came from Muslim and Mughal invaders. Carvings in the Bhaja Caves support the idea that the instrument had Indian origins, but clear pictures of the drum only appear around 1745. The shape of the drum continued to change until the early 1800s.

The origin of the tabla is linked to an ancient Indian civilization. Stone carvings in the Bhaja Caves show a woman playing two drums, which some people believe proves the tabla has ancient roots in India. Another idea says the tabla took on a new name during Islamic rule, evolving from older Indian drums called puśkara. Evidence of these puśkara drums appears in carvings at temples from the 6th and 7th centuries, such as the Muktesvara and Bhuvaneswara temples. These carvings show drummers sitting with small drums, but it is unclear if the drums in the carvings were made the same way or played the same music as modern tabla.

Written records from ancient Indian texts describe drums similar to the tabla. The Hindu text Natyashastra, one of the oldest, explains how to build and play drums like the tabla. It also describes the use of special paste patches (syahi) on drums, which are found on modern tabla. Another text, Silappatikaram, written in the early part of the first millennium, lists many types of drums, including puśkara. The word "tabla" appears in later writings, not in this text.

One theory connects the word "tabla" to the Arabic word "tabl," meaning "drum." Historical records show that Muslim armies carried large paired drums called naqqara during invasions. These drums were used to scare people and animals, but they looked and sounded different from the modern tabla.

Another theory says a musician named Amir Khusraw, who was supported by a ruler named Sultan Alauddin Khalji, created the tabla by cutting an Awaj drum into two parts. However, no paintings, sculptures, or documents from his time support this claim. Muslim historians, such as Abul Fazi, who wrote about musical instruments during the 16th century, did not mention the tabla in their lists.

A third theory suggests that a musician named Amir Khusru, who lived in the 18th century, made the tabla by cutting a Pakhawaj drum into two parts. Paintings from this time show instruments that look somewhat like the tabla. This theory suggests the tabla developed within the Muslim community in India, not from Arabian influences. However, scholars like Neil Sorrell and Ram Narayan say this story is not supported by evidence.

History

Drums and Talas are mentioned in ancient religious texts from the Vedic era. A type of percussion instrument with two or three small drums, held with strings, called Pushkara (also spelled Pushkala) existed in the Indian subcontinent before the 5th century. Other drums, such as the Mridang, were also present during this time, but they were not called tabla. Pre-5th century paintings in the Ajanta Caves show a group of musicians playing small, upright seated drums that resemble tabla, a kettle-shaped mridang drum, and cymbals. Similar artwork, featuring seated musicians playing drums, is found in the Ellora Caves and other sites.

Small Indian drums, along with many other musical instruments, are also described in writings by Buddhist monks from Tibet and China who visited the Indian subcontinent during the 1st millennium CE. In Tibetan texts, the Pushkara drums are called rdzogs pa. These drums are also mentioned in ancient Jain and Buddhist writings, such as the Samavayasutra, Lalitavistara, and Sutralamkara.

Many Hindu and Jain temples, such as the Eklingji temple in Udaipur, Rajasthan, have stone carvings showing a person playing a pair of small drums similar to the tabla. Small drums were widely used during the Yadava rule (1210 to 1247) in southern India, a time when the musical text Sangita Ratnakara was written by Sarangadeva. The 14th-century Assamese poet Madhava Kandali, who wrote the Saptakanda Ramayana, listed several instruments in his version of the Ramayana, including tabal, jhajhar, dotara, vina, bīn, and vipanchi. This shows these instruments were in use by the 14th century or earlier.

There are images of drum-like structures dating back to 1799. Hindu temple carvings from around 500 BCE depict double-hand drums that look like the modern tabla. The tabla was widely used across ancient India. A Hoysaleshwara temple in Karnataka shows a carving of a woman playing the tabla during a dance performance.

According to the Natyashastra, an ancient guide to music and performance, the tabla is classified in the Avanadha Vadya category of rhythm instruments. These instruments are made by covering an empty vessel with stretched skin.

Construction and features

The tabla is made of two small drums with slightly different sizes and shapes. The smaller drum is called daya and is played with the right hand. The larger drum is called baya and is played with the left hand.

The daya drum is made from a cone-shaped piece of wood, mostly teak or rosewood, hollowed out to about half its depth. It is about 15 centimeters (6 inches) in diameter and 25 centimeters (10 inches) tall. The daya is tuned to a specific musical note, often the tonic, dominant, or subdominant of the soloist’s key. This note supports the melody of the raga called Sa, which is the tonic in Indian music. The drum’s tuning range is limited, but different sizes of daya drums produce different ranges. Cylindrical wood blocks, called Gatta, are placed between the strap and the drum shell to adjust tension. Fine-tuning is done by striking the braided part of the drum head with a small, heavy hammer. While the tabla usually has two drums, a version called tabla tarang may use 10 to 16 daya drums to play melodies based on multiple ragas.

The baya drum is slightly larger, about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in diameter and 25 centimeters (10 inches) tall. It is shaped like a kettledrum and has a deep, bass-like tone, similar to a kettle drum. The baya is made from materials such as brass, copper, aluminum, steel, or wood. Brass is most common, while copper is more expensive but preferred for quality. Some older baya drums from Punjab are made of wood, and clay is used in some regions of Bengal, though it is less durable. The baya drum is tuned to a note about a fifth to an octave lower than the daya. During a performance, the musician changes the pitch and tone by pressing the heel of their hand on the drum.

Each drum has a central area called syahi, a type of tuning paste made from starch (rice or wheat) mixed with black powder. Syahi is common in many Indian drums and helps create harmonic overtones, giving the tabla its unique sound. The way syahi is shaped and layered affects the drum’s pitch clarity and tonal variety. The skill required to make syahi is highly advanced and determines the quality of the instrument. The earliest mention of syahi is found in the ancient Hindu text Natyashastra.

To keep the drums stable during playing, each is placed on a round bundle called chutta or guddi, made of plant fibers wrapped in cloth. Musicians often sit cross-legged on the floor while playing the tabla.

Musical notation

Indian music has traditionally focused on practice and was not usually taught using written notes until the 20th century. Instead, the rules and songs were passed down from a teacher, called a guru, to a student, called a shishya, through direct instruction. Because of this, oral methods for teaching how to play the tabla and its compositions are very detailed and precise. These oral instructions use syllables that sound like the sounds they represent and are called bols.

Written notation is not required for learning Indian music and is not standardized. This means there is no single, universal system for writing Indian music that everyone uses. Two well-known systems for writing Indian music were developed by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. These systems are named after their creators. In both systems, bols are written using scripts such as Latin or Devanagari. Differences between the systems include how they represent musical elements like Taali, Khaali, Sum (the first beat in a rhythmic cycle), and Khand (divisions). Another difference is that the Bhatkhande system uses numbers to show beats and measures, while the Paluskar system uses more complex symbols to represent beats, their parts, and combinations.

Basic strokes

Tabla's playing style and methods include many features from Pakhavaj and Mridangam, which are played sideways using the palms. These drums have similar parts: the smaller pakhavaj head for the dayan, the naqqara kettledrum for the bayan, and the flexible use of the dholak's bass. Tabla is played from the top using "finger tip and hand percussive" techniques, which allow for more complex movements. The language of tabla is made up of different combinations of basic beats. These basic beats are divided into five major categories, with examples as follows:

• Bols played on the daya (right / treble drum):
• Na: Strike the edge of the syahi with the last two fingers of the right hand.
• Ta or Ra: Strike sharply with the index finger against the rim, while gently pressing the edge of the syahi with the ring finger to reduce the main sound.
• Tin: Place the last two fingers of the right hand lightly on the syahi and strike the border between the syahi and the maidan (resonant area).
• Te: Strike the center of the syahi with the middle finger in Delhi gharana, or with the middle, ring, and little fingers together in Varanasi style (non-resonant).
• Ti: Strike the center of the syahi with the index finger (non-resonant).
• Tun: Strike the center of the syahi with the index finger to create the main sound (resonant).
• TheRe: Strike the syahi with the palm.

• Bols played on the baya (left / bass drum):
• Ghe: Hold the wrist down, arch the fingers over the syahi, and strike the maidan (resonant area) with the middle and ring fingers.
• Ga: Strike the index finger.
• Ka, Ke, or Kat: Strike the bayan with the flat palm and fingers (non-resonant).

• Bols played on both drums at the same time:
• Dha: Combine Na with Ga or Ghe.
• Dhin: Combine Tin with Ga or Ghe.

• Bols played one after another in a row:
• Ti Re Ki Ta TaK: Play Ta followed by Ke.

• Bols played as a flam:
• Ghran: Play Ge immediately followed by Na.
• TriKe: Play Ti immediately followed by Ke and Te.

Tabla talas

Tala is the musical meter used in compositions. It is made up of groups of matras, which are beats in a set time cycle. Talas are created using basic sounds called bols. A matra is the number of beats in a rhythm. Talas can have between 3 and 108 matras. They are played in repeated cycles. The first beat of each cycle is called Sum. This beat is often shown with a special symbol like "X." It is the most important beat in the cycle. Other important parts of the tala are marked with a clap, called Tali, while empty parts, called Khali, are played more loosely. In Vishnu Narayanan Bhatkhande notation, Khali is shown with a "O." Tali is often marked with a number that shows its beat measure. Different sections or parts of a tala are called Vibhagas.

There are three main tempos or layas used when playing tabla talas: 1) Slow (vilambit) or half speed, 2) Medium (madhya) or standard speed, and 3) Fast (drut) or double speed. Using these three as a base, other variations are defined, such as Aadi laya, where bols are played at one and a half times the medium speed. Other examples include Ati Ati drut laya, which means a very fast tempo. Modern tabla players also use beats per minute to measure speed.

There are many talas in Hindustani music. Teental, also called trital, is one of the most popular talas played on the tabla. It has 16 beat measures or matras and can be written as four sections of four matras each. Teental can be played at both slow and fast speeds. Other talas, such as Dhamaar, Ek, Jhoomra, and Chau, are better suited for slow and medium tempos. Some talas, like Jhap or Rupak, work well at faster speeds. Some of the popular talas in Hindustani classical music include:

Tabla Gharanas

Tabla gharanas are groups that helped create new musical sounds, special ways of playing, different styles of music, and unique rhythm patterns. These groups kept these styles alive for many generations of tabla players. The first written records about gharanas date back to the early 1800s. The Delhi Gharana is believed to be the first and oldest traditional tabla style. Students from this group helped create other gharanas. Each gharana includes a few important players and teachers. These teachers are called "Pandit" for Hindu musicians and "Ustad" for Muslim musicians. In recent years, modern technology and easier travel have made it harder to keep strict rules between these groups.

• Delhi Gharana
• Lucknow Gharana
• Ajrada Gharana
• Farukhabad Gharana
• Benares Gharana
• Punjab Gharana

Kayda

A Kayda or Kaida is a type of Tabla composition. There are two main types of tabla compositions: fixed (pre-written) and improvised (created during practice or performance). A rhythmic theme is introduced first, and this theme is used as a starting point for creating music through improvisation or composition. The word "Kayda" comes from Arabic or Hindi and means "rule" or "a system of rules." The rules for playing a Kayda are complex, but in short, only the sounds (called bols) from the original theme can be used. This original theme is called a Mukh. Kayda originated in the Delhi Gharana of tabla playing and has three important roles for tabla players. The right side of the tabla, called Dayan or Dagga, and the left side, called Bayan or Tabla, are played together to form a Kayda. Kaydas can be played in any Tala. However, in most concerts, Teental and its Kaydas are played frequently. In some talas, like Dadra and Keherwa, or in thekas like Bhajani, laggis are played instead of Kaydas. This is because these talas and thekas are used for Semi-Classical and light music (such as Bhajans, Kirtans, and Thumris), not for Hindustani classical music. Each Gharana has its own unique Kaydas.

Basic structure of a Kayda:
1. Mukh – The basic sound (bol) that serves as the starting point of the Kayda. It is called Mukh, meaning "face" of the Kayda. The bols of the Kayda are built from the Mukh.
2. Dohara – Dohara is the repetition of the Mukh three times. The word "Dohara" means "to repeat." In Hindi, it is called "Doharana," which also means "to repeat."
3. Adha Dohara – Adha Dohara is the repetition of the first sound of the Mukh.
4. Vishram – Vishram means "rest." As the name suggests, a short pause is taken during the performance.
5. Adha Vishram – Adha Vishram is the repetition of the pause introduced in Vishram.
6. Palta – Palta is a variation of sounds, but these sounds are only from the bols in the Mukh. Palta is a section of the Kayda. Unlike Mukh, Dohara, Adha Dohara, and Vishram, the names "Palta" are not repeated. This means these four sections are played only once. However, multiple Palta sections can be added to create the full Kayda.
7. Tihai – A Tihai is a musical phrase played three times to reach the end of a musical cycle (called Sam or Sum). It is the final part of a Kayda. The last part of the Mukh is played three times, and then the Kayda ends.

Notable players

• Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa
• Ustad Alla Rakha
• Pandit Kishan Maharaj
• Ustad Zakir Hussain
• Pandit Yogesh Shamsi
• Pandit Suresh Talwalkar
• Pandit Anindo Chatterjee
• Pandit Kumar Bose
• Pandit Nayan Ghosh
• Pandit Shubhankar Banerjee
• Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri