Original Research Paper Volume : 5 | Issue : 11 | November 2016 • ISSN No 2277 - 8179 | IF : 3.508 | IC Value : 69.

48

ARTS
IMPORTANCE OF TABLA IN MUSICAL KEYWORDS: MUSICAL TRADITION,
TRADITION OF INDIA TABLA, INDIAN MUSIC, PERCUSSION

PH . D RE SE AR C H S C H O L AR , U T KAL U N I V E R SI T Y O F C U LT U RE ,
KIRTIRANJAN JENA BHUBANESWAR

ABSTRACT e Tabla is a widely popular South Asian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of
the northern Indian subcontinent. e instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. Tabla is the most widely used
percussion instrument in North Indian music and is classified under the membranophone family of instruments. Its distinct and unique sound
makes it an integral part of Indian music. In the Indian durbars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Muslim Tabla performers accompanied
instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers. e Tabla is a traditional Indian music instrument that is used to maintain metric cycles of set
compositions. North Indian music is incomplete without Tabla. It gives a beautiful beat and forms an important part of Indian music. e Tabla has
changed a lot over the years especially with the modernization of many traditional instruments.

Music can be a social activity, but it can also be a very spiritual accompanies and has its own divisions.e Indian concept of a beat
experience. India has a very rich musical tradition. ere is no single is not very different from the Western, except for the first beat. is
genre of “Indian music”; instead, there are numerous genres of first beat, known as Sam, is pivotal for all of north Indian music.
popular and classical and folk music. Furthermore, there is an Aesthetically, it marks a place of repose. It also marks the spot where
extensive variety of musical instruments. Ancient Indians were transitions from one form to another are likely to occur. During the
deeply impressed by the spiritual power of music, and it is out of this nineteenth century, the musical genre called dhrupad began to fall
that Indian classical music was born. Indian Instrumental Music has out of fashion as other styles, such as umri and Khayal became
its own fundamentals which are based on prior experiments of the increasingly popular.Tabla lent itself better to these new styles.
contemporary artists of that time. is revolution has also
encouraged new experiments in different aspects of Indian e most popular musical instrument used in North India is the
Instrumental Music. New experiments results in the invention of new Tabla. e Tabla is made of wood and whereas its head is made of
thought patterns, new practices, new structures and new ways to act. stretched animal skin. Fine tuning of Tabla is done by striking the rim
e earliest written evidence shows that Indians divided music into of the Tabla with a small hammer. e Tabla has an interesting
two classes. On the one hand, there was ordinary music for the construction. e Dayan (right hand drum) is almost always made of
enjoyment of the masses. is is opposed to a music whose purpose wood. e diameter at the membrane may run from just under five
was for spiritual uplift. e spiritually oriented music is routinely inches to over six inches. e Bayan (left hand drum) may be made of
translated as “classical music” while the ordinary music is routinely iron, aluminium, copper, steel, or clay; yet brass with a nickel or
translated as “non-classical”. So, for those who take it seriously, chrome plate is the most common material. Undoubtedly the most
classical music involves single-minded devotion and lifelong striking characteristic of the Tabla is the large black spot on each of
commitment. e basis for Indian music is "Sangeet". Sangeet is a the playing surfaces. ese black spots are a mixture of gum, soot,
combination of three art forms: vocal music, instrumental music and and iron filings. eir function is to create the bell-like timbre that is
dance. Although these three art forms were originally derived from characteristic of the instrument. e Tabla is actually two drums
the single field of stagecraft, today they have differentiated into played by the same performer. Both drums have compound skins
complex and highly refined individual art forms. Many of the Indian onto which a tuning paste, or Siyahi, is added to help generate the
classical ragas are derived from folk tunes from various parts of India, wide variety of tones these drums can produce. e bayan is the
and most of the other popular and light-classical music forms in larger of the two drums and is generally made of metal or pottery. e
India are based on classical music. e Natya Shastra discussed in Siyahi on the bayan is off-center, which allows the performer to add
great depth an extremely developed system of stagecraft, music being variable pressure on the skin, changing the pitch of the instrument
an important aspect of the study. ere was also a system of rhythm with the palm of his or her hand while striking it with the fingertips.
described. Musical instruments have an important place in Indian e smaller drum is called the Dahini, or sometimes referred to as the
Music. e music of India is a pervasive influence in Indian life. It Tabla. Dahini are usually made of heavy lathe-turned rosewood and
pervades the big and small events of Indian life, from child birth to provide much higher pitch sounds than does the bayan.
death, religious rites and seasonal festivals. Originally, not all
developments of music were reduced to writing. e art of playing In Indian music, generally, there are three elements. e elements are
musical instruments in India have been traditionally carried on from the melody, drone, and the rhythm. e melody is provided by an
generation to generation, from primitive stage to this modern age. As instrument of the Sushir vadya (blown air), Tantri vadya (plucked
Music is a performing art, which is being creative, itself, and cannot stringed instruments) and Vitat vadya (bowed instruments). ese
be static, hence the gradual developments and experiments have three instruments have the ability to play Indian melodious modes
always given new ideas to the modern generation. known as Ragas. A simple definition of raga provided here can never
do full justice to define what a raga really is. e second element is the
e North Indian system of music is known as Hindustani Sangeet or Drone. e drone is a simple note held constantly. e function of the
sometimes Hindustani Sangeet. e usual interpretation states that drone is to help provide a constant pitch. is helps vocalists find
the Hindustani system may be thought of as a mixture of traditional their tonic. Drones are found in instrumental music either by a drone
Hindu musical concepts and Persian performance practice. e instrument or in the melody instrument itself. e Tanpura and Sruti
advent of Islamic rule over northern India caused the musicians to box are the most commonly used instruments to act as drones.
seek patronage in the courts of the new rulers. e fundamentals of
the Indian system of rhythm are important. is system, known as Tal e final element is the rhythm. e proper word for rhythm is tala.
or Tala. Tala is the second important factor in Indian music. ese are is comes from the Hindi word, “Tali” meaning “clap.” is provides
rhythmic cycles ranging from 3 to 108 beats. e division in a tala and the time when the raga is played. Tabla is a tala episode. Pakhawaj,
the stress on the first beat, called sum, are the most important Mridanga, Khol, and Dholak are other instruments used to keep tala.
features of these cycles. Tala is independent of the music it As this is a course in Tabla, talas will be our primary focus.

726 IJSR - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

 Volume : 5 | Issue : 11 | November 2016 • ISSN No 2277 - 8179 | IF : 3.508 | IC Value : 69.48 Original Research Paper
Tabla has a position in both Rag and Tal. When numerous Tabla are
tuned to the notes of the scale, entire melodies may be played.
However, the most important use of Tabla is to provide the Tal. It is in
this capacity that most people think of the instrument. Indian music
is traditionally practice-oriented and until the 20th century did not
employ written notations as the primary media of instruction,
understanding, or transmission. e rules of Indian music and
compositions themselves are taught from a guru to a shishya, in
person. us oral notation, such as the Tabla stroke names, is very
developed and exact. However, written notation is regarded as a
matter of taste and is not standardized. us there is no universal
system of written notation for the rest of the world to study Indian
music.

Tabla is the most famous percussion instrument of North India. It is

most commonly used in North Indian classical music, but its
versatility in all musical styles has enabled it to become the most
popular percussion instrument in all of India. e level of
sophistication and tonal beauty it possesses has elevated the
instrument to an unmatched status in the world of percussion.

Indian percussion is more than notational and rhythmic theory;

there is also an extensive theory of composition. Although Tabla is
famous for its improvisation one must not think of improvisation in
Western terms. It is never totally free-form but rather an extempora-
neous composition within well defined rules and compositional
forms. e Tabla provides the rhythmic base for the entire
performance. Since the main performer will constantly refer to the
Tabla, it is essential that there be a conventionally established
pattern that may be universally understood. is pattern is called
eka. Too much variation from the established eka may lead to a
breakdown in communication and thus compromise the entire
performance. In the old days, vocalists and instrumentalists would
not allow their Tabla players to play anything except eka. Today
there is much greater freedom, still the basic responsibility remains.
Tabla solo is yet another facet of this instrument and is a unique
phenomenon in the world of drumming. Seldom does one come
across a single percussive instrument holding its own for hours,
accompanied only by a melodic refrain, which marks each of the
beats of the tala. is is possible only due to the rich repertoire of
compositions, which stands witness to the creative genius of the
artistes who have experimented with form and tonal colour and have
opened new vistas for percussion music. It is in this situation that the
interpretative ability of Tabla players is challenged.

e size and shape of the Tabla set have changed drastically in the last
seventy to eighty years. According to musical iconography and extant
museum collections of instruments from the nineteenth and early
twentieth century's, the right-hand drum was considerably larger
than it usually is today, and the left-hand drum was much smaller,
bringing the two closer together in terms of diameter and pitch. In
the twenty- first century, there is a revival of dhrupad which
encourages Tabla players to keep larger right-hand drums on hand in
order to mimic the sound of the Pakhāvaj.

India is the root of various adorable and tuneful musical instruments.

Favourable popularity of which is of profuse nature in this contempo-
rary time. Recognition of these musical apparatus are not only
limited on the domestic boundaries. Even the global singers and
musicians are influenced and delightfully adored by these
instruments. Tabla one of the most significant apparatus and the
magnanimous rhythmic device can thus be related with Indian
music at its best.

REFERENCES
1. 1. Banerjee, B.M., Nag, Dipali. "A Scientific Study of 'Tabla' Sounds," Sangeet Research
Academy Journal. 5,1 Calcutta: SRA, 1984.
2. 2. Courtney, David. "Introduction to Tabla". Hyderabad: Anand Power Press, 1980.
3. 3. Courtney, David. "e Tabla Puddi", Experimental Musical Instruments. IV, 1988.

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