ਤਬਲਾ

What does tabla mean in Punjabi? Tabla (ਤਬਲਾ) is a pair of small hand drums, the principal percussion instrument of Hindustani classical music. Played with the fingers and palms of both hands, it keeps the beat in classical concerts, qawwali, kathak dance and Sikh kirtan, and its two drums sound so different that one pair can carry a whole rhythm.

What does tabla mean in Punjabi?

Tabla is the Punjabi and Hindi word for a pair of small hand drums. The name likely comes from tabl, the Arabic word for drum, and Rekhta Dictionary gives the same Arabic origin. Since the 18th century the tabla has been the principal percussion instrument of Hindustani classical music, where it is played solo, as an accompaniment to singers and other instruments, or as part of a larger ensemble. It is also heard in folk and popular music across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

What are the two drums of the tabla?

The two drums could hardly be more different. The smaller drum, the dayan, is played with the right hand and gives the bright, treble sound. It is made of hollowed-out wood, about fifteen centimetres across, and tuned to a single note, usually the tonic of the raga. The larger drum, the bayan, is played with the left hand and gives the deep bass sound. It is kettle-shaped, often made of brass or copper, and the player changes its pitch by pressing the heel of the hand on the skin. Each drumhead carries a black patch of tuning paste called syahi, which gives the tabla its clear, bell-like tone. The player sits cross-legged and strikes the skins with fingers and palms, speaking the rhythms in syllables called bol.

Where did the tabla come from?

Nobody knows exactly where the tabla came from, and scholars still argue about it. Carvings in the Bhaja Caves show a woman playing a pair of small drums, and the ancient Sanskrit text Natyashastra describes drums built in a similar way, with the same paste patches on their skins. Clear pictures of the drum as we know it appear only from about 1745, and it took its modern shape in the early 1800s. A popular legend says the poet-musician Amir Khusrau made the tabla by cutting the barrel drum called pakhawaj in two, but no writing from his time mentions the drum, and most scholars treat the story as legend rather than history.

Where do you hear tabla in Punjab?

In Punjab the tabla is first of all the drum of kirtan. In gurdwaras it keeps time for the singing of Gurbani, usually beside the harmonium, and it is one of the main instruments of qawwali as well. It backs classical singers and kathak dancers, and it turns up in folk song and bhangra too. Tabla players learn in gharanas, schools of playing passed from teacher to student, each with its own style of bols and compositions.