Title: Tabla Solo in Jhaptal
Performers: Ustad Allah Rakha Khan (co-hosted by Ravi Shankar)
Culture: Hindustani classical music, often referred to as North Indian classical music or Shāstriya Sangīt
Orchestration: Tabla (includes right-hand drum “tabla” and left-hand drum “baya”)
Indian classical music fascinates me, and it is really cool
to see a segment of a performance dedicated to some explanation of the
tabla. Something that continues to
impress me about this music is the thoroughness with which the system within it
has been organized and categorized. For
instance, that each of the sounds produced on the table and baya has a
corresponding syllable, as demonstrated by the two musicians in the video, is
really awesome because this probably allows well-practiced Indian classical
musicians to communicate about the denoted sounds and rhythms much more
effectively than if they were all just sort of using their own idiosyncratic
sets of onomatopoeia to discuss them. I
wonder how long the use of these syllables has been a part of the North Indian
classical music tradition and how helpful they have been in transmitting
teachings of the music to later generations.
What a great find - the master of sitar explaining talas and tabla. This would be an excellent video for students of all ages to see.
ReplyDeleteThat is incredibly impressive.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that the organization system would be very helpful in communicating music and in preserving the music. This made me think of the very first reading about the three things that are needed to remember music learned aurally. This is very clearly the second of those three, a system for learning the music. By using syllables instead of notation, they were also able to connect it to language, which provides another avenue to transmit and preserve music.
I think the tabla player was even saying the actions instead of doing them for a certain part of the song.
I wonder if the tabla player ever has to play a note on each drum at once? What would the syllable for that be?
I didn't think about hitting both drums at once, but that's a really good point. The main reason for/advantage of that alternative solfege system that I've been working on and that Jon's been helping me come up with is that each note, no matter what accidental double-flat through double-sharp, takes only one syllable to communicate, but I often wonder if there exists or could exist a system in which harmonic (simultaneous) musical intervals could be communicated with one syllable. Would it have to be an entirely new system (separate from the alternative solfege) that had all its own unique syllables? There aren't going to be any syllables left!
ReplyDeleteThat is insanely impressive! It's cool that you found an instructional-type video for world instruments. His explanation is thorough and very helpful.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting clip! Ravi Shankar is great at explaining the concepts of Northern Indian rhythms. My most recent post was similar to this in that it was also a tabla solo played by Alla Rakha. In my clip he also explained the tala patterns, so it was interesting to see another example of one of the tala patterns.
ReplyDeleteCool! Can you link either to your post or directly to the clip you mentioned? I'm interested to see it.
DeleteSuch an awesome video! Haven't been able to locate the original that I first saw of this on Youtube but here it is!
ReplyDeleteI play a little tabla, have had a few lessons and am somewhat in love with the instrument haha...
In answer to the curiosity about notes for playing both drums at once, there are many :)
On the left hand (actually spelt bayan with an 'n' - literally meaning 'left' in Indian I believe; dayan being 'right') you have the single phrases 'Ke' (a closed sound) and 'Ghe' (an open sound - can be manipulated to get that awesome pitch bend!). I believe there are more but I haven't gotten that deep into it with the lessons yet. On the right hand you have the single phrases, 'Te', 'Te Te' (closed sounds), 'Na' and 'Tin' (open sounds). Again there are more, but these I believe are the principle phrases that beginners learn. When you combine those sounds - the left hand and right hand together - you get different phrases. 'Ghe' and 'Na' played at the same time make 'Dha'. 'Ghe' and 'Tin' together make 'Dhin'. There are many, many phrases that I haven't learned yet. It's incredible the variation of pitch and timbre you can achieve just by using different positions and techniques with one instrument!! It's such an amazing instrument man - it seems to me that it's pretty much the most complicated, advanced and versatile hand percussion out there.
The tradition - the language/syllables governing the teaching and learning of the music - dates back many hundreds of years as I understand it. There is a very strong culture and an immensely strong work ethic amongst students who learn the traditional way, and the teachers feel an obligation to preserve the tradition as much as possible. As I understand it students in India basically live with their guru and learn every day, practising relentlessly. It is a devotion and there is a whole way of life taught around the music as well as the music itself. It's truly amazing! Coming to it from a western music background as I have it all seems somewhat overwhelming at times. I'm in England and my teacher also lives here, we only get the chance to get together once every few months at the moment and it's definitely a more western approach in terms of the 'devotion' side of it - finding time to practise inbetween work and a band etc is really hard so I doubt I'd ever really get anywhere near the level of skill in this video! ...But still! It's a wonderful culture and a wonderful music to explore :)
Thanks for posting, awesome to see interest in world music :) Also check out the 'Udu' on Youtube if you get a chance - it's an amazing african percussion instrument made from clay.
Peace!
Oh just to add, talking about playing the left hand and right hand simultaneously, I mean playing both drums simultaneously. Kinda obvious I guess but just in case!
ReplyDelete