Tabla Workshop for International Students

August 2012

It was a pleasure to conduct a half-day Tabla workshop for a diverse mix of international students at the PDPU, Gandhinagar. My son, Soham (8 years) and my guru's son, Dhyanesh (12 years) were my able assistants. Indeed, music transcends cultural and geographical barriers. Sound and Rhythm are universal, and Tabla is one of the prominent means of presenting sound and rhythm in an interesting and universally-appealing manner.

View photos at: International Tabla Workshop Photos

Management and Music session to the management team of a corporate

Lecture-demonstration at School of Interior Design, CEPT, Ahmedabad

A lecture-demonstration to a group of German and Indian students at SID, Ahmedabad.

Explained and demonstrated some of the nuances of differents gharanas of Tabla, and different compositions (peshkar, kaidas, tukdas, paran, gat, rela etc).

Tabla solo on Doordarshan (DD-Girnar) - An Experience!

The journey of Tabla playing leads to interesting and memorable experiences, one of which has been a Television performance on Doordarshan channel (DD-11, popularly known as DD-Girnar). This 14 min (approx) Tabla solo was telecast on 9th February 2011, under the youth programe of the channel. I remembered the DD studio from my recordings done about two decades ago.

This would remain a memorable experience! Vaibhav rendered the lehra in raag Charukeshi on the Harmonium.

Management and Music

Can Management be learnt through Music? How can a better understanding and appreciation of different genre of music help one to become a better manager? What are the analogies between management and music? Can the future managers consider music as a career option?

These were some of the questions which I tried to address during a session on 'Management and Music' with students of a management institute in Ahmedabad, India.


This interactive session drew parallels between Management and Music, by illustrating managerial attributes expressed by musicians across different genre of music. Students were exposed to short musical pieces from different genre of music to identify the managerial attributes within those musical pieces. The discussions were blended by various research findings which show that music can help in enhancing various critical abilities which are desirable in a good manager. The session concluded with a short Tabla demonstration.

Exploring Tabla - An interactive demo at Prayaas (IIM-A)

The children at Prayaas (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Prayaas/228852570021), an IIM-Ahmedabad initiative, were quite excited to have a first-hand exposure to Tabla. They could listen, touch and also play the Tabla! It was fascinating to see their keen interest in exploring this instrument, which today is one of the foremost percussion instrument in the world.

Soham giving a demonstration

Children at Prayaas exploring Tabla

Indian Music and Tabla Lecture-Demonstration at SGVP, Gurukul, Ahmedabad

In order to promote Indian Music and Tabla amongst youth and kids, I have intiated voluntary lecture-demos at educational institutes.

We were indeed privileged to have been invited at SGVP, Gurukul, Ahmedabad to give a lecture-demonstration on Indian Music and Tabla. This gave us an opportunity to interact with an enlightened auidience, and to share several research findings on music which show that music has a positive impact on the holistic development of our brain, and on the development of a child.

Rupak (19th Dec 09)

It was an honor to render a Tabla Solo in Rupak Taal (7 beats) in front of Guruji, Pandit Nakul Mishraji, on 19th Dec 2009. While there are shortcomings in the recital, solely attributable to me, it was a wonderful learning experience! Here are some excerpts....

About Rupak:

Rupak is a popular taal played on the Tabla. It comprises of 7 beats divided into sections (vibhags) of 3-2-2. It is widely played in Solo recitals. Many compositions (Gats) played on classical instruments (like santoor, sarod, sitar, guitar, flute)are set in Rupak taal. The taal is also popularly played in Gazals and film songs. The counterpart of Rupak in Pakhwaj is taal Tivra set in 7 beats,but which is much bolder and lounder than Rupak.

Rupak is a unique taal in a sense that the first beat of the taal is a Khali (wave of the hand),and not a Clap. Rupak consists of two talis (claps), on the 4th and the 6th beats respectively. The taal goes like this:

Tin Tin Na| Dhi Na|Dhi Na




Rupak Peshkar Qaida



Rupak Compositions



Rupak finale

Jugalbandi

Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain







One very interesting facet of a Tabla performance is a 'Jugalbandi', i.e. a duet of Tabla players. Generally, both the Tabla players are for the same gharana, but on some rare occassions a jugalbandi could also be done between players from different gharana. The father-son duo of Punjab gharana, Late Ustad Alla Rakh and Ustad Zakir Hussain, can be credited for making Tabla jugalbandi's world famous. When listening to their jugalbandi, one would realize that they mostly play compositions from their Punjab Gharana. However, when Ustad Zakir Hussain is performing a solo, he would play compositions from various gharanas. Another prominant father-son duo is of Pandit Sharda Sahai and his nephew Shri Vishnu Sahai of Benaras Gharana.



While the progression of a jugalbandi follows the general rules of Tabla playing for each gharana, the beauty lies in the manner in which the two players co-ordinate i.e. distribute paltas, play chakradars, engage into musical question-answers (sawal-jawab), and reach the crescendo.



It is indeed a treat to listen to a great Tabla Jugalbandhi.

For more info on Tabla, please visit: www.northindiandrums.blogspot.com





Father-son duo: Rajiv and Soham

Origin of Tabla

While the origin of the tradition of Indian music can be traced back nearly two thousand years in the Vedic hymns of the Hindu temples, the Tabla is a relatively new percussion instrument. It is considered to have been invented in the 16th or 17th century. Historically, the pakhawaj was used to accompany the old Dhruvpad style of music. It is believed that the need for a new percussion instrument was felt to accompany newer styles of North Indian vocal music (i.e. Khayal gayaki) which evolved around the 16th century, as well as new North Indian instruments such as Sitar and Sarood during the Mughal era in India. Thus, the Tabla was invented. Tabla, with its rich and varied tonal qualities, is an extremely versatile percussion instrument. Today, it is the most recognized North Indian percussion instument both for solo performances as well as an accompanyments in vocal (essentially Khayal, bhajans, thumris, folk), instumental and kathak dance.