Abubilla Music

When in Mumbai, tin and dha ’til your tits sound like ta.

Written by Jimmy

In Mumbai for business.   Had a free Sunday.   Decided to watch some tabla.   The Tabla is the work horse of Indian percussion – think fancy bongos, with a lot more variation in tone.    Interestingly, we recording one of the best Tabla drummers around, Prasad Velankar, on a Singing Wells trip to Nairobi.   Here’s the clip:

You can tin tin ta ka kit, tin tin ta tit tit to your heart’s content on the Tabla.  In fact, here is a summary of the main strokes:

• Ta: (on dayan) striking sharply with the index finger against the rim
• Ghe or ga: (on bayan) holding wrist down and arching the fingers over the syahi, the middle and ring-fingers then strike the maidan (resonant)
• Tin: (on dayan) placing the last two fingers of the right hand lightly against the syahi and striking on the border between the syahi and the maidan (resonant)
• Dha: combination of Ta and Ghe
• Dhin: combination of Tin and Ghe
• Ka or kit: (on bayan) striking with the flat palm and fingers (non resonant)
• Na or ta: (on dayan) striking the edge of the syahi with the last two fingers of the right hand
• Tit: (on dayan) striking the center of the shahi with the middle finger
• Ti: (on dayan) striking the center of the shahi with the index finger (resonant)

Now that’s more than you wanted to know about that.