BSEH Secondary Music Tabla common mistakes
BSEH Secondary Music Tabla · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
While tuning, the candidate strikes the syahi with the tuning hammer to raise the pitch, or hits the lacing instead of the gatta/anchoring pegs, and the drum is left with a cracked syahi edge or slack lacing.
Under exam pressure the candidate copies a half-remembered tuning routine and does not understand that pitch is raised by tightening the kinar/lacing through the gatta, while the syahi is a fragile patch that must never be struck directly; many learners practise tuning only on a well-set drum and never learn the direction of adjustment.
What to do instead
Practise a full tuning cycle on a cold drum: first check the syahi for cracks and the lacing for even tension, then tap the gatta with the hammer in small increments around the rim, testing pitch by a light stroke on the kinar and comparing with the lehra or tanpura. Learn the rule that tightening raises pitch and loosening lowers it, and keep the hammer off the syahi entirely. Also learn to identify the parts by name (maidan, syahi, kinar, lacing, gatta, gajra, chanti, dagga) so tuning questions in the theory paper are answered from understanding, not memory.
The candidate describes swar only as 'high and low notes' and cannot place the tabla's tuning relative to the soloist, or explain why the dagga is tuned to a lower pitch than the dayan.
Swar is studied in the vocal theory syllabus and candidates do not connect it to their instrument; they memorise definitions without linking the dayan's sa to the tonic of the lehra or the dagga's pitch to the lower register of the composition.
What to do instead
Build a short practical drill: tune the dayan to a chosen sa (for example C), sing or play the lehra in that key, and identify the dayan's stroke as sa and the dagga's resonant stroke as the lower sa or Pa. Be ready to explain that swar means a definite pitch, saptak means the three registers, and that the tabla player must match the dayan to the soloist's tonic while keeping the dagga at a fixed lower relative pitch. Practise naming the seven shuddha swar and their positions so the concept is not merely verbal.
The candidate writes a theka with correct bols but no vibhag lines, sam marking, or matra numbers, and cannot say which matra is khali in a prescribed taal.
Theka is learned by ear and by singing, so the written form is treated as an afterthought; candidates do not internalise that notation must show sam (X), khali (0), tali numbers, and the vibhag divisions to be readable by an examiner.
What to do instead
Write out each prescribed taal from memory on blank paper every day: draw the matra boxes, mark sam with X, the tali with 2, 3 and so on, khali with 0, and place the vibhag lines at the correct matras. Then clap and wave the hand while reading your own notation aloud, so the written symbols and the hand movements agree. Check the khali positions specifically for each taal, since that is where errors cluster.
The candidate performs a kayda and then a tukda with identical stroke patterns and no change of gait, so the examiner cannot tell where the kayda ends and the tukda begins.
Compositions are memorised as isolated theka-like strings without understanding their structural logic: a kayda is a theme built on a specific bol pattern that is developed through palta and variations, while a tukda is a short, self-contained, often tihai-ended piece.
What to do instead
For each composition, write the opening theme and label its type, then state in one sentence what makes it that type. Practise presenting in order: theka, then kayda theme, then two or three paltas, then a tihai, then a separate tukda. In practice, deliberately contrast the gait of the kayda (steady, developmental) with the tukda (compact, cadential) so the difference is audible, and be able to explain the difference orally.
The candidate's notation uses private shorthand, mixes Bhatkhande and Paluskar conventions, or omits the avartan and sam marks, so the written answer cannot be read back by anyone else.
Candidates learn notation informally from a teacher's board and never settle on one prescribed system; they also notate only the bols and not the metrical frame, which is the part examiners check.
What to do instead
Choose the prescribed notation system used in your syllabus and use it consistently: matra numbers in a row, vibhag lines, sam/tali/khali symbols, and bols written under each matra in the correct order. Practise by notating a simple composition and then having someone else clap it back from your page; if they cannot, the notation is incomplete. Keep a personal reference sheet of the symbols and revise it before the exam.
In the solo performance with lehra, the candidate loses the sam after the first few avartans, speeds up during the kayda, and cannot land the tihai together with the lehra.
Solo practice is often done without a lehra or with a metronome at a comfortable tempo only, so the candidate has never learned to keep an internal cycle while the accompaniment continues independently; nervousness then pushes tempo upward.
What to do instead
Practise with a recorded or live lehra at a fixed tempo and count the matras aloud while playing, marking sam with a nod or a foot tap. Do dedicated tihai drills: start the tihai three times so that its last stroke falls exactly on sam, and repeat until it lands without rushing. Record yourself and check the tempo at the start and end of each piece; if the tempo has drifted, reduce speed and rebuild control before increasing it.
During accompaniment the candidate plays the theka loudly over the vocalist, fills every gap with tukdas, and does not adjust the theka's gait to the tempo and mood of the song.
Accompaniment is practised as solo display; candidates have not learned that the accompanist's role is to support the soloist, keep laya steady, and reserve elaboration for appropriate moments such as antara or instrumental interludes.
What to do instead
Practise accompanying a recording at low volume, keeping the theka plain and even for several avartans before adding any variation. Learn to follow the soloist's tempo changes and to signal sam clearly with a slightly weighted stroke. Study the convention that elaboration belongs in gaps and that the theka must not mask the voice, then rehearse a full song with a friend singing so the balance is tested in real conditions.
The candidate attributes a gharana's style to the wrong founder or exponent, or claims a personal lineage link to a well-known ustād, when asked about history and contributions.
History is revised from scattered notes and hearsay; candidates memorise names without linking each gharana to its characteristic baaj, its principal exponents, and their specific contributions, and they confuse famous performers with founders.
What to do instead
Build a one-page table per gharana: name, region, founding figure, characteristic features of its baaj (for example the emphasis on certain bol patterns or on the bayan), and two or three key exponents with one concrete contribution each. Verify each entry against a reliable published source and learn the difference between a founder, a exponent, and a later representative. Never claim a lineage you cannot document; describe influence and style instead.
The candidate cannot maintain a steady laya when asked to play the same theka at half speed and double speed, and treats laya as a single fixed tempo rather than a relationship between tempos.
Practice is done at one comfortable speed; the candidate has not internalised the proportional relationships (barabar, dugun, chaugun) and has no method for subdividing or doubling while keeping sam fixed.
What to do instead
Practise a single theka at a slow tempo, then at dugun, then at chaugun, always returning to sam and counting aloud. Use a metronome set to the base tempo and deliberately place two or four strokes per beat. Then reverse the exercise, halving from fast to slow, until the proportions are felt rather than calculated, and be ready to explain the terms in the theory paper with a written example.
The candidate presents a composition with correct bols but wrong hand assignment, using the same hand for strokes that belong to the dayan and the dagga, or playing kinar strokes on the syahi.
Bols are memorised as sounds without a mapping to the two drums and to specific stroke positions; candidates who learn only by listening never fix which hand and which playing area produce each bol.
What to do instead
Make a stroke chart: for each bol, record the hand, the drum, and the playing area (syahi, maidan, kinar, chanti), then practise slowly in front of a mirror checking hand position. Play each bol in isolation until the sound matches the intended quality, then reinsert it into the composition. Ask a teacher to check the mapping once, and revise the chart before every practice session.