BSEH Secondary Music Tabla flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Dayan

The right-hand tabla drum: a single-headed, wooden (usually sheesham) shell with a layered head carrying the syahi. It produces the treble strokes such as Na, Ta, Tin, and Ti.

Bayan

The left-hand bass drum, made of copper, brass, or clay. Its larger head carries a tuning patch (maidan) that darkens the sound; it produces Ghe and Ge and is tuned by hand pressure.

Syahi

The black, concentric tuning patch applied to the dayan head. It is built up in thin layers and controls the drum's pitch and the ringing overtones of the treble strokes.

Gatta

Small leather tuning blocks threaded through the chot lacing. Driving them downward increases tension and raises pitch; they are struck with a hammer on the dayan and usually pushed by hand on the bayan.

Gajra

The woven leather rim of the tabla head through which the chot lacing passes. It anchors the head to the shell and distributes tension evenly around the circumference.

Swar

A musical pitch in Indian music. The saptak has seven shuddha swar (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) plus five vikrit forms: komal Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tivra Ma.

Laya

Tempo, the speed at which matras pass. Standard levels are vilambit (slow), madhya (medium), and drut (fast), with ati-vilambit and ati-drut as extremes.

Sam

Beat one of a taal cycle, marked ×. It is the point of resolution where compositions and tihai land, and it is the reference for all laya changes.

Khali

The unmarked (waved) division of a taal, written 0. It is felt as a lighter, open section, and its position distinguishes taals that share the same matra count.

Dugun

A laya ratio of 2:1, where two bols occupy each matra. It doubles the tempo while preserving the taal cycle and the sam alignment.

Teentaal

A 16-matra taal with vibhag 4+4+4+4, tali on 1, 5, 13 and khali on 9. Its theka is Dha Dhin Dhin Dha, Dha Dhin Dhin Dha, Dha Tin Tin Ta, Ta Dhin Dhin Dha.

Jhaptaal

A 10-matra taal with vibhag 2+3+2+3, tali on 1, 3, 8 and khali on 6. Its theka runs Dhi Na, Dhi Dhi Na, Ti Na, Dhi Dhi Na.

Ektaal

A 12-matra taal with six vibhags of 2, tali on 1, 5, 9, 11 and khali on 3 and 7. It is the standard taal for vilambit khayal.

Rupak

A 7-matra taal with vibhag 3+2+2, tali on 4 and 6, and khali on sam itself. Its theka is Tin Tin Na, Dhin Na, Dhin Na.

Keherwa

An 8-matra taal with vibhag 4+4, tali on 1 and khali on 5. Its theka is Dha Ge Na Ti, Na Ka Dhi Na, and it serves light-classical and film forms.

Dadra

A 6-matra taal with vibhag 3+3, tali on 1 and khali on 4. Its theka is Dha Dhin Na, Dha Tin Na, and it is common in thumri and ghazal.

Theka

The conventional, fixed bol pattern that identifies a taal and keeps the cycle. It marks tali and khali clearly and is the base for accompaniment and for the start of a solo.

Bol

A tabla syllable such as Dha, Dhin, Tin, Ta, Ge, or Na. Each bol names a specific stroke and its resonance, and bols combine to form all compositions.

Kayda

A rule-bound composed theme in a fixed taal, built from a small bol set. It is developed through paltas and closed with a tihai; it must be expandable, not merely repeatable.

Palta

A systematic variation of a kayda theme. Standard devices are inversion of bol order, displacement within the vibhag, and substitution of equivalent bols, all while keeping the taal intact.

Tukda

A self-contained, fixed composition played as a set piece. Unlike a kayda it is not developed through palta; it usually ends on sam with a short, decisive phrase.

Tihai

A phrase repeated three times so that the final bol lands on sam. The repetitions may be contiguous or separated by fixed gaps of one or more matras.

Chakradar

A tihai of tihais: the repeated unit is itself a tihai, and that unit is played three times. The inner phrase therefore sounds nine times before landing on sam.

Rela

A fast, continuous composition of mostly single strokes, such as Dha Ge Na Ti or Dha Tirakita. It is judged on evenness of stroke and exact sam landing, not on speed alone.

Bhatkhande notation

A notation system where matra numbers sit above the line and bols below. Sam is marked ×, tali by vibhag number, khali by 0, and vertical lines mark vibhag boundaries.

Vibhag line

A vertical line in notation that marks a division boundary. The matras between two lines must equal the stated vibhag length, which allows an unknown taal to be identified.

Sustain dash

A dash or blank written under a matra in notation, meaning no new bol is struck and the previous bol is held. It is used to write long bols across matras.

Lehra

The melodic nagma, usually on sarangi or harmonium, that states the taal cycle during a tabla solo. Its tonic sets the dayan's Sa and its sam must match the soloist's sam.

Peshkar

The improvised opening item of a tabla solo. It expands gradually from simple bols and precedes the kayda; it is not a fixed composition and has no single written form.

Padhant

Reciting tabla bols aloud with hand counts while playing or before playing. In practical exams it must match the strokes exactly and demonstrates command of the composition.

Laggi

A fast, repetitive, circular pattern played in light-classical accompaniment such as thumri and dadra. It is not used in khayal accompaniment, where the full theka is kept.

Delhi gharana

The lineage of Siddhar Khan Dhadi. It is known for the resonant closed-hand dayan stroke, the emphasis on Dha, and clean, structured kayda with restrained bayan use.