RBSE SS Tabla flashcards
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32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Tabla
- A pair of Hindustani drums consisting of the treble daya and bass bayan, emerged as a distinct instrument in the Delhi region around the eighteenth century.
- Sidhar Khan Dhadi
- Eighteenth-century Delhi musician traditionally credited with shaping the early tabla baaj and founding the Delhi gharana; his descendants carried the lineage.
- Pakhawaj ancestry
- The tabla's repertoire and bols derive partly from the barrel drum pakhawaj or mridang; the popular split-drum story is tradition, not documented history.
- Amir Khusrau attribution
- A widely repeated tradition credits Amir Khusrau with splitting the pakhawaj into tabla, but historical evidence places the tabla's emergence much later.
- Daya
- The right-hand treble tabla drum, usually of sheesham or mango wood, with a single goat-skin head carrying a central syahi.
- Bayan
- The left-hand bass kettledrum of copper, brass or clay; its offset syahi and heel pressure produce pitch bends.
- Syahi
- The black paste applied to the centre of a tabla head; it controls tone and resonance and is built up in dried layers.
- Gatta
- Small tension blocks tapped under the lacing of the daya to tune it; gradual, even adjustment prevents warping.
- Delhi gharana
- A refined tabla style known for controlled, intricate kaida, clear dayan work and elegant tihai, with minimal theatrical display.
- Ajrada gharana
- A powerful, bayan-heavy tabla style using open resonant bols such as ghe and ghena, strong kaida, rela and forceful tihai.
- Banaras gharana
- A robust, pakhawaj-derived tabla style with heavy dha, strong bayan, paran and chautaal repertoire, closely linked to Kathak accompaniment.
- Punjab gharana
- An energetic tabla style featuring rela, driving laya, tirakita patterns and influence from Punjabi folk rhythms.
- Sam
- The first matra of a taal cycle and the point of resolution; compositions and tihai are calculated to land on sam.
- Khali
- A waved, unaccented division of a taal, marked 0; it contrasts with tali and helps mark the cycle's shape.
- Laykari
- Systematic tempo variation in tabla, including barabar, dugun, tigun, chaugun, aad, kuwaad and biyad, used to create tension and resolution.
- Jhaptaal
- A ten-matra taal divided 2+3+2+3, with tali on 1, 3 and 8 and khali on 6.
- Kaida
- A systematic tabla composition built on a short theme, developed through paltas and closed with a tihai, usually in a prescribed taal.
- Palta
- A variation of a kaida theme that preserves the taal cycle and is used to develop the composition before returning to the original.
- Tihai
- A rhythmic phrase repeated three times so that its final stroke lands on sam; it may be damdar, with pauses, or bedam, continuous.
- Chakradar
- A tabla composition in which a tihai is repeated three times, producing three cadences and a large-scale cyclic design.
- Uthan
- An opening tabla composition that establishes the taal and laya at the start of a solo performance.
- Peshkar
- An opening solo composition, usually in vilambit laya, developed gradually and less rigidly than a kaida.
- Rela
- A fast, continuous tabla composition, usually in chatusra, with a rolling bol pattern that creates momentum.
- Tihai calculation
- For a phrase of n matras repeated three times, start at sam minus 3n plus 1 so the final matra lands on sam.
- Theka
- The basic repeating bol pattern that defines a taal and is used to accompany vocal, instrumental and dance performance.
- Mohra
- A short cadential tabla phrase used in accompaniment to lead the main artist to sam at a section boundary.
- Sawal-jawab
- A question-and-answer rhythmic dialogue between tabla and soloist or dancer, requiring exact phrase length and sam placement.
- Kathak sangat
- Tabla accompaniment for Kathak, supporting tatkar with theka and playing tukda, paran and tihai for nritta passages.
- Kriya
- The hand action or stroke technique that produces a tabla bol; it determines articulation and tone quality.
- Jati
- Classification of taal or phrase by matra count: tisra 3, chatusra 4, khanda 5, misra 7, sankirna 9.
- Upaj
- Extempore improvisation in tabla solo, created spontaneously within the taal and distinct from fixed compositions.
- Ahmed Jan Thirakwa
- A Farrukhabad-trained tabla master, c.1882–1976, celebrated for powerful bayan, vast repertoire and expansive solo elaboration.