Tag Archives: Taal

Sharuti System: Along Came Bharat

by

Every student of Hindustani music knows the name of Acharya Bharat. He is the father of all fathers of music, the great grandfather. It is said that Acharya Bharat learned the performing arts from Brahma himself. He was the author of Natyashastar, the most referenced source in both Indian Music systems (Hindustani and Carnatic). The depth of musical theories explained in Natyashastar gives us some hints that by the time Bharat came along, Indian music was already a fully developed art form.

Unfortunately, not many really know what is in Natyashastar.

There are two reasons for misinterpretation of Bharat’s music theory. First, Natyashastar is not available. Everything we know about Natyashastar is through other books that refer to it. Second, many writers especially in the 20th century wrote things that do not represent Bharat’s concepts. They used what they found in one place and without searching for the rest, filled the blanks on their own.

In April 1957, Acharya Brihaspati became the first man after Sarang Dev (13th century) to demonstrate Bharat’s Sharuties and Grams to an enlightened audience in Bombay. Since then a new wave of undoing the damage has started. Justifying the Thaat system with Bharat’s Grams and Moorshanas had made Indian music theory opaque. Everyone who was looking for the roots of their twelve notes in Bharat’s Grams had complicated the matter.

The explanations of Grams and Sharutis in my blog are based on Acharya Brihaspati’s research and demonstrations and my own ongoing research.

Bharat’s theory is based on three concepts:

1. Gram
2. Moorshana
3. Sharuti

In practice, a performer only uses Grams and Moorshanas. The knowledge of Sharuties is not needed to establish the Grams, it is only needed to understand them.
Here is Bharat’s Shudh Ashtak (octave):

Shadaj Gram-with antar gandhar and Kakali Nishad
As you can see, if one’s ears can perceive perfect third, fourth and fifth, one can tune any instrument to this Gram without the knowledge of Sharuties.

When Bharat Muni achieved this Gram, perhaps the following two questions came to his mind:
1. Why Re and Pa are not in Samvad (perfect fourth)?
2. What is the difference between current Pa (fifth in the above scale) and the Pa in Fourth Samvad with Rishav (2-5 = 1-4)?

A rare picture of Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (with Svara Mandal)

Acharya Bharat’s Veena was an instrument not much different from modern Swar Mandal. He probably had many students and other music Acharyas in his ashram. Together they established that the difference between both of these fifths is the same difference that shows up on the ‘octave note’ when an octave is based on fifths or fourths (based on fifths, the octave notes is sharper, where based on fourths the octave notes is lower). When Pa (fifth in Shadaj Gram) was lowered to bring in the perfect fourth position with second (Rishav), it suddenly appeared to have the same relation with Ma (fourth) as Re did to Sa. In essence, the octave just shifted to the fourth. The difference between these two tunings of the fifth (pancham) was considered the most crucial in achieving a harmonic scale. Bharat Muni called it Parman Sharuti (sharuti of proof) as it was the Parman of difference between two identical scales sitting a perfect fourth apart from each other.

As he named his original scale Shadaj Gram, he named the new scale Madhyam Gram. Madhyam or Ma was the beginning note of this scale.

There are three types of Sharuties in Ancient Indian music:
1. Parman Sharuti
2. Sub-mehti Sharuti
3. Mehti Sharuti

According to Savart system devised by the French acoustician Joseph Sauveur (1653-1716) (named after the French physicist and doctor Félix Savart), if we divide the octave into approximately 301 equal parts (actually near 301.03), the approximate value of the above Sharuties is as follows:

1. Parman Sharuti = 5 Savarts
2. Sub-mehti Sharuti = 18 Savarts
3. Mehti Sharuti = sum of first and second sharuties or (18+5) = 23 Savarts

Now you can see that the Sharuties are not just unequal, their values are quite bit apart.

There are 22 sharuties in an octave. As I described earlier, sharutis are not Jananis (mothers) of notes, they are merely a way to measure and explain the phenomenon of physics of music. They are one of the ways to see how the pleasant sounding musical intervals relate to each other. In the end, it is all about pleasure.

Next time we will see how these Sharuties explain the harmonic position of notes in an octave.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Advanced Theory

Sharuti System: The Birth of Notes

by

Music is an aural art. Any tone, which has a fixed frequency, can be used as a musical note. However, we sing and play music using more than one note. The difference between frequencies of any two notes is known as interval.

Long ago, a question popped in ancient artists’ mind.
What is the biggest or smallest note interval?
Lord of Dance -Natraj A never ending quest started. The Sharutis were their first yardsticks to map the intervals between notes, nothing more and nothing less.

We do not know the origin of music, but we do know that the theory of music is not the mother of music. The grammar of a language is defined after a language has been established. Also, a child learns to speak the language and then learns to read and write.

In the development of music, the things went like this (from a Natyashaster verse):
First songs, then notes, then Grams, Sharutis and then the Jaties (raags)

When we say that the songs must have developed after humans were civilized, we are forgetting something. Look around you. Birds sing, so do the other mammals. There are songs everywhere.

It is certain that as humans got civilized, their songs got complicated. With the development of language, the songs became more meaningful. The primal screams evolved into poems of love, separation, nature, beauty and other things that affected us emotionally. When something said through conversation does not capture the essence of our feelings, a song erupts in us. That is a primal instinct. It is not something that is impossible to do without the knowledge of Sharuties and Grams. A villager in India or a Gypsy in Europe cannot stop singing just because they do not know the difference between Just intonation and Chromatic intonation. These are afterthoughts.

When the enlightened artists of the ancient world sang their songs, the beauty of changing pitch compelled them to find more about it. What is it that changing the pitch up and down in certain ways sounds so…musical!

The first known theory of music in Indian Vedas (Samveda) contains four notes. Nowadays notes are always mentioned in ascending (such as C D E or Sa Re Ga) order. In Vedic tradition, the notes are mentioned in Avrohatmic order (in descending). The first four the Vedic artists knew were:
Madhyam (ma), Gandhar (ga), Rishav and Shadaj.
These were known as the first, second, third and fourth Svaras.

When I say they ‘knew’ about four notes, that doesn’t mean that they were unaware of higher and lower pitches. As described above, this was purely theoretical classification that explained the notes used in popular hymns and songs.

Then another note was found below all other known notes. They called it Mandar. A musicologist Tambru named it Dhaivat (the note that only enlightened one can hear, as it is the first note that has perfect third relation to the first note). This was the fifth note. Then Tambru established another note (Nishad) between Dhaivat and Shadaj. It was called the sixth. Later, below all other notes another note was found. It was named the ‘seventh.’ As it completed the septave, this note was also established above the first (Madhaym).

So in Samveda, M, G, R, S, D, N, P became the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. These notes were not the same as our modern notes with same names.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Advanced Theory

What is Music?

by

In Indian tradition, music is a combination of three separate art forms:
1. Singing
2. Playing and
3. Dancing

These art forms are learned and performed through Raag and Taal. ‘Raag’ is the dictator of melody and the ‘Taal’ is the dictator of Rhythm. In addition, melody is the product of sound and the rhythm is product of time. Therefore, ‘the music is the art of manipulating the ‘sound’ through ‘time’.

The time affects music in two different ways. First through rhythm is obvious. However, the time is also at work producing the musical sounds that are useful in melody. The universe is full of sounds, but every sound is not musical.

Therefore, the next question is, what is a musical sound?
Each sound can have two segments:
Veena

1. The strike and
2. The resonance

In Hindi, these are known as ‘Aghaat’ and ‘Kampan.’ The strike is not a musical sound, but its resonance is. Let’s explore that further. When an object is hit, the first movement it creates in the air is not musical. After the initial strike, the object either will resonate at a fixed frequency or will stand still. If the object creates a tone at a fixed frequency, that tone can be useful in music. Without that resonance the sound will be nothing more than a ‘tick.’

In Sanskrit, these are known as ‘RaNit’ and ‘AnuraNit.’ The ‘AnuraNit’ is the mother of Sharuties.

Now the question is, how long this resonance has to be?
Musically speaking, it has to be long enough so our brain can register it as a musical sound. With the damper on, you can run your hand on a piano keyboard as fast as you can and brain still registers the pitches. Therefore, the length has to be in mere milliseconds. Nowadays if you use a digital audio editor, keep cutting a wave file of a single note, eventually it loses its tone. At that point, it becomes an unmusical ‘strike’ or a click. All those who work with digital editors know that there is an annoying ‘tick’ hidden in the beginning of every pleasant sound. The minimum length of a note varies with the frequency. Naturally, higher the frequency, sooner the note is detected.

The sages of music knew these things without the help of DAWs thousands of years ago.

When more than one frequency is present in the air, they interact with each other. Their vibrations overlap. The sound changes. Some frequencies compliment each other and others do not. The intervals of notes in an octave are directly related to their power to influence the other frequencies.

The enlightened ones have recognized this effect equally all around the world. One way or the other, they set up the notes that share similar frequencies. In India, the practice of setting up the note intervals was based on Sharuties. We will start to explore the ‘Sharuti System’ in the next post.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Advanced Theory

Genesis

by

Somewhere between 3000 and 6000 years ago, an Indian sage Bharat Muni, wrote a book about the performing arts and forever tied the stage, dance and music together. The book is called ‘Natyashastar’ (Natya = performing Arts, Shastar = Science). It is said that the Brahma himself taught Bharat the secrets of performing arts and asked him to spread the knowledge in the world.

The book became the most important source in the development of art of music throughout the world. At that time, India was an important destination for knowledge seekers and travelers. Artists from all over the world went to Indian Ashrams and learned the secrets of Natyashastar. The seven main notes of music in Indian, Chinese, Persian and European music are not just a coincidence, we have to thank Bharat Muni for it. He proved that the note intervals are not arbitrary but (should) have a relation to the root.

Natayshastar is the first available source in the history of our civilization that explains the true nature of harmonics. This knowledge eventually arrived in Europe and a couple of millennia later, Pythagoras used some of Bharat Muni’s techniques to explain the musical phenomenon thorough math and physics. Unlike Bharat Muni, Pythagorus established a scale based on perfect fifths. I read somewhere that at Pythagoras’ time, the consonant of third was not known to Europeans. Yet it was a major part of Bharat’s scale. Bharat established his scale based on three types of harmonics:

Perfect fifth or 3/2,
Perfect fourth or 4/3 and
Perfect third or 5/4.

We will continue discussing these concepts in detail in other posts. Swar MandalHere I would like to give you a simple example of Bharat Muni’s Shudh (pure) Suptak on a Swar Mandal or a Harpsichord:
1. Establish Sa
2. Establish Pa with Sa-Pa (3/2, perfect fifth or Sa-Pa) relation
3. Establish Ma with Sa-Ma (4/3, perfect fourth or Sa-Ma) relation
4. Establish N with M-N (4/3, perfect fourth or Sa-Ma) relation
5. Establish Ga with Ni-Ga Avrohagatic (3/2, perfect fourth or Sa-Ma in descending) relation
6. Establish Dha with Ma-Dha (5/4, perfect third or Ma-Dha) relation
7. Establish Re with Re-Dha Avrohagatic (3/2, perfect fourth or Sa-Ma in descending) relation
8. Establish upper Sa with Pa-Sa (4/3, perfect fourth or Sa-Ma) relation

Shadaj Gram

Compared with modern natural scales, Bharat’s Ga and Ni are komal (flat). Bharat used only nine notes in his music. The above seven are the pure notes and the following two are the Vikrats (moved):
1. Modern shudh Ga (natural third) or Bharat’s Antar Ga (Gandhar) = Sa- Ga (5/4, perfect third or Ma-Dha) relation
2. Modern shudh Ni (natural seventh) or Bharat’s kakali Ni (Nishad) = Pa-Ni (5/4, perfect third or Ma-Dha) relation

Bharat established his music system based on Gram and Moorshana. Gram is the system of establishing the interval of notes, where Moorshana is the system of making parent scales. The above Shudh scale is Bharat’s Shadaj Gram (the Gram of Sa).

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Advanced Theory

Natural Scale

by

You may have read somewhere on this site that Indian Natural Scale is identical to Western Natural Scale.

tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone

Now, as we discuss the advance theory of music, we have to find the true ‘Natural Scale’. There is no standard Western Natural Scale, so the comparison makes no practical sense. Although, if one does not wish to look into the soul of music, the comparison and the term itself (natural scale) need no further explanation.

Physics of music is a weird phenomenon. For centuries, musician tuned their instruments to each other. What they perceived natural, was natural. Without knowing the frequncies of various notes, everything was naturally in-tune. Now, when we are trying to tie the music to a fixed octave, the natural scale is mere a term. There is nothing natural about any scale played on an electronic keyboard or piano.

Music is an audible art, based on what we hear. To our ears, perfect harmonics sound pleasing. Thus the ancient musical scales were based on perfect harmonics. There are many ways to construct a harmonic scale. Although by doing so, based on the composition, sometimes a few temporary or permanent interval adjustments are required. That is what music is all about. A professional composer or performer knows how to make his composition sound ‘just right’.

Generally speaking, a scale based on ‘just intonation’ is a natural scale. The notes in this scale are established by multiplying the base note’s value with the following harmonic intervals:

Natural Scale (Just Intonation)

Unison= 1 (starting note)
Major 2nd=9/8
Major 3rd=5/4
Perfect 4th=4/3
Perfect 5th=3/2
Major 6th=5/3
Major 7th=15/8
Octave=2

If a piano is tuned according to the above ratios starting from the middle ‘C’, and one wishes to play D major, the intervals will not work. Having said that however, you can change the ‘keynotes’ in C major to get seven different scales, and they all are perfectly natural (more on this later).

We will slowly explore the physics of music. The point is not to remember the frequencies of notes, the point is to understand the natural musical intervals. Indian musicologists explored these phenomenon long before the rest of world. Around 2000BC, The Indian scales based on harmonics had already established and explained in depth.

Nowadays, the natural scale is not derived from harmonics. It is derived from ‘the twelfth root of two’, which has a value of 1.059463 (approx). When this number is multiplied 12 times, the answer is “2”, that is the value of our octave notes (See the list above, the last ratio is 2:1). This system ignores all other harmonics to get a perfect octave. 12 notes of an octave are placed on equal intervals. Although, the values you get through this system are around the desired values, but these are not perfect. This system of dividing a scale into 12 equal intervals is called an “Equal Temperament Scale.”

A violin player cannot play this scale. Only a tuner can achieve these tunings. Humans (trained) naturally play a ‘just intonation’ scale. Yet many musicians think that ‘just intonation’ scales are outdated. Have a look at how one “music wizard” explains the ‘just intonation’ scale in ‘Google Answers’:

“The archaic natural scale uses whole number ratios multiplied by the base note of the octave to achieve the frequency of the other notes. This is an imperfect or dissonant method of composing scales and usually does not sound right.” Perhaps he is a DJ.

If you are interested in reading more about physics of music, the following website has a lot of correct information: Physics of music

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Advanced Theory

26. More About Time Theory

by

Parmail-Parveshak Raags:
A ‘Parmail-Parveshak’ Raag contains qualities from more than one category discussed in the last post. If you keep performing the Raags on their given time, you will see that there is no sudden change in notes. The ‘Parmail –Parveshak’ Raags make the gradual change form one time slot to the other. For example, when it is time to go from Shudh ‘Re-Dha’ Raags to Komal ‘Ga-Ni’ Raags, Raag ‘Jai-Jai Vanti (name) fits right in there. It has Shudh ‘Re’ and ‘Dha’ and Komal ‘Ga’ is introduced along with the Shudh ‘Ga’. So gradually, the change is made from the second category to the third.

‘Poorvang-Vadi’ and ‘Utrang-Vadi’ Raags:
Once we are done with the basic theory, we shall discuss Poorvang and Utrang (upper and lower tetrachords) in detail. Here I am only discussing these in their capacity to affect a Raag’s time slot. This theory goes parallel with the above categorization. In this theory an octave is divided into two overlapping (only for determining the time of a Raag?) parts.

(If the keynote is ‘C’):

026_poorvaang-utraang.gif
The first group is called ‘Poorvang’ (lower half)
The second group is called ‘Utrang’ (upper half)

We already know that the ‘Vadi’ note is the king note of any Raag. If a Raag’s Vadi note is from the lower half of the octave, that Raag is called a ‘Poorvang-Vadi’ Raag. If the Vadi Note is from the upper half of the octave, the Raag is called an ‘Utrang-Vadi’ Raag.

The Poorvang-Vadi Raags are performed from noon to midnight. And the Utrang-Vadi Raags are performed from midnight to noon. 026-hari.jpg
Once you know the Vadi note of a Raag, which is very important to know if you want to know a Raag, you already know which half of the day it goes to. It is also true that a Raag’s Vadi and Samvadi suwars reside in the opposite halves of an octave. So switching a Raag’s Vadi and Samvadi notes will in fact, change a Raag’s time by 12 hours. Normally, ‘Poorvang’ and ‘Utrang’ are not overlapped. That is a very widely accepted concept and makes a lot of sense when explaining the advance Thaat system. But here, when a Raag has ‘Pa’ Vadi and is considered a Poorvang-Vadi Raag, we run into problems. There is no other solution but to overlap Poorvang and Utrang. When divided this way, both parts share three notes (S, M, P). And whenever one of these notes is the Vadi note of the Raag in question, do not rely on ‘Poorvang-Utrang’ theory and check it otherwise. There are many Raags, which have a ‘Ma’ Vadi and are performed in the morning and with ‘Pa’ Vadi performed in the evening. So once again ‘Sa, Ma or Pa, if any one of these notes is Vadi, check the Raag for its ‘Komal’ (flats) and ‘Shudh’ (natural) notes, check the flow of the Raag. If Raag seems to stay in the upper half regardless of its Vadi note, then it is an ‘Utrang’ type (upper half) Raag and will fit into midnight to noon time slot or vice versa. The confusion has been created by continuous change in the popular style of Raags.

Wheel of Time:
As I mentioned earlier, the time theory divides a day into 8 pehars, morning and evening Raags overlapping two pehars. Here is an illustration showing how the day is divided. If needed, we will later see how the Raags fit on this wheel.
Wheel of Time

Conclusion:
Many new performers do not pay intention to the time theory at all. Their argument is that nowadays Raags are not always performed live. If the performer wants to record an evening Raag, and the only available studio time is in the morning, he has to do it. And who knows at what time a listener is going to hear the recorded material. An evening classical TV or radio show cannot limit itself to Raags only available in that time slot. So slowly, the time theory is fading out. However, it is good idea to learn about a Raag’s time slot because it adds so much to its personality.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Basic Theory

25. Time Theory of Raags

by

The Time theory of Raags is an ancient theory. Every Raag has a three-hour time slot in the day. One slot is called a “Pehar”. There are 8 Pehars in a 24 hour day. A Raag performed in its time slot has the most effect on the listener and the performer. Through the ages though, many Raags have been modified, and their allotted time slots do not match with their flow of notes. This incompatibility has created a lot of confusion about this theory. However, if a student knows the basics of the Time Theory, the proper alterations can be made.
Pandit Ravi ShankarAt first look, the time theory of Raags alludes many. It seems random, there are formulas however. It is directly connected to the notes used in a Raag. Every Note, when used with certain other notes, has a different effect. That creates certain moods. Based on that, we can divide Raags into three categories:

1. Raags with ‘Komal’ ‘Re’ and ‘Dha’ (second and sixth flat)
2. Raags with ‘Shudh’ ‘Re’ and ‘Dha’ (second and sixth natural)
3. Raags with ‘Komal’ ‘Ga’ and ‘Ni’ (third and seventh flat)

1. Raags with Komal ‘R’ and ‘D’ (second and sixth flat)
These Raags are called ‘Sandhi-prakash’ (dawn/dusk or twilight) Raags. As the name suggests, these Raags are sung in the early morning and early evening. ‘Ma’ (the fourth) note plays a very big role to separate the morning Raags from the evening Raags. In the morning Raags, ‘Ma’ is usually natural and in the evening Raags it is usually sharp. Another thing to remember about these Raags is that the third note (‘Ga’) is always natural. If ‘Ga’ is flat, then the Raags will go in the third category. Importance of Komal ‘Dha’ (sixth) is not as high as Komal ‘Re’. If ‘Re’ is Komal and ‘Dha’ is natural, the Raag will still come under this category. But if it is the other way around, then it will go to the second category.

2. Raags with ‘Shudh’ ‘Re’ and ‘Dha’ (second and sixth natural)
These Raags are sung right after the ‘Sandhi-Prakash (twilight) Raags. So their time slot is around 7-10 a.m. and p.m. Again these Raags must have a Shudh ‘Ga’ (third natural), otherwise they will go under the next category. ‘Ma’ (fourth) plays a big role in these Raags too. The same rule applies here, the ‘a.m.’ Raags have natural ‘Ma’ and the ‘p.m.’ Raags have Tivar ‘Ma’ (fourth sharp).

3. Raags with Komal ‘Ga’ and ‘Ni’ (third and seventh flat)
These Raags have the next time slot in both day and night. In these Raags, the position ‘Re’ or ‘Dha’ does not matter. However, these Raags must have Komal ‘Ga’ (third flat). Importance of komal ‘Ni’ (the seventh) is not as high as the position of the ‘Ga’ (third).

The above categorization is very useful to memorize a Raag’s appropriate time. As I stated earlier, this division is not perfect though. Indian music theory is over 5000 years old. Along the way it has acquired its fair share of exemptions. There are a few other things, which may or may not overrule the above categorization. Raag ‘Yaman’ (name) is an evening Raag. Nevertheless, it is always the first Raag in a performance, regardless of the time of the day. Similarly, no matter it is day or night, Raag ‘Bhairavi’ (name) is the last Raag performed. A few other Raags occupy bigger than a 3-hour time slots and a few are only sung during a special season. Read more about this in the next post.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Basic Theory

10. Murdung or Pakhavaj

by

While we are talking about rhythmic instruments, I thought I should write at least one post about Tabla’s southern counterpart Murdung.MurdangamMurdung is also called Murdungum or Mridungam. It is a very ancient drum and is mentioned in the oldest scripture available (Rigveda 5.33.6.). In ancient times it was called ‘Pushkur’. Pushkur was the favorite drum of Gods. All Godly dances were performed on the rhythms of Pushkur. There are thousands of ancient statues and carvings that give Murdung a very long history.

Pakhavaj, Muraj or Murdal are all Murdung’s other names. Murdung is especially famous in southern India. When northern Indians adapted a version of Murdung, they called it Pakhavaj. A Pakhavaj (or murdung) is considered more complicated and harder to play than a Tabla. But since Tabla’s invention, Pakhavaj’s popularity is gone down. You can only see it in the temples and religious group singings in northern India now. But Murdung (Murdungum) is still the main rhythmic instrument for the southern Indian music. All over India good musicians still know Murdung’s importance in development of Indian rhythm and they respect the instrument and its players a lot.

Shape of Pakhavaj:
PakhavajAs shown in the picture, Pakhavaj is made from the one piece of the wood. The bass side is bigger than the treble side. Pakhavaj’s Bayan (left side) is not inked and dough is used to get the bass sound. Higher or lower notes are achieved by putting more or less dough on the head. Because Pakhavaj is one piece, so hitting one side makes both sides ring. That ring distinguishes Pakhavaj’s all over sound from Tabla. The ring is especially obvious when a Thaap (all four fingers flat like ‘Te’ sound in Tabla) is played. A lot of Thaap sounds are used in Pakhavaj, where in Tabla lots of individual fingers are used to get different sounds.
The high side of Pakhavaj is always tuned and the procedure to tune it exactly the same as Tabla’s Dayan. So there is no need to repeat the instructions.

Sounds Of Pakhavaj:
The Pakhavaj sounds are divided into two categories:
1. Muted Boles (sounds): the sounds which do not ring are closed or muted boles
2. Open boles (sounds): the sounds, which are allowed to ring, are called open boles.
There are differences in scholars that what the basic sounds of Pakhavaj are. But the following diversion seems very practical:

Main Sounds:
Ta, te, di, thun, na, dha, d, dhay, dee, gu, khirer, jhen, mu,
Secondary sounds:
Ran, ke, gay, n. dhu, dhee, lan, thayee, daan, kee, tee, thurer,

As I mentioned earlier that Murdungum is basically a southern Indian instrument, so I will not go into details on this here. Once we have covered most of the Northern Music theory, then we may come back to it. The southern Taal structures and playing styles are different than the northern Indian ones. It is a good idea to master the northern Indian style and structure before going into the southern rhythms.
sangtar.com > Music Theory > Basic Theory > (Also in Musical Instruments)

9. Tabla Sounds

by

Most musical instruments are easy and fun to learn because you can start getting the sounds right away. But for many people Tabla and bamboo flutes are the hardest to start. These instruments are fun to play once you know how to get the sounds out, but in the begginning, they takes patience and hard work. Tabla cannot be played without learning the real strokes and sounds. You can not just start banging the heads and hope that something beatiful will come out, it won’t. And there is no magical way to learn the sounds in one session either. After a lot of hard work and determination, eventually the fun is awaiting.

Tabla has ten main sounds (boles). All other boles are combination of these sounds. These ten sounds are divided into three basic categories:
Dayan’s (right side’s) sounds:
1. na or ta
2. tin or ti
3. din or thun
4. tu
5. te
6. re
Bayna’s (left side’s) sounds:
7. Ge or Ghe (pronounced gay and ghay)
8. ke (pronounced kay)
Sounds played with both hands at the same time:
9. dha ( ‘ge’ plus ‘na’ or #7+#1)
10. dhin (‘ghe’ plus ‘tin’ or #7+#2)

Here are the techniques. Please don’t skip to the next sound until you learn correct the hand positions of one sound. Soon there will be video instructions.

Dayan’s Sounds:
1. ‘Na’ or ‘Ta’: put your third finger on the edge of Sihaee (ink) and hit the Chanti (edge) with your index finger. The middle finger should not touch anything. The index finger hits and bounces off right away (just hovering above the head, don’t pick you hand up). This is the most used sound and is the tuned sound too, so work hard on this one. Do not move your third and fourth fingers. This is a bad habit that will be hard to get rid of. Keep your thumb close to your index finger when playing. Keep your hand loose and wrist lifted up. Your elbow and your wrist should be parallel. This way your hand will not tire easily.

Think of the tabla head as a light metal lid of a pot. If you hit the lid with you finger and let it bounce off, the lid will ring. If the finger stays on the lid, the sound will be muted. The same rule applies here. By trying this experiment on a metal lid, you may also see that it is easier to get the ringing sound if hand and fingers are loose. The bouncing happens with the laws of Newton, rather than you pulling the finger away from the Tabla. You do not need to hit Tabla very hard to get this sound, if you are getting a ‘tik’ sound, you are hitting too hard and your hand is stiff. Read this paragraph a few times while trying to play. If you got this sound, half of your battle is over. Why is this sound called Na and Ta? These are the names of the same sound used by different schools of Tabla.

2. ‘Tin’ or ‘Ti’: third finger stays on the Siahee, the index finger hits the ‘Luv’ (the middle part between ‘Sihaee’ and ‘Chanti’). Again, it bounces right off the head to let it ring. Whenever this sound comes by itself, it is always called ‘Tin’. But when it is followed by ‘Na,’ then it is written as ‘ti.’ So when you see ‘tina,’ play and pronounce it as Tin+Na (two sounds).
3. ‘Din or ‘Thun’: when all four fingers together hit the Sihaee and are picked up right way, that is the ‘Din ‘ or ‘Thun’ sound.
4. Tu: this is achieved by hitting the Sihaee by index finger. It is an open sound too.
5. Te: when second, third and fourth fingers hit the Sihaee and stay there, that is the ‘Te’ sound. Staying means that this is a ‘muted sound.’ The fingers do not let the head ring.
6. Re: when hitting the Sihaee with the index finger. it is also a muted sound and it often follows ‘Te’.

Bayan Sounds:
7. ‘Ge’ or ‘Ghe’: this is a Bayan’s sound. When hitting the ink part of Bayan with index finger’s tip and it rings, that is ‘ge’, if hit by the middle finger that is called ‘Ghe’. When playing these sounds back part of your left hand should be resting right on the head and pressure of palm will give the Bayan sounds their distinguish bend. Hitting the head by bending your fingers on 90-digree angle makes these sounds. Also, Ghe is supposed to be played with a little more pressure than Ge.
8. Ke: when hitting the Bayan with all four fingers flat, that is ‘ke’. It is a muted sound.
9. Dha: ‘ge’ plus ‘Ta’ or ‘Na’ is ‘Dha’.
10. Dhin: ‘ghe’ plus ‘tin’ is ‘Dhin’. Sometimes this sound is also written as ‘Dhi’. In those cases it is folloed by the ‘Na’ sound. So when you see ‘dhina’ play and read ‘Dhin+Na’.

These are all the basic boles (sounds) of Tabla. Then there are some bigger boles that are created by joining two or more boles together. Some combined boles are explained below:
Combination Boles (sounds):
Combination boles are not played at the same time, but one after another. Here are a few examples of these combined boles. These boles will be used in Taals. When you read a Taal and have any doubt about any bole (sound), please refer to this list:
Tina: When ‘Tin’ and ‘Na’ come back to back, they are pronounced together as ‘Tinna’. Here written as ‘Tina’.
Dhina: Same as ‘Tina’ this is the combination of ‘Dhin and Na’ together. Pronounce it as ‘Dhinna’.
Tuk: ‘Ta’ and ‘kay’ make ‘Tuk’.
Kit: It is a combination of ‘Kay’ and ‘te’. Mostly it follows ‘Tir’ or ‘tit’ described below or is followed by ‘Tuk.’
Tirkit: This is a very common Bole. It is a combination of four boles back to back:
Te, re, kay, te,
Kuta: It is combination of ‘kay’ and ‘Ta’. Pronounce it as ‘Kattaa’.
Dhit: When Right hand plays ‘Tit (Tir or Te+re)’ and left hand adds ‘ghe’ with it. It becomes ‘dhit’.
Gadi: Combination of ‘Ge’ and an open Dayan sound ‘din’ or ‘di’.
Gan: ‘Gan’ mostly follows ‘Gadi’. If these both boles are played in one beat then they will be written like ‘Gadigan.’ ‘Gan’ is combination of ‘ge’ and ‘Na.’
Truk: ‘Truk’ is combination of ‘te’, ‘re’ and ‘kay’. It is always played together quickly otherwise it almost sounds like ‘tirkit’
Det: it is combination of ‘din’ and ‘ta’. It is pronounced like ‘they-ta’ with a very soft ‘T’.
Nug: This is a combination of ‘Na’ and ‘ge’.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Basic Theory > (also in Rhythm Practice)

8. Tuning Tabla

by

Tuning Tabla is an art. Unfortunately everybody who wants to play it, must learn to tune. Tabla can’t be or should not be played without tuning. Why not?
Firstly, without being in tune all around the circle, it does not have the nice ring. Even If one point is out of tune, the ‘openness’ of the sound is lost.
Secondly, Tabla’s &’ Na’ & and ‘Tin’ (most used sounds) always ring on a certain frequency, and if that frequency is not in tune with your other instruments (or the scale of your song), then just like any other out of tune instrument it will not blend in. So let’s see how to tune it.
When we talk about tuning Tabla, almost all the time we mean tuning Dayan’s (right side’s) ‘Na’ sound. The open sounds (tu, din etc.) of Dayan are tuned in some special situations only. One of them is playing multiple Dayans only to play a melody line on Tablas, also known as ‘Tabla Trung’.
I will discuss how to play ‘Na’ on a Tabla in the ‘tabla sounds’ post (probably next). Every player has his/her own way to tune a Tabla, but in the end it comes down to achieving a perfect tuning all around. If you tune your Tabla the proper way, you can enjoy it for years. If you do not know how to do it right, the life of the head will be reduced to days or sometimes even hours. So please read through this post a couple of times before tempering with yours.

hammerTabla is tuned with a special hammer. Although any small hammer can be used, but this thing is specially made for this task. It has a blunt head to tune it, a sharp head to fix it and the other side is designed to get the rawhide belt over the wooden blocks. This special hammer is a very cheap tool and it is mostly sold with a new Tabla. A new one can be bought for a buck or two.
A Dahina is mostly tuned to the keynote, which is called ‘Sa’ in Indian music. Tablas don’t have very wide scales, so sometimes it is very hard to tune it to the keynote. The second preference is ‘Pa'(the fifth). If the composition you are playing Tabla with is such a Rāga, which doesn’t use ‘Pa’ (the fifth), then it can also be tune to ‘Ma’ (the fourth). Some folk and popular style players tune it to ‘Ga’ (the third) to accommodate wide range of songs without changing Dayans. A Tabla tuned on ‘Ga’ (the third) does not blend well into the music, but it can be used to create a special sound in non-classical music. Most players keep more than one Dayans with variable head sizes with them.

Let’s go through the process of tuning a Dayan step by step:

1. First, make sure that your heads have warmed up or cooled down to the room temperature. Then play the ‘Na’ sound (instructions coming up) all around the head and establish an approximate note, or as it is said in Indian music, determine that on which note your Dayan approximately ‘speaks’ on.
2. Then create the sound of the desired note on a tuner or keyboard, on which the Dayan is supposed to be tuned on.
3. If the difference between Dayan’s approximate speaking (ringing) note and the desired note is too big, then consider tuning it to the fifth or the fourth depending on the tonic chord. Don’t make your Tabla go higher or lower than two tones unless it was really loose or really tight for some special reasons (new head etc.).
4. If your Dayan is sharper than the desired note then go to point 9.
5. If your Dayan sounds flat than the desired note, then figure out that how flat is it?
6. If the difference is more than a semitone then hit the wooden blocks down and bring the head closer to the desired note. When hitting the blocks, use ‘opposite side approach’. That means that all eight blocks should be tighten in the 1st-5th, 2nd-6th… order.
7. When it is closer to the note then hit the crown with hammer and achieve the right tuning. This should also be done the ‘opposite side’ way. Dayan’s crown has 16 holes. The spaces between two holes are called ‘Ghars’ (houses). So tune all the houses in 1-9, 2-10, 3-11… order.
8. When Dayan needs very little, a few cents adjustment, do it starting from one side tuning it to the exact note in a circular motion. Hit the crown upwards or downwards with the hammer as required with very light strokes. When hitting the crown, make sure that you don’t hit the rawhide belt as it will break right away. All strokes should be made in the middle of the holes.
9. If your Dayan is sharper than the desired note, then there are two ways to bring it down. If the difference is more than a semitone then bring the wooden pieces a little up by hitting them or just sliding them upwards.
10. Then hit the crown upwards while checking the response of the head. Do this using the ‘opposite side’ approach too, going in 1-9, 2-10, 3-11…order.
11. When it is close to the desired note then tune it as shown in point 7 and 8.

Zakir Tuning a BayanNormally a Bayan (the left part) is not tuned to any note. It is just tighten until sounds pleasant by hitting the crown. But some players do tune it to the bass keynote (lower ‘Sa’ or bass fifth (lower ‘Pa’). Some players don’t use an ‘inked’ Bayan. They use wheat dough to get the bass sound. If you have this kind of Bayan, then don’t tighten it before using the dough. It sounds very high without the dough. The other thing to remember about dough Bayans is that the dough should be fully scratch off after every use. Otherwise it is bad for the head. Store your dough Bayan in a mice free zone because if they found it, they will shred it. The dough Bayans are commonly used in the Quwali style playing and are known as ‘Dhamas’.

Khichee (pulling):
A time will come, when all your wooden blocks will be all the way down and the head tuning is still not high enough. That is the time for Khichee (pulling the raw-hide belt). Over time the belt expands and gets loose. If you need to pull the rawhide belt then here is the procedure to do it:

1. Take all the wooden pieces out of the rawhide belt.
2. Locate the starting knot in the bottom.
3. Put your Dayan in your feet and start pulling the belt.
4. In the end you have to untie the end knot and re-tie it.
5. It is good to use gloves especially if you are playing right after.
6. Now use your special Tabla hammer to slide the belt over the wooden pieces.
7. Make sure you do it evenly. Normally taking two strips over a block then leaving two and then taking two over the next block will do it.
8. Make sure you put your blocks evenly otherwise the head will slide to a side.
9. A head slid to a side is not a good thing. If it is new head it might be acceptable to a degree, but if you re-pull an old head and it slides to a side, it will rip from its original groove over the wood. Don’t be afraid though, unless you use a ridiculous amount of force or two people start to pull the belt, it is very hard to slide the head to the side if it was installed properly once,
10. To pull the belt of the left side (Bayan) is a little easier than the right side. If you succeed doing it to the right side, you don’t need any more information to do it to the left side.

sangtar.com > Music Theory > Basic Theory