5 Beat Tihai

धा - - - | तेत - - - | धा - धाति - |धा - धा - | - - तेत -
- - धा - | धाति - धा - |धा - - - | तेत - - - | धा - धाति -
धा

Tihai 3

धा - गे ना | तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा गे ना तिं | ना धा - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा - क त | धा - - धा | गे ना तिं ना | धा - - धा
गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - क त | धा - - धा
गे ना तिं ना | धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा - क त | धा - धा - | गे ना तिं ना | गे ना गे ना
धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा गे | ना तिं ना धा | - धा गे ना
धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा - | क त धा - | - धा गे ना
तिं ना धा - | - धा गे ना | धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा -
क त धा - | - धा गे ना | तिं ना धा - | - धा गे ना
धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा - | क त धा - | धा - गे ना
तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा गे ना तिं
ना धा - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - क त
धा - - धा | गे ना तिं ना | धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे
तिं ना गे ना | धा - क त | धा - - धा | गे ना तिं ना
धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - क त
धा

Tihai 2

धा - गे ना | तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - धा
गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - - | धा - गे ना
तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - धा
गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे
तिं ना गे ना | धा - - - | धा - गे ना | तिं ना गे ना
गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे
तिं ना गे ना | धा - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा

Tihai 1

धा - गे ना | तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा गे ना तिं | ना धा - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा - - - | - धा गे ना | धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा -
- - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना | धा - - -
- - धा - | गे ना तिं ना | गे ना गे ना | धा गे तिं ना
गे ना धा गे | ना तिं ना धा | - धा गे ना | धा गे तिं ना
गे ना धा - | - - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा - - - | - धा गे ना | धा गे तिं ना | गे ना धा -
- - - - | धा - गे ना | तिं ना गे ना | गे ना धा गे
तिं ना गे ना | धा गे ना तिं | ना धा - धा | गे ना धा गे
तिं ना गे ना | धा - - - | - धा गे ना | धा गे तिं ना
गे ना धा - | - - - धा | गे ना धा गे | तिं ना गे ना
धा

11/03/05

I know, I know ... it's been forever since I posted. Been busy with other things so couldn't find time to write. Well, better late than never. I'll fill in the blanks later on.

Guruji and me spent some time talking about the concert for quite a while. He told me a lot of interesting things about the Santoor which I'll document at some point. Going to the lessons, we played a kaida that Guruji said is more of a "concert level"


Dha TiRa KiTa TaKa | TiRa Kita Dha TiRa
KiTa TaKa TiRa KiTa | Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Dha Ti Dha Ge | Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Dha Ti Dha Ge | Tin Naa Ge Naa


And the Khali after that. We also learnt a few more ways of playing the basic Teental.

1. Dha Dhin Dhin Dha - the usual way
2. Dha Dhi Dhin Dha - play the Dhi with the index finger on the syahi
3. Dha Dha Dha Dha - here the third Dha is the Chaati. Feels a little different till you get used to it
4. Dha Dhi Dhi Dha - where the Dhi Dhi are index and then middle finger

These are just the first lines. Translate accordingly into the


Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
Dha Tin Tin Taa
Taa Dhin Dhin Dha

The Bhari and The Khali

I used to think that a khali was a space in the composition. No! What I termed the heavier and the lighter line are actually called the Bhari and the Khali. In almost all of the compositions, the first line with the Dha and Ge is the Bhari with the latter line with the Taa and Ke the Khali. The space is usuall called the Dum. Dum khale beta, aage aur bhi bajaana hai. Jokes apart, I'm glad I got this misunderstanding away. Would have led to more disastrous errors later on.

The tabla as a language

Talking to Guruji today I really began to get a feel of how complex the tabla is. It's an instrument, but it has a language of it's own. You play Dha Tin Na Na | Na Tin Dha Dha, just as plain beats and it sounds so monotonous that you'll probably fall asleep. But you accent the right bols and then your feet start dancing with the beat. That's what you mean by the tabla having a language of it's own. When you say a simple sentence, you can say a particular word in a light mood or an angry mood and the whole meaning of the sentence changes. It's the same here. A phrase sounds completely different when you accent it. There's a lot to learn ... but I'm sure a lot of practice will get me there.

Keherwa

We played some variations of the Keherwa today. I asked Guruji I would differentiate from a Teental variation from a Keherwa variation since they are both 8/16 beats and the bols are mostly the same. As he said, it all depends on the accent and the style of playing. I can't describe in words - that's why a teacher is important for the Tabla, anyone can read from a book. I guess I'll have to practice a lot.

Couple of things that help -

- Playing the chaati
- Playing a "tichki" on the dagga with a Naa

I found the first variation easy to play. I'll practice that till I get the sound right. Here are the variations


1. Dha Tin Naa Naa | Naa Tin Dha Naa
2. Dha Dha Dha Tin | Naa Naa Dha Tin
3. Dha Ge Dha Tin | Naa Ge Dha Tin
4. Dha Tin Ge Naa | Naa Ge Tin Naa
5. Dha Tin Ge Ti | Naa Ge Dhin Naa
6. Dha Ge Dha Ti | Na Ge Dha Ti
7. Dhin Ge Naa Naa | Tin Ge Dha Naa

Lesson 19

There was a lot to learn today. We continued on the Kaida, played some variations of the Keherva as well as got to learn a lot about accents and how it changes the rhythm. Here, let me just mention the three new variations of the Kaida. We'll go into the details of Keherva in the next post.

Three new variations here. Guruji stressed the point here that we need to accent some of the bols otherwise this sounds like a monotone. For example, in variation #8 Line 3, the Naa in Ge Naa Tin needs to be hit as hard as possible.

Also, you could play the Chaati, that's the Naa but played flat and with full force. It really makes a huge difference.

Variation #8


Dha - Ge Naa |Tin Naa Ge Naa |Ge Tin Naa Tin |Naa Ge Tin Naa
Ge Naa Tin Ge |Naa Tin Ge Naa |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Ge Naa


Variation #9


Dha - Ge Naa |Tin Naa Ge Naa|Ge Naa Naa Tin |Naa Tin Naa Naa
Ge Naa Naa Tin |Naa Tin Naa Naa|Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Ge Naa


Variation #10

Note this is a lot different because it starts differently


Ge Naa Dha Ge | Dhin Naa Ge Naa |Dha Ge Dhin Naa |Ge Naa Dhin Naa
Ge Naa Dha Ge | Ge Naa Dha Ge |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Lesson 18

We continued the practice of the Kaida. A lot more in double speed. Guruji also played this at a really really fast speed. We tried to play along. But I still need to practice it.

You always play it as Theme twice and all the rest once.

Two more variations to add to the list


Dha - Ge Naa |Dhin Naa Ge Naa |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Naa Ge
Ge Naa Ge Dhin |Naa Ge Dhin Naa|Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha - Ge Naa |Dhin Naa Ge Naa |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Na Ge
Ge Naa Dha Ge |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Ge Naa Dha Ge |Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Lesson 17

We repeated the Kaida we learnt in Lesson 12. Now that I know all the bols, Guruji made things a little more interesting. Like playing it in double speed, or one person playing the complete Kaida and the others just joining in for the last part of each line - sometimes the first player should play along, sometimes the first player should be quiet at that time.

It was quite interesting. There were three of us who seem to have got the beat. The double was always difficult but it was a lot of fun. The main part was to realize that this is a Kaida in Teental. So, after practicing a lot, we had to start with a simple Teental in regular speed, then the theme in regular speed, the Kaida in double speed and then we need to return to Teental in regular speed. It was quite challenging it, but you learn a lot about taals and rhythms here.

Here's the base Teental beat. Each bol is a beat.

Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
Dha Dhin Dhin Dha
Dha Tin Tin Taa
Taa Dhin Dhin Dha