Playing on the knees

Playing on the knees helps. The last weekend I had gone to a friend's place. He had a basketball that I was playing around with while I was sitting. Of course, tabla was on my mind so I started practicing on the basketball. Couldn't hear any sounds but I think it helps to get the fingers used to the movements. When I went home that night, I realized that I could play the

Dhi Ge Ne Naa Naa Ge

much better than before. That's when I realized that I could use my train commute to good use. I keep tapping my knees to practice. Let's see if that helps.

Lesson 8

I was again the first one to arrive this time. I started off by practising what we learnt last time since I didn't get a chance to practice a lot in the week. I think I have the rhythm, but the sounds definitely need a lot of improvment. Especially the volume.

Today there really weren't any new bols except for a Dhin.

Dhin : De + Tun

The compositions have a nice rhythm. It's like I learnt in one of the previous lessons. There five compositions and you can play any one in the first line, but the last line always has to be the same. The compositions are

Dha Ge Te Ra Ki Ta (TRKT is played a little slowly)
Dha Ge Te Te Te Te
Dha Ge Te Te Dha Ge
Dha Ge Dhin Naa Te Te

and the last line is always

Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

So you can play like

Dha Ge Te Ra Ki Ta Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Dha Ge Te Ra Ki Ta Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ge Te Te Te Te Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Dha Ge Te Te Te Te Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

and so on.

Also, a slight change is that you can replace the Dha Ge with the usual Na Ke. So the five above can also become ...

Naa Ke Te Ra Ki Ta
Naa Ke Te Te Te Te
Naa Ke Te Te Naa Ke
Naa Ke Dhin Naa Te Te (Playing this as Naa Ke Tin Naa Te Te is a bit easier)

and the last line is always

Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa


So, if you are really ambitious :), which I will be after I practice this a bit, you can play

Dha Ge Te Ra Ki Ta Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Naa Ke Te Ra Ki Ta Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ge Te Te Te Te Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Naa Ke Te Te Te Te Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ge Te Te Dha Ge Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Naa Ke Te Te Naa Ke Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ge Dhin Naa Te Te Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Naa Ke Dhin Naa Te Te Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Lesson 7

Today was really painful on my poor index finger. It was a nice beat, but the new bol was something that needed a little more pressure and of course, in the right place.

Ti - A forceful note with the index finger right on the sur. No shai / no maidan. It has to be flat and non-resonant on the sur. It sounds something like 'chik' if you play it properly.

Dhi - Add a De to it and it becomes Dhi.


Compositions :

Dhi Ge Naa Naa Naa Ti
Ti Ge Naa Naa Dha Ti (notice the Dha instead of the Naa)

Dhi Ge Ne Naa Naa Ge
Ti Ge Ne Naa Naa Ge

Dhi Ge Naa Naa Ge Ne
Ti Ge Naa Naa Ge Ne

Dhi Ge Ne Tun Naa Ge
Ti Ge Ne Tun Naa Ge

Ti Ga Da Ne Naa Ge
Ti Ga Da Ne Tun Ne

The Ti and Dhi are quite difficult to play. I don't think I still have the the right sound and I didn't get enough time to practice this week.

Lesson 6

Nice. I was able to play things fast. Looks like I've improved my Naa(s) - well improved so that I don't life my ring finger, BUT, I've lost the volume. I need to keep practising it. Just one new bol this time, but with the TiRaKiTa, everything sounds much better. You aren't just badving the table anymore. It actually seems to have a beat.

<self praise>I think I'm getting better now. Of course, when Shree Syed plays the same thing as I'm playing, I realize how far I need to go.</self praise>

New bols introduced :

DeDiNaaGe

- De - Dagga - Middle Finger
- Di - Tabla - Fourth Finger (similar to Ne)
- Naa - Tabla - Index Finger
- Ge - Dagga - Index Finger

KaDeNaaKe

- Ka - Dagga - Flat Palm
- Di - Tabla - Fourth Finger (similar to Ne)
- Naa - Tabla - Index Finger
- Ke - Dagga - Flat Palm


TeKeTa

- Te - Tabla - Index Finger
- Ke - Dagga - Flat Palm
- Taa - Tabla - Index Finger

TeKeTeKe

- Te - Tabla - Index Finger
- Ke - Dagga - Flat Palm
- Te - Tabla - Middle Finger
- Ke - Dagga - Flat Palm

Phrases :

DeDiNaaGe TiReKiTa

KaDeNaaKe TiReKiTa

Taa Taa TiReKiTa

TeKeTaa TiReKita

TeKeTeKe TiRaKiTa

Compositions :

Taa Taa TiReKiTa
KaDiNaKe TiReKiTa

Taa TeTe KaDiNaKe
KaDiNaKe TiReKiTa

TeKeTaa TiReKita
TeKeTeKe TiRaKiTa

Lesson 5

This was an interesting lesson. With the new bols I could actually understand a beat that I'm playing. However, the problem was that I was lifting my 4th finger during a Taa which wasn't right. Have to practice that a lot.

New Bols Introduced :

TiRaKiTa

Ti - Tabla - Three fingers
Re - Tabla - Index finger on syahi (TiRa is like TeTe)
Ki - Dagga - Flat Palm
Ta - Tabla - Three fingers

TaKa

Ta - Tabla - Index Finger
Ka - Dagga - Flat Palm

Phrases :

TiReKiTa TaKa

Compositions :

Dha TiReKiTa TaKa
Dhin TiReKiTa TaKa
Taa TiReKiTa TaKa
Tin TiReKiTa TaKa

(Four lines below played alternately in any order)
Dha TiReKiTa TaKa
Dha TiReKiTa Dha
Dha Dha TiReKiTa
TiReKiTa Dha Dha

(Four lines below played alternately in any order)
Taa TiReKiTa TaKa
Taa TiReKiTa Taa
Taa Taa TiReKiTa
TiReKiTa Taa Taa

TaKa TiReKiTa TaKa TiReKiTa Dha Dha
TaKa TiReKiTa TaKa TiReKiTa Taa Taa