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

Lesson 16

A nice beat with a lot of khalis. No new bols or phrases, just the usual with a little different beat. This was again the usual 8 beat composition. The first is the theme. You can play the rest with the Dha and the Taa with the corresponding line from the theme as the second half.


Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha |Ge Naa
Taa Ti |- Taa|Ti Taa |Ke Naa

Dha Ti |- Ti|Dha Ti|- Ti
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha Ti |Ti -|Ti -|Ti -
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha Ti |Ti -|Ti -|Dha Ti
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti -|Dha Ti
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha - |Ti Dha|- Ti|Dha Ti
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha - |- Ti|Dha -|Ti -
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa

Dha Ti |Dha -|Ti -|Dha Ti
Dha Ti |- Dha|Ti Dha|Ge Naa



Sounds nice. The double speed is of course a little harder.

Tabla tuned

Got my tabla tuned today. Looks like it was really messed up. The skin was coming out a bit on the top and I guess that was just because the pudi had lost it's tension. Couldn't tune it that easily though. Guruji asked me to adjust all the pegs so that they stretch two of the gajra strings than just one. That makes it have more tension. It sounds awesome once again now. It had really missed the pitch and was sounding odd when I played with the others. All of a sudden the Naa and the Tin sound like they should sound, and that too with a little less effort. Maybe this will just make me try a little less, but it does sound AWESOME.

Stay tuned for the next lesson.

Lesson 15

5 beats. Weird. I just can't seem to get the rhythm properly with the beats. I keep concentrating on the Dha. I got a metronome this weekend and I can see where I cam going wrong, and can do it correctly for some time. But I lose it in the double speed. Will need more practice. The compositions are simple enough, except for the last one which is little faster than the others.

Dha Ti |Dha Te|Te Dha |Ti Dha |Ge Naa
Taa Ti |Taa Te|Te Taa |Te Taa |Ke Naa

Dha Ti |Dha Ti |Dha Dha |Ti Dha |Ge Naa
Taa Ti |Taa Ti |Taa Taa |Ti Taa |Ke Naa

Dha Ti |Dha Ge |Naa Dha |Ti Dha |Dhin Naa
Taa Ti |Taa Ke |Naa Taa |Ti Taa |Tin Naa

Dha Ti |Dha TiRe|KiTa Dha|Ti DhaGe |DhinNa Ge Naa
Taa Ti |Taa TiRe|KiTa Taa|Ti TaaKe |TinNa Ke Naa

For the last, I could do it as

Dha Ge Tin Naa Ke Naa
and
Taa Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

like we did before. My hands sort of tend to do that anyway.

Lesson 14

No new bols or phrases introduced today. Just some difficult compositions. The latter half has some 6 beat compositions which make it difficult to understand them at first. Once you get the beat, you are all set. I'm just going to list them today.

Dhin Ne|Ta Ka|Dhin Ne
Dhin Ne|Naa Ge|Dhin Ne

Tin Ne|Ta Ka|Tin Ne
Tin Ne|Naa Ke|Tin Ne

Dhin Ne|Naa Ge|Tin Ne
Tin Ne|Naa Ge|Dhin Ne

Dha Ge|Tin Ne|Tin Ne
Naa Ge|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne

All the above where the practice compositions. Now come the real ones - all are 12 beat compositions. If you look at them closely, some of them are the same, just start at different bols.

Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne
Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne

Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne
Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne

Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Naa Ti|Ge Ne
Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne

Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne
Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne

Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne
Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne|Dha Ti|Ge Ne|Dhin Ne|Dhin Ne

Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Naa Ti|Ge Ne
Tin Ne|Tin Ne|Naa Ti|Ge Ne|Tin Ne|Tin Ne

And of course, in the end, you need to play all these in double speed.

Getting the beat

I always thought I understood beats and rhythms. But, tapping the composition in single and double speed proved to be difficult. So, I began thinking about what I was doing wrong ... and I realized it. I'm paying too much attention to the count. I just need to feel the rhythm and say it aound. Forget the tapping, forget the Dhin and forget the Ne. Just say it once and then say it at double speed and I got it.

I was able to say most of the beats at double speed and alternate easily between single and double. Just need to be a little more free.