I'm a french musician. I play percussions for many years, especially african music on djembe and dundun. But i'm also very interessed by indian rythms and music. I would like to begin tabla playing; but i'm a little lost. I'm learning the bols, but i'm not quite shure about the sounds. I don't know how to accord my instrument (how to use the hammer. .).
Could someone help me ? it will be great to have a few notes of experimented players to do a good start.
There is an old book by Alla Rakha and Jeffrey Feldan that now comes with an accompanying Videocassette with the great Ustaad demonstrating fingering. This might be suitable for a percussionist like yourself. I have just ordered mine from Amazon.com but it has yet to arrive.
Otherwise, consult David Courtney's excellent book on 'Learning the tabla'. Not sure if David has a Videocassette that goes with it. The Batish institute also puts out some learning videos.
You need a video to graphically understand the precise fingering of the bols. Rhythm itself should be a no-brainer for you.
Start searching the web there is a lot of info then if you can't find a teacher get some videos like Prag sez. There are quite a few out there.
I think the Allah Rakha video is OK for beginners and a great video to have but some other tapes might be better to start with. Some of the newer training videos are better because of the advances in video filming quality. Maybe someone can name a few
You can also check the austin tabla site for some info
http://www.angelfire.com/music3/tabla
Good luck!
Parag (Jan 05, 2003 11:30 a.m.):
Leo,
There is an old book by Alla Rakha and Jeffrey Feldan that now comes with an accompanying Videocassette with the great Ustaad demonstrating fingering. This might be suitable for a percussionist like yourself. I have just ordered mine from Amazon.com but it has yet to arrive.
Otherwise, consult David Courtney's excellent book on 'Learning the tabla'. Not sure if David has a Videocassette that goes with it. The Batish institute also puts out some learning videos.
You need a video to graphically understand the precise fingering of the bols. Rhythm itself should be a no-brainer for you.
I strongly recommend Pandit Shankar Ghosh's Play tabla. I have a lot of other videos and it's the best tool for correct technic, that I know of. I have practiced tabla without a teacher, so I know what I am talking about. It's available at Knock on wood, which is located in U.K. Search with the name of the video from let's say google and you'll find it.
