after three months, I finally went for a formal lesson with my teacher. He liked my playing but pointed out few mistakes I still make. For example, when playing the Kayda
dhate tedha tete dhadha tete dhage tinna kina at fast speeds, i don't play the index finger te strong enough and so I should work on that and slower speeds etc. Also in the bant
dhiga dhinna terekita dhina dhage nati kiti nana
tike tina terekita dhina dhage nadhi gidhi nana
when playing fast, I wouldn't play the ki in ti=ki+tin. I was pointed out that and last night while playing and thinking about all that, the bant just sound amazingly beautiful when all the notes were being played. And as I kept playing more and more and faster and faster, not only the bant sounded beautiful but my fingers, while going from one note to the other, felt like creating smooth paths in the air and it felt like they were dancing on the tabla. . .it felt really really good.
The next kayda I am working on and would love to feel the same at really fast speeds is :
dhatere kitataka
dhatere kitataka
dhatere kitataka
Tinna kitataka
+mundi
Whenever you play a great composition well (and DhiGaDhiNa is probably my favourite Bant!), there's always a special feeling . . That's one of the great parts of playing tabla! :-) It means that you really picked the right instrument for yourself. .
By the way, when you play TiKaTi, do you play the three 'Ki' sounds with your open left hand? I play them like this:
Ti - 3 fingers on left hand (pinky, ring, middle fingers)
Ka - first finger on left hand
Ti - 3 fingers on left hand
My teacher showed me this technique, and it really helps for high speeds. And I feel that it gives a certain movement/momentum to the sound as well. .
I forget - who are you studying with right now? Shardaji?
I know the feeling. I don't get that feel, if the movement of the hand isn't relaxed. If one plays little bit too fast, then the muscles get tense. In kaidas and relas it's good to play as clearly as possible before doubling the speed, so you get the hand movement correct. Then when doubling hands become dancing correctly, automatically.
yes, I am learning fron Shardajee. I ussually use the flat hand for ki, ke etc. The reason I use flat hand is that I like to hear the sound( ke, ki etc) very clear because I found myself missing the ka sometimes when playing fast phrases in the past.I also use different fingers sometimes but it is something I am not always aware of. Nowdays, I am concentrating and playing lots of Terekitataka's. . .I just wonder what the feeling will be in a year or two when, or if I can play Dhatere kitataka kayda at supersonic speed. . . I will take one day off from practice and have a beer!! cheers!
The Bant is really nice when played at a fast speed but not before the slow speed!!
Any one planning to go to Saptak next year?. .or is there anyone planning to give up everything in a couple of years and go to India for one/two years to continue learning tabla?
That is a great kaida, sometimes they say Dha te te kaida is one of the first and last kaidas you will ever learn.
By the way all the gharanas have adopted it but it is a delhi kaida. It truly sounds gold when played Delhi style where the tete is played with only the first and second finger of the right hand.
Shawn brings up a good practice that is very important to learn . One place we have to use this one finger, 3 finger ka when playing fast kata kati kena (usually the kali of kata gadi gena)Try practicing te te with the left hand this will help. There is only one way around this and that is to use Allah Rakha's ka which you roll your left hand slightly like a fist so when you hit the baya your finger nails are underneath. You may have to see it to understand.
Shawn (Jan 15, 2003 09:48 a.m.):
Hi Rod,
Whenever you play a great composition well (and DhiGaDhiNa is probably my favourite Bant!), there's always a special feeling . . That's one of the great parts of playing tabla! :-) It means that you really picked the right instrument for yourself. .
By the way, when you play TiKaTi, do you play the three 'Ki' sounds with your open left hand? I play them like this:
Ti - 3 fingers on left hand (pinky, ring, middle fingers)
Ka - first finger on left hand
Ti - 3 fingers on left hand
My teacher showed me this technique, and it really helps for high speeds. And I feel that it gives a certain movement/momentum to the sound as well. .
I forget - who are you studying with right now? Shardaji?
I'm just wondering . . when you said "after three months" . . you went for a formal lesson. What do you mean exactly? That you did three months of group lessons before getting a private lesson? Or you studied with a disciple before getting a private lesson. . or?
I had fractured my hand in September just before leaving for India. Once there, I could not do any playing so I only learnt a bit of layakary from Kishore Kumar Mishra(disciple of Shardajee) and a few compositions from some other two guys I met.While wondering if I would ever play again, I decided that I had nothing to loose if I practiced my bayan/left hand. So I did and it payed off indeed!!! . .came back still in cast, got it off and waited another two weeks untill starting to play again. My wrist/joints were very week but I simply couldn't resist being without playing. Gurujee has a kind of group classes on Sundays for free so went to a couple of them in December. So, this was my first lesson with Shardajee for 4 months. Previous one was on the 8th of September.
I undestand the point about using different fingers for fast phrases. Last night I realised the it can be very difficult sometimes to use a full flat ka. Still, I am now used to use flat hand for bayan and I don't find it too difficult. But will try to learn the other way too just to have a better overall control of the left hand( I was practicing Dha Dha Te Te kayda with my left hand while in India and perhaps I should continue. . .)
cheers
rod
Shawn (Jan 15, 2003 05:02 p.m.):
Hey Rod,
I'm just wondering . . when you said "after three months" . . you went for a formal lesson. What do you mean exactly? That you did three months of group lessons before getting a private lesson? Or you studied with a disciple before getting a private lesson. . or?
