Hi,
I have been happily playing to tintal for months now, so my teacher decided to shake things up and make me learn dadra and rupak tal. Dadra seems simple at first, but I found it very hard to play to.
It is almost hypnotic, I have a hard time finding sum. It is after Na, but once the laya gets faster it is very difficult.
Do other people play to this? Any tips? I suppose I just have to practise to it. I didn't learn to play to tintal in a day for sure.
I am surprised you find dadra - a six beat taal difficult. Wait till rupak!
Dadra has a very nice roll to it, since it is played in moderately fast tempo for instrumentalists. My recommendation is to listen to pieces in dadra and get used to the gait of the taal. Dadra recording are difficult to find. Keherwa is more popular. Also avoid vocalists for the moment - for two reasons (1) vocal dadra may tend to be slower than instrument and got give you the gait/tempo you need (2) there is a genre called dadra , which may or may not be based on the dadra taal.
You are correct - it takes times to get used to a taal. One thing that does help is first to get used to the theka (bols) AND understand the subdivision of the sections. Dadra is symetrical (3+3), making it easier to assimilate. .I would think.
Repeat the theka mentally. .without handling heavy machinery:) Most sams of thekas are dramatic in some way. You can think of dadra as a subset of teen taal. Notice the symetry. .1st 2 beats are the same. Teen taal's 9th and 10th are also the same as dadra's 4th and 5th bols. .
One technique that helps set the tall foundation . .but one that you will need to grow out of. .is to play the taal break-down using the right hand stroking. For example - dadra is based on 3. . So. . Da-Ra-chikari is the basic pattern.
Play this twice on sa. .re. .ga. .etc. Then Sa (da) Re (Ra) chickari. .Ga (da) ma(ra) chikari. .etc.
One thing to note is that everyone has a different way to learning. .and it is to your benefit to discuss the specific techniques with your teacher. He/she shows your strengths/ weaknesses/personality and should be able to guide you better than this post.
Much agreed. Taal is difficult to learn without a teacher. I only started recently to play in vilambit tintal, finding and catching the sam, khali, and so forth. My head hears it easily, but getting the fingers to comply is a different matter.
I would think any even numbered beat would be the best to start off with, like teental and dadra. With the odd number beats, you have to mentally skip and change your stroke patterns.
Thanks amativa!
I find dadra difficult because it is symetrical. Tintal you can hear the difference when you get to koli. With dadra, well it is like a sine wave. I'll have to write another script to build that pattern (my cheap hack tabla machine). I should be getting my riyaz pro soon.
It really does throw a wrench in your playing when you change the tal! Just when you think your have reached another plateau :-)
