These next two weeks of my sabbatical in Los Hornillos, Cordoba, Argentina, have been filled with teaching and learning. I took advantage of the local school holidays and took extra Tabla Lessons, improving my overall ability to play but it also allowed me to work on my mathematical side. Esteban introduced the 3rd Kaida of the Varanasi style to me – the first line goes “Dha Dha TeRe KeTe”. And thus begins the game of playing with different frequencies. In this Kaida, we are using normal frequencies and doubling the frequency (shortening the wavelength for you math science nerds!).
Let me explain.
Dha – is one beat, one note
Dha – is one beat, one note
TeRe – is one beat BUT two notes (Te and Re)
KeTe – is one beat BUT two notes (Ke and Te)
So thus you have Dha Dha TeRe KeTe
Now to confuse you even more Te, Re and Ke are all actually the same note Te. The reason they are sometimes called Re and Ke is to make it easy to say out loud when reciting. TeTe TeTe sounds a bit weird, so we say TeRe KeTe (this is four notes in two beats – got that?)
Here you have Kaida 3 straight out of my notebook
On the left you can see Kaida 3. I had to underline TeRe and KeTe to remind myself that they were actually four notes total in just 2 beats. Below you can now see some variations. Each Kaida will have 10 to 15 variations. Some are trickier than others. Some have different starting notes, others switch up the notes, others involve repetition of certain lines. See if you can spot the changes in each variation. This a good exercise in Pattern Recognition, something that is useful in math, engineering and coding.
I will spare you the next 8 paltas (I have learned up to 11). And if you were wondering what palta means – it means “change” or “variation”. I still have not mastered the Paltas or the Kaida itself because it takes time. These two weeks I took classes everyday and practiced everyday and I am still getting corrected on my technique.
Finger placement on the rings of the Dayan (the smaller Tabla) and the proper bounce of the fingers on the Bayan (the smaller Table are among a few of the things to work on. And there is “closed” taping versus “open” tapping, of the same part of the tabla to give two very different sounds. If you tap and linger your finger, it is considered a “closed” sound and it sounds a bit dull, with not much vibration. However if you just bounce your finger off you get a more shrill, vibrating sound, as if you just nicked a crystal glass. These are just some of the things I am working on, trust me – there are many more!
More to come on Tabla in the next weeks – remember the frequency variation mentioned in the beginning. Well, the ultimate goal is to convert every beat into different frequencies. So one can play the same Kaida and Paltas in half speed or double speed, for example. Not a small task!
I also was able to teach several yoga classes to the teachers and students of the Kalabharati Music School. It was a great experience comparing different styles of yoga. I got my 200 hour and 300 hour Yoga Teacher Training through Yogaworks in Santa Monica. And the teachers of the school have spent years in India practicing yoga. So while there is overlap, there are also differences. I will add one more thing to my sabbatical project – I will take some yoga classes taught by the teachers here at the school, to learn new techniques from my peers. As a teacher, it is important for me to keep learning and adding tools to my repertoire. We live in an ever-changing World and community – we need to keep learning and keep adapting. If we get set in our ways and have the mentality that we have nothing to learn because we know “everything”, that would be detrimental (and also false).
I also attended several workshops at the Kalabharti school. The latest workshop addressed the development of different “Gharanas” or “Homes” of Tabla. In this case Gharana means “School” .
In the Indian subcontinent there are several schools of Tabla each having their own musical style, teaching style and areas of emphasis. It is widely recognized that Amir Khusrau founded the Tabla as an instrument in the 13th century by splitting the Pankhawaj in two – resulting in the 2 piece Tabla set of today. He was also of the Delhi Gharana – as the name would have it based in Delhi India.
My teacher Esteban is of the Varanasi Ghana – so I am learning that style at the moment. I had a small stint of learning at the Ali Akhbar College of Music in San Rafael, California an their teacher teach in the style of the Lucknow Gharana – Swapan Choudri being there most well known tabla teacher who trained in the Lucknow Gaharana.
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