Skip to content

Fundamantals of Tabla


ISBN – 9-978-1-893644-06-9

This book went out of print for nearly 2 years.  During this period the few remaining copies soared in price to several hundred dollars, (when they could be found).  Now it is back in print.

You have purchased your tabla and you have a teacher.  You have been studying for a bit and you are completely confused.  What you learn doesn’t seem to have anything to do with what you hear on the recordings.  Furthermore you have talked to other students from other teachers and they are using different bols and different fingerings.  It seems that the further you go the more confused you get.

Does this sound familiar?  Don’t blame your teacher, it probably isn’t his fault.  He is just following a tradition of teaching which is centuries old.  Don’t blame yourself, there is probably nothing wrong with you.

You need to buy this book to put things in perspective.  It will give you a good overview of the various techniques used by different gharanas.  It will also give you a vast amount of material which will put you ahead in the game.

This is the fourth edition of “Fundamentals of Tabla” (293 pages). It is the first volume of a series of books on tabla. The second is entitled “Advanced Theory of Tabla” (out of print), the third is entitled “Manufacture and Repair of Tabla“, while the fourth is entitled “Focus on the Kaidas of Tabla“. Here are the contents:

Preface
Chapter 1Introduction
Chapter 2Getting Started
Chapter 3Elementary Material
Chapter 4Other Bols
Chapter 5Theka and Prakar
Chapter 6Purbi Baj
 
Appendix 1Notation
Appendix 2Sources of Tabla
Appendix 3Sample Questions
Appendix 4Misc. Tal
Appendix 5Misc. Prakar
Appendix 6Map of India
Appendix 7Quick Reference Chart
Appendix 8Paluskar Notation
Appendix 9Technique
Appendix 10Writing the Bols
 
Glossary
Bibliography, Discography, and Web Sites
Index

Purchasing

This is available from Amazon.com in the USA.

© 1998 - 2021 David & Chandrakantha Courtney