Percussion Music
Section C. Covers Tabla, pakhawaj and mridangam; Percussion terms; Notation systems; Prescribed taals; Percussionists.
About this unit
This unit is about Indian percussion. It describes the structure, strokes (varnas or bols), origin and gharanas of the three main drums: tabla, pakhawaj and mridangam. It then explains the technical terms of solo and accompaniment playing in both Hindustani and Karnatak traditions (theka, peshkar, kayda, rela, tukda, paran, chakradar, mohra, korvai), shows how taals are written in Bhatkhande and Karnatak notation, studies a longer list of prescribed taals including the Karnatak suladi sapta taals, and ends with the great percussionists.
How to prepare
Draw and label a tabla and a mridangam. Learn the basic varnas and which drum head produces them. Write each prescribed taal in notation with sam, taali and khali, and learn the angas (laghu, drutam, anudrutam) and jatis of Karnatak taals so you can calculate the beats of any taal. Make definition cards for each percussion term.
Topics in this chapter
Tabla, pakhawaj and mridangam
Structure, varnas, origin and gharanas.
5 questionsPercussion terms
Theka, kayda, rela, tukda, paran, peshkar, uthan, chakradar, korvai, mohra and others.
5 questionsNotation systems
Bhatkhande and Karnatak taal notation.
5 questionsPrescribed taals
Teentaal, Jhaptaal, Ektaal, Rupak, Chautaal, Sooltaal, Dhamar, Dhruva, Jhampa, Triputa, Ata, Eka and others.
5 questionsPercussionists
Kishan Maharaj, Zakir Hussain, Raja Chhatrapati Singh, Purushottam Das, Palani Subramania Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer.
5 questions