Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

(b) Tablā.

The Tablā has a rich and diverse repertory. They are used to accompany kathak dance, ‘big’ and ‘small’ khayāl and tarānā (see §5(iii)(b) above), ‘light’ song forms such as tappā, dādrā and ghazal (see §IV below), and the instrumental gat torā; they are also used to perform solo compositions. A tablā composition is bound by the number of mātrā (‘measure’, ‘count’) of the particular tāla in which it is performed, the tempo (laya) and the individual peculiarities of the compositional type. Some are cyclical (e.g. qāida), reflecting the cyclical nature of tāla structure and its mechanisms, such as the bhārā (‘heavy’) and khālī (‘empty’) portions of the time-cycle, which are marked by voiced and unvoiced syllables respectively; others, though metrically governed by the tāla, do not necessarily adhere to its internal principles. Most thekā (see below) adhere to the internal structure of their respective tālas, such as vibhāg (‘breakdown’, i.e. division) and its tālī (‘clapped’) and khālī (‘empty’) adjuncts. Compositions such as tukrā (‘piece’) ignore these, exploring other metrical intricacies such as the tihāī (triple cadential formula). Most compositions eventually return to the thekā by means of a tihāī, with the last syllable on the sam (the first beat of a given time-cycle) of the ensuing cycle. The thekā establishes the laya and marks the āvarta (‘cycle’) by referring to the sam and the vibhāg marked by tālī and khālī. A function of thekā is to accompany instruments and/or the voice, compositions being introduced when the soloist takes a rest from improvisation. The tablā may also be performed solo (lahrā: ‘tune’), usually to the accompaniment of an instrument such as the sārangī, playing a circular tune (naghma) and marking time. The choosing of a composition is governed by the type of performance and the music being accompanied, together with the tempo in which it is being performed. Compositions may be said to fall into two distinct categories: those that are fixed (e.g. tukrā; see below) and those that are variable, such as the qā’ida.

The qā’ida (‘formula’) has a fixed cell composition establishing a set of syllables (bol) used as a basis for variations through permutations of the phrases. A variation (paltā) may not use syllables other than those contained within the main cell composition. The permutations are not so much of individual syllables as of phrases. There are two distinct approaches to the qā’ida: the Delhi gharānā and the pūrab (‘eastern’, e.g. Lucknow, Varanasi). The qā’ida is a special feature of the tablā and is said to have originated in the Delhi style (bāj). It follows the principles of tablā -orientated thekā such as Tīntāl (16 mātrā) and Jhaptāl (10 mātrā), both of which are divisible into two equal halves, the first bhārī and the second khālī. Both these tālas, as with other tablā tālas, have the characteristic tālī, tālī, khālī, tālī breakdown. The qā’ida follows a similar pattern with the first two tālī forming the bhārī and the second half, khālī and tālī, collectively representing the khālī. Even where there is an asymmetrical tāla such as Rūpak (which has seven mātrā, divided into khālī (3), tālī (2), tālī (2)) a similar process is used by multiplying the original composition by two or four, and so evening out any odd numbers of pulses. The khālī and tālī of Rūpak are not reflected on the expounding of the qā'ida, which adheres to its symmetrical form. The Delhi qā’ida reflect the vibhāg more clearly than do some of the pūrab qā’ida, which tend to be more convoluted and intricate. A characteristic of the Delhi bāj is the dohrā (‘doubling’), which gives the first half of the main qā'ida in its bhārī form, twice, and then the main qā’ida with its second half tailing into khālī by becoming unvoiced. The first half is then repeated twice in its unvoiced form, followed by the main qā'ida, both halves played voiced. The dohrā thus suggests four parts, equivalent to tālī, tālī, khālī and tālī. The paltā (‘permutations’) are introduced in a similar format, substituting the first quarter of the dohrā, and are repeated in the third section as khālī by being unvoiced. The qā'ida is thus performed in duple tempo to the original established by the main composition, which in turn is dictated by the tempo provided by the thekā. The qā'ida returns to the thekā by means of a tihāī. Qā'ida are played in all three basic tempos: vilambīt-laya (‘slow tempo’), madhya-laya (‘medium tempo’) and drut (‘fast tempo’). ‘Light’ (laggī) qā'ida, with lighter syllabic patterns, are used in accompanying ‘semi/light-classical’ forms such as thumri, as well as in traditional and film tunes and songs.

Other types of variable composition are similarly expanded by means of paltā. The relā (‘rushing’) is a qā'ida-type composition having a main bol from which the dohrā and palta are derived, eventually returning to thekā by means of a tihāī. It is played at a fast tempo, producing a rapid overall rolling effect by employing suitable phraseology (e.g. terekete and dhere dhere as in the relā: ‘(dhā terekite dhere dhere dhere ghire naghe) × 2; dhā terekite dhā terekite dhā terekite dhere dhere dhere ghire naghe’ (Tīntāl)). The peśkār (‘introduction’) and the uthān (‘arising’) also expand by means of the paltā. In some pūrab gharānā (e.g. Farukhabad) the peśkār, as practised by Delhi, is known as the uthān. The peśkār is seen as a composition with a marked gait, being expanded through similar principles to the qā'ida. The uthān, on the other hand, is developed through less rigid principles, leaving room for comparatively free improvisations within certain conventions laid out by root compositions. Both these compositions are played in vilambīt-laya and are normally used to introduce solo or accompanying performance.

The qā'ida expansion principles are also evident in other compositions, such as the calan (‘movement’) and the gat (‘measure’, ‘tune’). There are many forms of gat, some resembling the qā'ida while others, because of the nature of their intricacies, are expanded only by using pre-composed variations. An example of this second type is the mañjhadhār gat (‘holding the centre’), in which the normal duple pulse is found in the centre of the composition. Most mañjhadhār gat are given variations only in forming tihāī and/or cakradār (‘forming circles’), a triple cadential formula often thought of as a composition in itself. Gat, therefore, may be divided into two categories: those that are variable, such as gat qā'ida, and those that are set.

The most important of the set compositions is the tukrā (‘piece’), a fixed composition ending in a tihāī. Another form of tukrā is the paran borrowed from the pakhāvaj. The paran of the tablā is similar to the tukrā but dominated by pakhāvaj stroke-syllabic structures. These compositions are performed usually in drut (fast tempo) and are used in solo and in dance accompaniments. The mukhrā (‘face’) is a short composition introducing sam, its maximum length being one āvarta.

A distinctive feature of tablā performance (and an innovation in South Asian art music) is the alternation between a base-pattern (thekā: ‘framework’, ‘prop’, ‘support’) and variation forms. The thekā and variational breaks are employed for basic training, solo playing, accompaniment of dance, ‘small’ khayāl and tarānā, and instrumental gat. Following the dancer's base-pattern of footwork (tatkār) in Tīntāl (the quadruple metre fundamental to this style) – based on alternate steps of the right (R) and left (L) feet – the tablā thekā is founded on an alternation of the two principal resonant right-hand strokes ta and tin (on a base-relationship of two strokes to one step), itself made binary by the presence or absence of the resonant left-hand stroke ghe (Table 17). Similar structures evolved for other tablā -accompanied tāla, such as Dādrā, Jhap and Rūpak; in the case of the two that involve an up-beat and are thus asymmetrical (Rūpak overall, Jhap internally), the upbeat stroke tin is played on the main accents. An older thekā for Rūpak, for example, in origin probably an Afghan dance motor-rhythm (it is also known as Paśto tāla), has been transformed in the modern thekā to conform to the metronomic and qualitative pattern of the kathak dance style (Table 18). In dance the ‘support’ given by the thekā is one of maintaining flow, tempo and metre between dance pieces; to this end it has evolved as a polyrhythmic (but even) pattern, in which every beat has an accent, without much use of dynamic variety. This has been adopted in ‘fast’ khayāl and tarānā and in instrumental gat, to accompany the variations of the lead musician.

TABLE 17: Tintāl thekā
/	dhā	dhin	dhin	dhā	/	dhā	dhin	dhin	dhā
	R		L			R		L
/	dhā	tin	tin	tā	/	tā	dhin	dhin	dhā	/
	L		R			L		R

TABLE 18
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Paśto	tin	–	trk	dhin	–	dhā	ghe
Rūpak	tin	tin	nā	dhin	nā	dhin	nā

In slow khayāl and the ‘light’ song-forms, thekā of a different nature have evolved, mostly using agogic organization and signal strokes to maintain the tāla; in modern slow khayāl this can consist of individual beats lasting up to six seconds, given in cycles of from 10 to 16 beats. The slow masītkhānī and seniyā gat of the sitār were clearly designed to be accompanied by pakhāvaj, and the influence of that drum's style is seen in some 19th century thekā (Table 19); now they are accompanied exclusively by the tablā.

TABLE 19: slow Tīntāl thekā (Goswami, 1868)
	1	2	3	4	/	5	6	7	8
/	dhā	ā	dhin	nā		trka	dhā	dhin	nā
	9	10	11	12	/	13	14	15	16
/	thu	un	thun	nā		tita	kata	gadi	gana	//

The repertory of the razākhānī, or Lucknow, sitār is more closely allied to the typical fast khayāl dance and tablā framework. The sarod (and, more recently, other melody instruments) progressively adopted a performance structure and tablā accompaniment pattern derived from that of the sitār. The performance structure for tablā solo (tablā lahrā; ‘tablā and fiddle-tune’, showing the old association with the sārangī, though the melody may now be played on harmonium, sitār etc.) derived naturally from the daily practice and creation of new material over the centuries by the tablā player, and it uses the thekā pattern to maintain flow between variations.

India, Subcontinent of, §III, 6: Theory and practice of classical music., Instrumental traditions.