After discussing the nature of tabla accompaniment to various forms pertaining to Hindustani vocal music over the past 24 instalments, we now turn to tabla accompaniment for instrumental music.
Usually, instrumental music concerts begin with an aalaap or the shorter aochar, both of which are introductory sections to establish the mood of the raag. They are followed by two to three compositions in the same or different taals. The performance begins at a slow pace and then works its way to a climax at an accelerated tempo. A similar treatment may be accorded to another raag that may follow.
As is the case with vocal music, instrumental music also demands a controlled theka from the tabla player once the composition or gat is introduced. But convention demands that the tabla player respond with solo passages at frequent intervals during instrumental performances.
The solo passage needs to be in consonance with the preceding melodic movement, though it can also suggest a further development along similar lines or a deviation. It is then left to the instrumentalist to choose either of these paths suggested by the tabla player, but there are times when both paths are ignored, and a third is chosen.
The taals that are used in vilambit or slow gats can vary from the commonly heard Teentaal (16 matras), Jhaptaal (ten matras), Rupak (seven matras), to the ones that have an uneven gait like Chaar taal ki savaari (11 matras), Mattataal (nine matras), Jaitaal (13 matras) and Pancham Savaari (15 matras). Madhya laya or medium tempo gats may employ Teentaal, Sitarkhani, Ektaal, or at times Ada Choutaal, while the drut or fast gats are primarily composed in Teentaal or Ektaal.
This week we include two of the earliest instrumental music recitals recorded on film in the 1930s. The first is a drut gat in the raag Pilu performed by sarod maestro Sakhawat Hussain Khan. He is accompanied by Faiyaz Hussain on the tabla. Listeners will note that the fast-paced composition and its elaboration is not interspersed with any tabla solo passages.
But the second film clip that features a vichitra veena recital by noted exponent Habib Khan accompanied on the tabla by the celebrated Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, has a short tabla interlude while the soloist maintains the melodic canvas of the composition in the raag Sohini. The compositions in both recordings are set to Teentaal, but the response of the two tabla players to the melodic elaborations is different. In fact, the manner in which they colour the basic theka is also different, thus making it amply clear that both tabla players have an individuality.
One of the reasons is because the composition on the second recording starts at medium tempo and is gradually accelerated, thus affording slightly more opportunity for rhythmic improvisation from the tabla player.
One of India’s leading tabla players, Aneesh Pradhan is a widely recognised performer, teacher, composer and scholar of Hindustani music. Visit his website here.
This article is based on Pradhan’s book Tabla: A Performer’s Perspective.
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