Beginner's Lessons in Tabla Playing

Here's a cool post and free pdf about playing tabla: http://www.davidbruce.net/blog/post340.asp

Ektal / Ek Taal / Tabla Lesson

EkTal or Ek Taal is a 12 beat rhythmic cycle used in North Indian Classical music. I recently performed on a concert where I was required to play this taal. I was never taught Ektal by my tabla teacher so I cross referenced a couple of books for the Theka and found this video on YouTube from WorldMusicGuru helpful as well.

Ek Taal Theka

 ||: Dhin Dhin | DhaGe TiReKiTa | Tun Na | Kat Ta | DhaGe TiReKiTa | Dhin Na :||

Ektal Kaida

||: DhaGe NaDha | TiReKiTa DhaGe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TiReKiTa | DhaGe NaGe | Tin Na |

TaKe NaTa | TiReKiTa TaKe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TiReKiTa | DhaGe NaGe | Dhin Na :||

||: DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TeTe | DhaGe TeTe | Tin Na | 

TaKa TeTe | KeRe NaKe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Dhin Na :||

||: DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Tin Na |

TaKe TeTe | KeRe NaKe | Dhin Na :||

Sources and Resources!

• http://www.youtube.com/worldmusicguru
  This is the YouTube channel that the lesson came from.
• Basic Tabla Strokes and Bols by David Courtney
• EkTal by David Courtney
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ektal
• https://sites.google.com/site/tablafreak/ektaal
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tala_(music)
• Classical Music of North India by Ali Akbar Khan and George Ruckert
• Pete Lockett - Tabla Tutorials

Drop 2 Piano Voicings

Drop 2 Piano Voicings are a sophisticated way of voicing chords and can be heard in the playing of virtually all of the jazz piano greats. Drop 2 is a technique that many arrangers use to spread out chords played by an ensemble. Many guitarists are already familiar with the sound of these voicings as many of the basic seventh chord grips on guitar are drop 2.

The concept behind drop 2 voicings is to take the second voice in a four note chord and drop it down an octave. Drop 2 piano voicings take quite a bit of work initially to conceptualize and get under your fingers on piano and even more so to work them into your playing but with persistent practice over time drop 2 piano voicings can become second nature. Melodies can be harmonized beautifully utilizing drop 2 voicings.

I have created a video that can help you get started with Drop 2 Piano Voicings.

The Drop 2 Voicings pdf demonstrates an easy to follow, systematic way to learn these voicings. I say easy to follow because of the way that I present the information. There's no shortcut to learning Drop 2 Voicings, the only way to learn them and work them into your playing is through focused and consistent practice.

I offer these educational materials for free so that more people can benefit. Sign up for email updates and make a donation if you like what you see here, thanks!