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Glossary · glossary · 1 min read

Tabla

तबला; the paired drums of North India

Tabla is a pair of hand drums, one smaller and higher-pitched, the other larger with a pitch the player can bend. It provides rhythm for most Hindustani music.

By John, Music lover from Bangalore · Reviewed by BRR · Last reviewed 29 Sept 2026

Tabla

The tabla is a pair of hand drums used to provide rhythm in Indian music. Its two drums give you different sounds to follow.

The smaller drum, the dayan, is played with the right hand. It has the higher pitch and is tuned to the singer’s Sa, the home note. The larger drum, the bayan, is played with the left hand.

Each stroke has a spoken name called a bol. A taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, is learned through a sentence of bols called its theka. The player keeps this pattern going and decorates it.

An example of tabla rhythm

Say “dha dhin dhin dha” aloud. These are spoken names for strokes on the tabla, a pair of hand drums. Each stroke name is called a bol. This phrase opens the theka, the pattern of bols that expresses a taal, or repeating rhythmic cycle, called teentaal.

Teentaal has 16 beats, so those first four bols are only the beginning of the cycle. The tabla player keeps the theka going and decorates it. Listen for the spoken phrase in the drum sounds, then keep counting as the pattern continues.

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