PlaysoloistResonance & RhythmTablaSongsEktaal Kayda
Tabla repertoire · Resonance & Rhythm
Ektaal Kayda Kayda in Ektaal (Bol Notation)
- Taal
- Ektaal
- Matras
- 12
- Kind
- Kayda
- Bols per matra
- 2
Ektaal Kayda, bol by bol
Kayda — a theme-and-variation exercise: the theme states the material, the paltas permute it, the tihai closes the cycle. Read it in the Ektaal cycle below — free, and never truncated.
Theme
Palta 1
Tihai
spoken three times — the final Dha lands on sam
× = sam (the cycle’s point of resolution) · 2 3 = tali (clap) · 0 = khali (wave) · numbers count the matras
Public domain. Ektaal (12 matra) kayda built on the theka's dhage-tirakita figure.
How to practise this
Recite before you play — padhant is half of tabla. Speak the theme in rhythm, clapping sam and the talis and waving the khali, until the words carry the cycle on their own. Only then take it to the drums, well under performance speed, keeping the khali vibhag honestly quiet: closed strokes there are the difference between playing the composition and merely hitting its notes.
Work one palta at a time and return to the theme between paltas, the way the form intends. The app listens as you play, classifies each bol from the mic and grades your timing against the cycle — tabla is unpitched; it classifies bols and grades timing. When a matra keeps grading late, slow the whole cycle rather than rushing the recovery.
Keep exploring
Free on the App Store
Play Ektaal Kayda — and hear every stroke graded.
Dha: Tabla Bols & Taal plays the theka under your practice, classifies your bols and grades your timing on-device — free on iPhone, no ads, no account.
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