Customer Reviews

Learning Tabla with Alla Rakha (Book and Audio-cassette ed.)

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Although I am a percussionist with more than 20 years experience with percussion, I just recently got my first pair of tablas. To my surprise, I found out that the instrument is extremely difficult to play. Again, to my surprise, after reading the introductory chapters of Alla Rakha and Jeffrey Feldman's book, I was able to get some really nice sounds from my tablas.

The book is divided in progressive chapters (where the reader can learn about the theory of Indian music and its rhythmic patterns) and interchapters (where the reader is carefully instructed on how to approach the instrument and get a good sound out of it). It is full of pictures showing exactly where in the drums each finger should hit and a detailed description of the movements.

It also comes with an audio tape with some samples. It's definetly a good choice for tabla beginners. Better than this, just a real human instructor :-)

If you're reading this, you probably already know Alla Rakha's bio. This video is a rare glimpse into one of his group class sessions. The audio is poor quality by today's standards, but it is clear enough to hear. Although I am a student of Tabla, I had hoped for some good instruction from this recording, but was much more interested in seeing footage of the master at work. The instruction is good, and it parallels the booklet that is paired with the vid. The precision of his playing is highlighted by the examples in the vid, and there is plenty for students of all levels to enjoy and learn from.

"Learning Tabla with Alla Rakha" (book and audio cassette) is an archival document as well as a valuble teaching tool for those who wish to play tabla in the style of the Punjab Gharana as taught by Ustad Alla Rakha, one of the very top tier of Indian classical musicians and certainly the worldwide shining star of tabla in the mid through latter part of the 20th century. Many hundreds of students of tabla have sat before Ustad Alla Rakha for lessons and learning through watching and listening. For those who did not have that chance, there is very little in the way of archival material to view. Although the video and book were made on a tight budget, and the video is in black and white with obvious signs of age, the sound is clear and the picture good enough to get the essence of the great Ustad in his early 50's, when he was still a powerhouse of tabla and a mystical magician of rhythm. You will hear the master play compositions accompanied by sarod lehara, the melodic anchor of the rhythm cycle in the traditional manner, while the "bols" are written on the bottom of the screen. A "bouncing ball" is synched to the exact timing of the compositions as Ustad Alla Rakha plays, making it easy for the intermediate student to follow. The other side of the cassette has the sarod lehara playing solo, where the student can then practise the compositions to the lehara as the Ustad has done on the "A" side of the cassette and video. All compositions and variations are written down in the book. The practitioner must keep in mind that the video was made in the early seventies, and was lost for many years. For the serious student or musicologist, this is a unique and well conceived package to help to understand and learn tabla. In my opinion, those who criticize the production of the video and book are missing the point. There is currently nothing available similar to this for purchase. The information has been carefully collated and presented in a logical mannner according to the wishes of Ustad Alla Rakha. The author, Jeff Feldman was a student of Ustadji's and made sure that Ustad Alla Rakha approved of the contents of the video and book before publication. Ustadji personally expressed to me his satisfaction with the entire production.