tabla

[tah-bluh, tuhb-luh]

noun

1. a small drum or pair of drums of India tuned to different pitches and played with the hands.

tabla

/ ˈtɑːblɑː, ˈtʌblə /

noun

1. a musical instrument of India consisting of a pair of drums whose pitches can be varied

Word History and Origins

Origin of tabla¹

1860–65; earlier tubla < Hindi tablā < Arabic ṭabla, derivative of ṭabl drum

Word History and Origins

Origin of tabla¹

Hindu, from Arabic tabla drum

Example Sentences

The song showed up again on “Sangam,” which Mr. Lloyd recorded in 2004 to introduce a trio with drummer Eric Harland and Zakir Hussain, who was a master of tabla, the paired hand drums of Indian music.

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The sleeve notes credit players of the sitar and the tabla, the Kashmiri santoor and the South Indian kanjira.

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Zakir Hussain, an internationally renowned tabla player and composer who helped integrate Indian classical sound into Western music, has died at age 73.

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Lauded as “the greatest tabla player of his generation,” the statement said, Hussain throughout his decades-long career aimed to blend musical genres and came to be regarded as “a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement.”

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Born March 9, 1951, in Mumbai, Hussain gleaned his tabla drumming skills from his father, Allarakha Khan, who served as sitar master Ravi Shankar’s accompanist during the peak of Shankar’s career, according to the Allarakha Foundation.

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