tabla

American  

[tah-bluh, tuhb-luh] / ˈtɑ blə, ˈtʌb lə /

noun

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

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tabla British  

/ ˈtɑːblɑː, ˈtʌblə /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of tabla

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

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From BBC

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

From Los Angeles Times

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.”

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Los Angeles Times