Tabla Lesson Nine
Rhythm Filler Pieces

by Ashwin Batish
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He specifically asked me to elaborate a statement I had made in one of my previous RagaNet Tabla Lessons and that was on the issue of how does one provide the filler pieces in an existing rhythm cycle. So I thought this would make a good article for RagaNet so here is some information on this.

When deciding to learn about how to fill a tala with these filler phrases, you have to understand some important questions first:

• Why Fill?

  A tabla theka is a repeating rhythmic cycle. When you first learn it you are happy just to get a sound and then the more you play and get practiced, playing the same piece over and over again starts sounding monotonous. With a good teacher by your side, this process is less noticable as you get quickly put on a regiment of kaidas, tukadas, mukhadas, relas etc. .... well I hope so :)

  Even so,it is not often that these filler pieces are taught by a teacher. But if looked at carefully, they are the final result of becoming a well versed tabla player. What I mean by this is that as your study of the tabla gets into high gear, these pieces automatically start to filter in into your playing.

• What are filler phrases?

  So what exactly are these filler pieces? Well, if you look at a theka of Tintal of 16 beats for instance:

  X

  2

  0

  3

  Dha

  Dhin

  Dhin

  Dha

  Dha

  Dhin

  Dhin

  Dha

  Dha

  Tin

  Tin

  Ta

  Ta

  Dhin

  Dhin

  Dha

  Notice that if we were to play this very fast there would be hardly any gaps between each beat. By this I mean at least a tempo of four beats or more per second. So in every second count Dha Dhin Dhin Dha and so on. Therefore there would be very few fillers required if any. But if you were to slow this down and now play one beat per second or slower, now you have extra space that is a candidate for filling. Let's look at this aspect of the tala:

  X
  Dha	Dhin	Dhin	Dha
  2
  Dha	Dhin	Dhin	Dha
  0
  Dha	Tin	Tin	Ta
  3
  Ta	Dhin	Dhin	Dha

  Now you can see how much space has opened up. Here is where we put the fillers in for instance:

  X 2 3 4	2 2 3 4	3 2 3 4	4 2 3 4
  Dha - Ka Ka	Dhin 2 3 Ka	Dhin - Dhin -	Dha Ge Ti Ta

• Are they tala specific?

  Some tabla filler phrsases are tala (taal) specific and some are not. The flow of the rhythm being played coupled with the tempo it's being played at will determine which fillers will sound good. The above example is for the Tintal rhythm cycle. In Jhaptal, for instance, the beat count is 2 - 3 - 2 - 3. Therefore the filler phrases will keep this split in mind and hence try to fill but not break this mold.

  X		2			0		3
  Dhin	Na	Dhin	Dhin	Na	Tin	Na	Dhin	Dhin	Na

• What makes good tabla filler phrases?

• Is there a standard to what phrases are inserted where?

• Secrets to becomming a fill expert!