Tabla Gharanas

A gharana is a system of music in which social organization links gurus and their apprentices. Each gharana has its own musical ideology and they can differ greatly from one another or no. In tabla, there are six gharanas, the Delhi gharana, Ajrara, Lucknow, Banaras, Punjab and Farukhabad. I am studying the Delhi gharana, which is the oldest of the gharanas. The gharana was established in the early 18th century by Siddar Khan. The second oldest is the Benaras gharana founded in the late 18th century. The next oldest is the Ajrara, which was established in the early 19th century in Meerut. Next comes Lucknow, Farukhabad and Punjab which all came about in the 19th century.

Each gharana has its own characteristics. The Dehli gharana features an open sound. Some of the gharanas use a more closed sound. The Delhi gharana was the first to have rules for improvisation. The gharana features many sets of Kaydas, which are set patterns with variation. So if the base of the kayda is da da terekete, there will be 11 or more variations that play off the set of four lines. Each kayda also has a teyhay, which is a line with three other lines that are repeated. The whole teyhay is played three times to end the kayda. The creator on the gharana, Ustad Siddhar Khan, first played the Pakhwaj before he started playing tabla. He composed many pieces for the tabla, and also was responsible for improving techniques, like the glides (Dugga) and playing in the most outer right (the chatti). The gharana is famous for solo playing.