Listen: How tabla players enter dialogue with instrumentalists performing compositions in Matta taal

Conventionally, most vilambit gats or slow instrumental compositions in Hindustani music were composed in the 16-matra Teentaal, but later, musicians also took to composing gats in the ten-matra Jhaptaal and the seven-matra Rupak.

Over the past few decades, instrumentalists have also chosen to use taals that were considered unusual for gats. Today, we listen to tracks featuring instrumental compositions set to the nine-matra Matta taal and focus on the manner in which the tabla players enter the dialogue with soloists in such cases.

On the opening track, santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma delineates a composition in the raag Kaushik Dhwani set to Matta taal. The unparalleled tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain begins with a short improvisatory section, which is quickly brought to a close with a short tihai.

The second track has a gat in the raag Durga played by bansuri wizard Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is accompanied by Zakir Hussain. Listeners will note that while the taal and the tabla player are the same in both tracks included in this instalment, the point of entry for the tabla is treated differently.

The vocabulary used in...

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