Greetings to all readers of this blog. A few of you have reached out to me in recent times. Some people have had questions about what type of tabla to buy. Some had questions about posture or injuries. Others had questions about gurus, where to find a guru etc. It’s great to connect with fellow tabla players, no matter where you are in your journey.
It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. I was somewhat caught up in my own things. But more than that I sort of felt that I had nothing else particularly new or important to say, so I left it as is, although it was pleasing to see that people have continued to read the content I posted and some people have found it useful.
I have been through some ups and downs in my musical journey. I think anyone who goes on this journey, or indeed any journey, inevitably hits some roadblocks, or some bumps in the roads, or perhaps may come to a crossroad. I somewhat came to a crossroad in the past couple of years. Prior to that, I had been extremely “gung ho” about performing tabla on the stage. Whether as a solo player or as an accompanist. However, I came to a point where I no longer found that interesting, or satisfying. It started to feel repetitive. It has its place, but I somewhat felt that I needed to move away from all that.
For the past one year or so I have completely stopped performing or playing in public. The surprising thing is that I don’t miss it at all. Not only do I not miss it, this has in fact been a very fruitful period for me musically. I feel that I can now fully commit to engaging with the instrument, without being distracted.
I’ll write another blog post soon about some insights I have gleaned during this period. Thanks for reading.
Tabla Abhi 
Can’t wait to hear these insights. A guru bhai of mine has said that for him, “practice is the point”. I think that’s very interesting that tabla players at some point end up feeling this.
LikeLike
Hello,
My name is Ashish. I am playing tabla and dholak since childhood (self taught) and have performed in various concerts. I never found any problem with any movements. Since, last year for further sound clarity of my playing I started to play on lehra with some kaidas and paltas and was practicing for 4 hours. Never had any problems. I started to play in ati vilambit lay thought will get deeper into the bols. And recently had bereavement in my family and had stress. Suddenly, I have forgotten my playing and my right hand is not able to distinguish my earlier playing and my recent playing.
This problem has only occurred on my right hand( chati hand). If I put my ring finger on tabla I am not able to play and if I play with my two finger I can play. So basically my ring finger gets strained and starts rolling. And my fingers get stifed on chati side.
I had consultation with a neurologist. My brain and cervical MRI is normal. However, consultant has a doubt if it’s musician dystonia.
not sure if you have come across any such case. Would like to hear from you.
Kind Regards,
Ashish
LikeLike
Hi Ashish. Yes, a friend of mine had dystonia. It was caused by, I believe, too much long and repetitive practice. In your case though, it sounds more like a physical injury of the ring finger rather than dystonia. Dystonia is more a neurological disorder from what I understand. It is difficult to say, certainly I would advise rest and perhaps taking a few months break from playing tabla, as hard as it may be.
I think there is a point to be made here about being self taught, and also about practicing for long hours. It is somewhat of a myth among tabla players that we have to practice for very many hours in order to be good, however my research on it suggests that it isn’t necessarily true. Secondly, it is essential to have a teacher and/or somebody suitably qualified to supervise your riyaz. If you’re training to run a marathon, you will hopefully not simply start running four hours a day without some professional coaching, else there is a high risk of injury.
I would advise to completely stop tabla for at least a month to start with, perhaps even longer. Give your body time to recover. Your body will let you know when it is ready to restart. Second, I suggest not to practice for such long periods. One hour at a time is more than enough.
LikeLike