Tabla Basics: Learn 3 Beginning Strokes on the World's Most Expressive Drum

Get Your Free DRUM! Mag Pack ► After stripping away some of the mystery surrounding these drums, you might even want to try them for yourself. Legend has it the tabla was born 500 years ago in India when a larger, two-headed drum was dropped and broken into two pieces. Modern ethnomusicology shows evidence of tabla as far back as 13th-century Persia. Either way, it wasn’t until about 50 years ago that Western ears were introduced to the sound, thanks largely to George Harrison and The Beatles. Before then, Western audiences got a taste of tabla thanks to maestro Ali Akbar Khan’s landmark 1955 album Music Of India: Morning And Evening Ragas, the first Indian classical music album released in the West, featuring Chatur Lal on tabla. Check out the full story at and more at !