Growing skills, stretch opportunities

There has been a tabla master at BG for about a month.  For those not familiar with the term, tabla is "... is a membranophone percussion instrument (similar to bongos), used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. The term tabla is derived from an Arabic word, tabl, which simply means "drum." The tabla is used in some other Asian musical traditions outside of India, such as in the Indonesian dangdut genre."

If I understand it correctly, the way you learn to play tabla is to study with a master, and you learn the methods of his school.  Different masters have different methods, so each teaching is a little bit different.  Matt has had the good fortune to study with a teacher whose master has been making annual visits to the US.  This year on his visit, Matt has been able to work with him, and on his departure he was given the great honor to purchase his tablas from him.  This is such a unique experience and fits so perfectly with the other opportunities for musical growth that Matt is pursuing.  I had a chance to see Matt's tablas for the first time today -- they are as beautiful in workmanship as they are in the sounds that he can make with them -- here are a couple photos:

 

 Matt's Tablas

Here also is an interesting short video from YouTube to give you some context for the complexity and level of uniqueness of this very cool instrument.