What Is DigiTabla?

DigiTabla is a free learning resource for the North Indian classical tabla tradition. It’s designed for tabla students, listeners, and anyone else who wants to understand something about this complex system.

Most of DigiTabla’s material is designed to be practical. So the focus is on learning to play and listen, with plenty of video and audio demonstrations.

However, DigiTabla is not a substitue for a teacher. It is designed for students who can already play at least a little, and for listeners of any level.

The website was created by Matthew Rosen, a student of Pandit Chhotelal Misra of the Benares gharana.

The Contributions of Pandit Chhotelal Misra

It is safe to say that the DigiTabla project would not exist without Pandit Chhotelal Misra.

In comparison to other major exponents of the Benares gharana, Chhotelal was remarkably open about teaching, sharing, and publishing traditional tabla knowledge. Not surprisingly, he was very supportive of the website.

Aside from what I learned from him as a student, Chhotelal also provided a great deal of written material for the project. This includes his three major volumes on Benares tabla, and the many compositions he wrote for me and the other students who shared their lessons for the website.

In 2003, Chhotelal got his first computer and started to regularly write and print compositions for his students. He gave me copies of most of what he wrote.

And Chhotelal’s theory book Tal Prabandh was the primary source for the Benares-specific theory on DigiTabla, and one of the main sources for the general theoretical content.

Chhotelal’s sudden death in October of 2013 was a great loss for the Indian music community and an undeniable setback for the website. Fortunately, I was able to work closely with Chhotelal on the project during the year before his death. And with the help of senior disciples we will continue the DigiTabla project in his honor, and in his spirit of open sharing.

A Work in Progress

DigiTabla is a long-term project that is far from complete. The first stage has been to create the Reference Section and present the foundational compositions. This is now mostly finished.

Moving forward, I plan to create more in-depth learning materials for at least some of the compositions on the site. I also hope to explore how technology can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of classical tabla.

But creating such materials takes time, and I work on the website only when I can. So instead of waiting for the website to be more complete, I am opening the site in its current unfinished "beta" state. In this way I can also get feedback from users to help decide the way forward for the project.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.