Peshkar Examples

Dilli Peshkar Theme

Performed Twice

(from Peshkar 1)

Farrukhabad Peshkar Theme

Performed Twice

(from Peshkar 2)

Excerpt of Peshkar Performance by Thirakwa Khan

Introduction to Peshkar

To choose a "favorite compositional form" is a limited way to think about classical tabla, not to mention a little silly. But if I did have to choose, it would be peshkar.

The peshkar is a highly improvised theme-and-variation form which is traditionally performed at the beginning of a tabla solo in slow tempo (except in the Benares gharana where peshkar is generally not performed). And when done well, peshkar is one of the most beautiful and unique forms in the classical tabla repertoire.

However, peshkar is not easy to appreciate for new listeners and students. The two peshkar themes above may not sound very special by themselves. To appreciate the exceptional beauty of peshkar, you need to hear an entire peshkar performance in tabla solo, preferably by a master.

And for that, you should have a solid grounding in tal, and be familar with the typical phrases and movements of peshkar that we’ll look at below.

Peshkar Background

Writers and players often mention two types of traditional peshkars: Dilli and Farrukhabad. There are others, but these two are mentioned most often.

It is widely believed that the form first developed in Dilli, while the Farrukhabad peshkar refers to the more recent style of Ahmedjan Thirakwa Khan. The evolution of this later style has become the more popular approach among performers, while the older, more traditional Dilli style is no longer common.

The distinctions between Dilli and Farrukhabad peshkar are vague. Most writers describe the Dilli style as a more strict theme-and-variation form, where non-theme bols and divisions are not used as much as in the Farrukhabad style.

However, not everyone agrees on exactly what a Dilli or Farrukhabad peshkar is.

In Wegner’s Vintage Tabla Repertory, the famous Farrukhabad peshkar theme of Thirakwa Khan (given above) is called a Dilli Peshkar (p. 118). This is notable as Wegner’s teacher was Nikhil Ghosh, a student of Thirakwa. Wegner mentions this problem of classification, noting simply that some call this peshkar Farrukhabad, while others call it Dilli.

In The Tabla in Perspective, Rebecca Stewart also gives the identical opening lines of the Farrukhabad peshkar as a Dilli peshkar (p. 175). And so the Dilli-Farrukhabad distinction may be a weak one.

There are also peshkars from Ajrara (often in odd divisions of 3:1/6:1), Lucknow, and some simply known as purab peshkars.

And in recent years, some influence from Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain’s Punjabi style of peshkar can be heard in many players from different gharanas, particularly their style of layakari.

All of this suggests that in modern tabla performance, the distinctions between Dilli, Farrukhabad, and other peshkar styles are less important. The majority of players follow the Farrukhabad style, but it has expanded into a relatively free form that continues to evolve.

A Difficult Form to Define

The word “peshkar” means “presentation”, and tabla players often describe the peshkar’s role in a number of ways which relate to this meaning:

• As a way to present, or introduce, a tabla solo
• As a way for tabla players to warm up
• As a way to demonstrate a player’s command of technique and skills, including a sense of lay (timing), and layakari (subdivision) skills
• As a way to set the mood for a tabla solo
• As a kind of alāp of the tabla solo

But as a theme-and-variation form, the peshkar is difficult to define. This is partly because the peshkar is not a strict theme-and-variation form (more on this below).

However, most peshkar themes and performances do share some common characteristics:

• Built primarily around tintal theka bols
• Particular stress location (off-beat stress regularly contrasting with on-beat stress)
• Use of bols not found in the theme
• Use of layakari (changes in subdivisions of the matra), especially phrases in aralay (divisions of 3, 6, and 12)
• The “incomplete tihai”

We will look at these characteristics below.

Outline of Peshkar Presentation

Although there is a lot of variety and freedom in modern peshkar performance, most of India’s top players still follow a similar progression. Below is a very general outline of the typical peshkar performance:

• Begin with a peshkar theme (or a series of related themes).
• Start to improvise with typical peshkar bols, including improvisation with gaps and stress, and a variety of incomplete tihais.
• Gradually introduce non-theme bols in faster divisions of the matra (laykari); often progressing from barabar bols (4:1 or 8:1) to aralay bols (6:1 or 12:1).
• Move from peshkar to a related rela- or kayda-type composition, sometimes based on non-theme bols.
• End with a final tihai.

We will look at all of these elements below.

(Listen to the recording of Chhotelal Misra below for an example performance which follows this outline.)

Peshkar as a Theme-and-Variation Form

Peshkar is often categorized as a theme-and-variation form. But it differs from the kayda (the most pure theme-and-variation form), and from most other theme-and-variation forms, in a number of ways.

Peshkar themes are not always established in performance

Perhaps the most notable thing about peshkar performance is that a theme is often never clearly established. A theme may be played just once, and then immediately changed to what seems to be another theme. Or it is immediately followed by a variation with a new bol or movement which is not clearly based on what came before.

Rebecca Stewart wrote of tabla players expanding on a peshkar “blueprint” rather than a theme:

Unlike the kayada variation or prastar, that of the peskar actually needs no thematic introduction. In most performances a peskar gat will precede the series of paltas [variations]; however, as this gat is, in fact, a skeleton which is to be systematically fattened by the addition of all types of new materials, it is less important as a theme than as an omnipresent blueprint. (p. 177)

For good listeners, this blueprint is always there. They know that a tabla player is creating variations in the style of peshkar, but that those variations are not strictly based on a theme.

This is not to say that variations in performance have no relation to a theme. They often do. And practice peshkars given to students may have variations more closely based on a theme (see the peshkar compositions section for examples of this type). But in peshkar performance, it is a very loose connection, with a lot a creative freedom given to the performer.

This is different from kayda development where the central idea is to create variations which are strictly based on a theme.

Like so much of the theory we discuss here, none of this is a problem for listeners or performers. It is only a problem for people who try to categorize compositional forms. But since the peshkar is so often mentioned as a theme-and-variation form—including by Indian musicians—it is worth discussing here.

Peshkar allows bols not found in the theme

Another reason that the peshkar is not a typical theme-and-variation form is that players are free to introduce bols (strokes and phrases) which are not found in the theme.

These may be small bols typical of peshkar themes (tirakita, teteghera–nadha, tet–dhagedha etc.) but which are not in the original theme. Or they may be longer bols that are different from those of the theme. These bols will often contrast strongly with the typical bols and rhythms of the peshkar.

This back-and-forth between very different kinds of bols is part of what can make a peshkar performance so exciting and unusual.

We will look more closely at some typical examples of non-theme bols below.

The Incomplete Tihai

In performance, most theme-and-variation/cyclic forms will follow the structure of the tal most of the time and only play a tihai at the end. Typical peshkar performance, however, regularly uses a kind of incomplete tihai, or "psuedo-tihai", as James Kippen called it (p. 174).

The incomplete tihai in peshkar is often played during the last 4 matras of the tintal cycle. It is the same as a normal tihai except that the last dha is not played on sam (the 1 of the cycle). Instead, the first bol of the theme is played (often dhin or dhi). This creates the effect of a small surprise, or shift, from our expectation to always hear the final dha of any tihai.

The standard Farrukhabad theme given above contains a typical incomplete tihai. Notice that the final dha is replaced by dhi, the first bol of the theme (the tihai is in parenthesis, matras 13–1):

The incomplete tihai is another evolution of the peshkar which is often attributed to Ahmedjan Thirakwa. In modern performance, it is used regularly by many players, sometimes in all, or most, cycles of their peshkar performance. As the performance goes on, increasingly longer tihais, starting from anywhere in the tal, may be used.

Common Peshkar Bols and Phrases

Traditional peshkars themes are usually built around the bols of the tintal theka: dha, dhin, ta/na, tin. Other bols are also common. But because of their prominent nature, the theka bols usually outline the structures and rhythmic movements of peshkar themes.

Below is a list of common peshkar phrases:

• dhātī – धाती
• dhādhādhinnā – धाधाधिंना
• dhā––kradhā–tī – धाऽऽक्रधाऽती
• dhī––kradhin–nā – धीऽऽक्रधिंना
• tirakiṭadhā–tī – तिरकिटधाऽती
• ––trakadhin–nā – ऽऽत्रकधिंऽना
• gheṛanaga – धेड़नग
• tinnāginā – तिंनागिना
• tet––dhā–gedhā – तेत्ऽऽधाऽगेधा
• tak–gheṛā–nadhā – तक्ऽघेड़ाऽनधा

(Note: There are many variations of these bols, and different lineages may use different syllables.)

Certain phrases, such as dhadhadhinna or dhadhatinna are usually present at the end of a 4-matra phrase. Bols such as these are similar to the tintal theka itself, and help us understand why some people associate the peshkar form with the tintal theka.

Peshkar Themes and the Tintal Theka

There is an obvious similarity between typical peshkar themes and the basic pattern of the tintal theka. Sadanand Naimpalli even suggest that the peshkar form is an “off-spring of the theka” (p. 86).

Comparing peshkar themes to the tintal theka can help us understand the typical lilt and groove of the peshkar, and the typical off-beat/on-beat stress.

To compare peshkar to the tintal theka, we have to play the theka at the same lay (division of the matra) as the peshkar theme: dugun (2:1), or more commonly chaugun (4:1), while in vilambit (slow tempo) tintal.

Below is a comparison of 4 matras of the tintal theka played at chaugun (4:1) followed by 4 matras of a typical peshkar theme. Bols which correspond between the two are in bold:

Both lines are built around the theka bols dha/ta (or na) and dhin/tin. A while not all of the theka bols correspond to peshkar bols, there is a regular correspondence. Peshkar themes also are often played with a similar accent and groove to the tintal theka.

This similarity explains why the theka prakar as performed in Benares tabla solos can feel similar to the peshkar, and why some players outside of Benares will seamlessly move from a peshkar theme to theka prakar in their performance.

Stress Location in Peshkar

Common bols and phrases such as those above are typically used in particular places in a peshkar theme. This creates the regular contrast between on-beat and off-beat accents.

For a typical example of this, we can look at the first half of the Dilli peshkar given above. Stressed bols are in bold:

Notice that the off-beat bols (such as matras 3–4) are then followed by on-beat bols (such as matras 6–8). These kinds of contrasting stress points are typical of peshkar performances.

“Stressed” does not mean that these bols are necessarily played louder or are accented. But the theka bols mentioned above (especially dha, ta, and na) are naturally more prominent because they are clear, resonant strokes.

Layakari in Peshkar

Laykari (improvising with different subdivisions of the beat) is a common practice in modern peshkar performance. Some of the most common bols used in peshkar laykari are particular Dilli and Ajrara kayda-type bols, both in barabar lay (4:1 or 8:1) and in aralay (6:1 or 12:1). Below are a few typical examples of both kinds.

Barabar Bols (4:1):

• dhaginadha tetegina dhatidhage dhinnagina
• tetegina dha-gina tetedhage dhinnagina
• dhinadhinna ginadhage trakadhina dhinnagina

Aralay Bols (6:1):

• dhinadhinnagina dhagetirakita dha-gheranaga dhinadhinnagina
• dhinadhinnagina dhagetirakita dhagetetedhage trakadhinnagina

Players will regularly go back and forth between bols such as these and common peshkar theme bols.

Below are some excerpts from a tintal peshkar composed by Chhotelal Misra in the Farrukhabad style. The first cycle of 16 beats is the theme. Variations 1 and 2 use barabar and aralay bols such as those give above.

Peshkar Theme:

Peshkar Variation 1:

Peshkar Variation 2:

Listen again to the excerpt from Thirakwa Khan’s peshkar given above. Notice how he regularly moves from the peshkar theme to non-theme bols in 12:1, and then back again to the theme (mostly after 00:28). Though they are not exactly the same as the bols given here, they are similar.

Thirakwa Khan Peshkar Excerpt:

Peshkar to Rela or Kayda

Near the end of a peshkar performance, players will sometimes move from peshkar variations to a related rela or kayda. They will then create some variations with this new composition before concluding with a final tihai. This is not necessary for a peshkar performance and shorter performances may not include it. But it is common.

For some players, these relas or kaydas are precomposed themes taught in their lineages, specifically meant to be played in a peshkar performance, and which often use bols that were included in their peshkar variations. Other players may improvise a composition based on non-peshkar bols used in variations, such as those given above.

As we saw above, in the popular Farrukhabad style it is common for players to improvise with bols in aralay (usually 12:1), such as one of the examples given above:

• dhinadhinnagina dhagetirakita / dha-gheranaga dhinadhinnagina

After creating some peshkar variations which include a bol like this, this same bol could then be used to create a new theme. The player then improvises with this theme before concluding with a tihai. Note that once a player moves fully into this new bol, he does not need to return to the peshkar.

Peshkar Performance by Chhotelal Misra

The following peshkar performance by Chhotelal Misra follows the traditional outline given above. This is from a 1978 solo given at Benares Hindu University:

References