---
url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/faq/instruments-artforms/what-is-a-tabla'
title: 'What is a tabla?'
author:
  name: rajeevk
  url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/user/0f961cccc99524ed'
date: '2026-09-04T15:21:13+00:00'
updated: '2026-10-16T23:13:52+00:00'
type: website
summary: 'A tabla is a pair of hand drums, with the wooden dayan carrying the pitch and the larger bayan, most often copper, giving a bass the palm can bend.'
tags:
  - 'Instruments & artforms'
image: 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg'
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  site_name: KalaSudha
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---
##  [What is a tabla?

 ](/en-gb/faq/instruments-artforms/what-is-a-tabla) 

A [**tabla**](/instrument/tabla) is a pair of hand drums. The smaller drum, the **dayan**, is wooden, sits under the right hand and carries the pitch. The larger drum, the **bayan**, sits under the left hand and gives the bass. The bayan is most often copper, sometimes clay or wood, and the player bends its bass by pressing the heel of the palm into the head while striking.

Each head carries a black circle of **tuning paste**. The paste weights the skin and adds overtones. The dayan rings at a clear pitch, and the bayan gives a deep bass with a looser pitch that the palm can shift.