What is a tabla solo, and what should I listen for?

A tabla solo puts the tabla in the lead. The player builds compositions across a fixed cycle of beats, the taal, while a melody instrument, often a sarangi or harmonium, keeps time with a short repeating tune called the lehra. For the rest of an Indian classical concert the tabla keeps time behind the melody instrument.

Each cycle runs the same length, and every new cycle starts on beat one. That beat is the sam.

You do not need to count. Listen for the lehra to repeat, then listen for the tabla to land on the sam. New to the drum? See What is a tabla?