
There are opinions that there isn’t any concrete chronological evidence for this art. But in India, .... More...
A musical instrument adapted to create musical sound played in certain format and musical notation to develop compositions      More...

                            The Mamallapuram Dance Festival is held every year

      Folk Dance

Music Instruments


Nadaswaram : It is also called as Nayanam locally. It is another Wind Instrument like the Flute and Shenoi. It is a traditional Classical instrument originated in Tamiladu. Artistes of Andhrapradesh, Kerala and Karnataka also practice and play this instrument. Nadaswaram is a South Indian format of shehnai but bigger than Shenoi. It is with a simple double reed, than the more complex quadruple reed. The Nadaswaram has seven finger-holes, and five additional holes drilled at the bottom which can be plugged with wax to modify the tone. This instrument is played during auspicious moments in the Temples and Social functions that include Wedding etc., It is also called nagaswaram. Sur Pettti [pitch box], Oththu and Tavil as Percussion are effective accompaniments for Nadaswaram. There is a smaller version of the nadaswaram which is played in folk performance and called as Mukhavina. Thiruvavaduthurai Rajaratnam Pillai, Thiruvengadu Subramaniam Pillai, Andan Koil A.V.Selvarathnam Pillai, Namagiripettai Krishnan, Karukuruchi Arunachalam, Thiruvizha Jayasankar, Thiruveezhimalai V.N.Rameshkumar, Brothers of Keeranur, Sempanar koil, Dharmapuram S.Abiramasundaram Pillai are some of the notable exponents of this art.

TABLA: It is derived from the Arabic word called as TABLA. The tabla is like Bongos and it is a membranophone percussion used popularly in the Hindustani Classical form of Music. This is used as percussion in traditional music of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes. The one on the right hand is called Tabla and on the left hand is called Dagga. Tabla is also used in Indonesian folk and traditional popular music Genre of Dangdut. Playing technique involves in extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of sounds and rhythms, reflected in the mnemonic syllables. The heel of the hand is used to apply pressure or in a sliding motion on the larger drum so that the pitch is changed during the sound's decay. There are two ways of playing tabla called the Band bol[closed] and Khula bol [open]. In classical music, this is termed as "tali" and "khali". Ustad Shafat Ahmed Khan, Sapan Choudhry, Zakir Hussain, Latif Khan, Allah Rakha Khan, Gudai Maharaj, Kishan Maharaj, Payaz Khan, Sukhbinder Singh are some of the famous players of Tabla.


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