HOUSTON: At a small function at Rice University, David Courtney released his latest book on the
Indian Tabla. This book is entitled “One Thousand Tabla Compositions: A Taxonomic Survey of Non-Kaida Material”. It is the fifth volume in the series entitled “The Complete Reference for Tabla”, and is his 13th book to date.
The book addresses the problems associated with the classification of tabla material. Compositions
from a variety of sources are used to clarify the definitions of terms such as “paran”, “gat”, “tukada” etc. Presently, there is much disagreement as to their precise definitions. The conflicting nature
of the various definitions is addressed by means of a hierarchical taxonomy.
The book is massive. It contains over 1000 compositions which are useful for both advance students, teachers, and scholars, spread through nearly 500 pages. It is available in both paperback and hardbound in Amazons around the world.
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