Tabla – A pair of small different sized hand drums used in Indian music

(Pronounced ta-bluh)

To remember what a tabla is use the following mnemonic:

The stories in the tabloids say that I love (tabla) to play Indian music with small hand drums. 

The technique of playing a tabla involves extensive use of the fingers and palms, which can be positioned in order to create an array of different sounds.

The tabla is similar to the bongo drums in that they are both a small pair of drums played with the hands. However, the tabla's shell is made of metal, while the bong's shell is made from wood. The effect of this is that the tabla's pitch is lower and they have more a resonant quality.