I've got rhythm...

Last Monday, we watched a video in Musics of the World about northern Indian classical music. Since I found out we would be studying music, I've been keen to see if I recognize some of the music I heard this summer. As some of you know, my paternal grandparents grew up as missionary kids in the part of India that is now Pakistan. Earlier this year they came into contact with a UCF PhD student from Pakistan, Monas. They were amazed to find that he is a Christian, coming from a country that is over 90% Muslim.

Monas came to the New Wilmington Mission Conference along with me. While at Conference, the grandparents showed him a drum, called a tabla (I don't know where it came from, actually--Grandma? Grandpa?). So Monas played for us! He played the drum (although it was not in good condition, and another drum is played at the same time) and sang. It was really neat.

Now fast-forward to my Musics of the World class. I was so excited when I saw the men in the video playing the tabla! It made me feel quite cultured. Here's a picture of a tabla--which includes the pair. The grandparents only had the drum on the left. You tune the drum by moving the wood blocks on the sides up and down. Now if I were only coordinated enough to play something like that!