[abdullahkhalids]

> Is there any specific tabla percussion associated with a Raga?

I have recently started tabla, so I can perhaps answer correctly. Whenever you play a piece on a melodic instrument, like sitar, it has a cyclic nature, where after X notes you come back to the same "sum" note.

The tabla player matches this cyclic nature. X is commonly 16, so then the tabla player will play in "teen taal". This is any percussion of 16 beats (or 32/64/128 beats) that obey a very particular structure. For teen taal the structure being that notes 9-12 are played without the left tabla (no bass).

[OJFord]

तीन ताल? मतलब 'three beats'?

[abdullahkhalids]

Teen taal means three claps. The idea is that you can divide 16 beat cycle into 4 parts. The first, second and fourth parts are played with the left/bass tabla, while the third without.

Now, an audience member clapping along is supposed to clap at the start of the first, second and fourth parts, but not at the start of the third part.

[OJFord]

Ah, makes sense, thanks! I was just confused by thinking I understood, and '16 beats' almost but not confirming that.

For others, you can hear it here from around 1m40s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Rm9ayMhb4

(I don't know if it's a great example or anything - just the first I found. But there's definitely a 'boing' sounding beat in the background with that third part gap.)