Drum Folk Dances
Drums undoubtedly lead the percussion instruments. In India there are more than 200 different kinds of drums.
Perhaps no country can surpass India in the range and variety of drums. Indian music, be it classical, folk, or
tribal, requires drum accompaniment. Tabla, Pakhawaj, Mridangam etc, are classical drums. Dhol, or its smaller
Variety Dholak are typical folk drums, Mandar is a typical tribal drum. The concept of Taal, i.e. time-cycle, in
Indian music is unique. The Western musical time moves like a sine wave, but Taal, the Indian musical time, moves
in cycles. In a Taal there are fixed number of beats and the accents on different beats are patterned differently.
For instance, the Taal called Dhamar, Deepchandi, Jhumra, and Aaadtaali, all have fourteen beats in a cycle. But
the distribution of accents are different, for which each of the said Taals give different aesthetic appeal. Indian
dances too, be it classical, folk, or tribal, require drum accompaniment. There are, of course, a few folk and
tribal dances which are not accompanied with drums but other percussion instruments. Overwhelming majority of
Indian dances, however, are accompanied with drum music. Generally the drummer provides the percussion
accompaniment with dances. There are, however, quite a few dances in which the dancer himself plays the drum while
dancing. Such dances come under the category of drum dance.
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