Basics — Anatomy & the Core Strokes
Before any beat, you need clean strokes. Spend real time here; everything else is just combinations of these few sounds.
Anatomy of the madal
The madal has a head on each end, so one picture can’t show both clearly. Here they’re split: left (bass) and right (treble). “Bayan/Dayan” are generic drum terms; in Nepali the large left head is the pothi and the small right head is the bhale — the names used throughout this guide.
| Part | Nepali | Side | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher-pitched (smaller) head | Bhale (भाले, “male”) | Your right | Sharp, high, cutting |
| Lower-pitched (larger) head | Pothi (पोथी, “female”) | Your left | Deep, round, bass |
| Black tuning paste (center spot) | Khari | Both | Where you strike for closed/tuned tones |
Posture
- Sitting: lay the madal horizontally across your lap, bhale (small head) to your right, pothi (big head) to your left.
- Standing: tie the strap around your waist so the drum sits horizontally in front of you, heads facing left/right.
- Shoulders relaxed, wrists loose. Sound comes from relaxed fingers bouncing off the head, not tense forearm hitting. If your hand hurts, you're hitting too hard.
The core strokes (bols)
A bol is a spoken syllable that names a stroke. You say them out loud while playing — this is how the whole tradition is taught and memorized. There are only five fundamentals.
| Bol | Hand / head | How | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taang | Right · Bhale | Strike with your index finger near the edge, let it bounce — open | High, ringing “ting” |
| Taak | Right · Bhale | Middle + ring + little fingers strike the khari, held down — closed | Sharp, dry “tak” |
| Ghin | Left · Pothi | All fingers (not thumb) strike the head, let it ring — open | Deep, ringing “ghin” |
| Kha | Left · Pothi | Strike the khari with fingers pressed and held — closed | Short, damped “kha” |
| Dha | Both | Play Taang + Ghin at the same time | Full, resonant “home” sound |
Hear the five bols
Press ▶ to loop, or skip ahead to Drills when tone is consistent.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taang | Taak | Ghin | Kha | Dha |
Quick self-check
Before moving on, you should be able to play each of these with a relaxed hand and consistent tone:
- 10 clean Taang in a row
- 10 clean Taak in a row
- 10 clean Ghin in a row
- 10 clean Kha in a row
- Smooth Ghin–Taang alternation
- A solid Dha with both heads landing exactly together
Notation key
Beats are shown as a grid — read left to right, then loop back to the start. Each cell is one sub-beat.
- – means rest / let the previous sound ring.
- The sam (beat 1, the most important landing point) is marked with a red top-line.
- Different teachers use slightly different syllables (Ta/Taang, Ti/Taak/Na, Ge/Ghin, Ke/Kha, Dha/Dhang). Pick one set and stay consistent — this guide uses Taang / Taak / Ghin / Kha / Dha.