TIHAIS

I have always been interested in cross fertilising the various musical traditions I have been fortunate enough to have spent time with. One question I am continually asked by percussionists and drummers in relations to this is ‘Do I need to study other musical traditions in minute detail before I can incorporate it into my own playing?’

The simple answer is NO, not unless you want to specialise in that chosen area specifically. We are all looking for new ideas and new inspirations to fuel our creativity and if this involves a bit of ‘Rhythm shopping’ elsewhere then so be it. Don’t be put off by a fear of being overwhelmed by the infinity of some rhythmic cultures. Dip in and out and if you feel the urge then really delve deep and get involved. If you have a clear and unshakeable idea of your own identity then the things you learn get incorporated into that rather than visa versa.

Take the numerous incredible rhythmic systems from India. Lets look at one and use it as a base to develop some fills. The concept is called ‘TIHAI’ and involves repeating a phrase three times so it lands on the downbeat with the last note of the third phrase. Here is a simple tihai in 4/4 over one bar.

Example 1

Here is a slightly longer one over two bars.

Example 2


Here is one in 6/4

Example 3


Finally one in 6/4 again but starting on beat three of the bar.

Example 4


With all these examples try playing three bars of time and then the respective Tihais as a fill. They are interesting even when they are this simple but really open up new avenues as we develop them and orchestrate them on the kit.

Here we will continue our look at tihais and begin orchestrating them on kit. Remember a tihai is a rhythmic cadence created from repeating a phrase three times calculated so as to end on the first beat on the bar. They are ideal for fills or for intergrating into solo work and can create some really interesting off beat patterns when one starts to delve a little deeper into the possibilities.

Example one sees a simple orchestration with singles around the toms leading to a double on the bass drum. At the end of the third repeat of the phrase the pattern ends on beat one. Notice the phrases are indicated with phrase marks over the top of the notation.

Ex 1


Example two is a rendition of the same tihai but in 5/4. The first quarter note is filled with a pick up and the tihai starts on beat two of the bar.

Ex 2


For example three we are back in 4/4 and employ a similar phrasing but extend the tihai over two bars.

Ex 3


Finally for example four we start off with the same tihai but then create a ‘tihai within a tihai’ from the first beat of the second bar. This type of rhythmic construct is very common in Indian percussion.

Ex 4


Incorporating these structures into time and groove is very important. Example one shows the skeletal structure on the snare of what we are aiming for. We are looking to orchestrate three groups of five from the second sixteenth note of the second bar as our tihai. This means we have one bar of 4/4 and one single sixteenth note to count of to get to that point.

Ex 1


Example two sees this written on the kit with a simple paradiddle based groove. From beat 4 of bar one we count off a group of 5/16 which would be counted as part of the groove before hitting the tihai voiced around the toms.

Ex 2


For example three we count a group of 3/16 from beat four bar one and then we have a gap between each group of 5/16 in the last bar.

Ex 3


Finally for example four we count a group of 1/16 from beat four bar one and then we have an added quarter note cymbal hit between each group of 5/16 in the last bar. These are really interesting phrases when played accurately. Bear in mind this is really the tip of the iceberg. The subject is covered in detail in my book, ‘Indian rhythms for the drum set’ available on Hudson music.

Ex 4

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