The tabla is a pair of small drums played with the hands, and it is the main drum of North Indian classical music. The two drums are different: the smaller one, played with the right hand, is wooden and gives clear, high, ringing notes and can be tuned to a pitch; the larger one, played with the left, is metal and rounder, and the player presses the heel of the hand into the skin while striking it so the note bends and slides. Each drum head has a black circle in the middle, which is what gives the tabla its unmistakable sound. Players do not strike with the whole hand but with individual fingers and different parts of the palm, and each different stroke has its own spoken syllable — dha, tin, na — so a drummer can recite a rhythm out loud before playing it. Learning it takes years. In English the word is normally treated as one instrument even though there are two drums: 'he plays the tabla', 'a tabla solo'. You will also hear 'tablas' for the physical pair, and 'tabla player' rather than 'tablist' as the usual way to name the musician. The word is common in English wherever Indian music, world music, yoga classes or film soundtracks are discussed.

塔布拉鼓（印度手鼓，一大一小成對，用手指敲）