RĀGĀKIT · TAALS
Folk · 8 beats · 4+4 · Dholak
Dholak Keherwa
The bouncing 8-beat groove of weddings, bhajans and folk songs, on the two-headed dholak
Downloads
One cycle at the tempo above, one beat per quarter note (4/4), looping on whole bars. The audio uses the style you picked. Free to use in your releases, royalty-free.
Real dholak recordings. Tap any beat to hear its bols.
How to count it
- X · Sam is beat 1, the strongest beat. Phrases and tihais land here.
- 2, 3 · Tali are the clapped beats that start each section.
- 0 · Khali is the "empty" section: you wave instead of clapping, and the bass drum goes quiet.
Turn on Clap along and clap on the numbered beats, and wave on 0.
Good to know
- The dholak is a barrel drum with two heads, played with the hands: the left head gives the deep bass, the right the bright strokes.
- This is Keherwa, the same 8-beat cycle as on the tabla, in a simple folk form. Players add their own fills and variations.
Taals are new on RāgāKit. Spotted a mistake? Corrections from musicians are very welcome in the feedback box below.
Try it with a raga
Bols and the drum-kit map
Each dholak syllable (bol) is a stroke. The drum-kit MIDI maps them to standard drum notes so it plays on any kit.
| Bol | How it's played | Drum kit |
|---|---|---|
| Dha | both heads: bass and treble together | Kick + Clap |
| Ge | left head, open bass | Kick |
| Na | right head, open | Clap |
| Ti | right head, soft closed | Closed hi-hat |
| Ka | left head, closed | Low floor tom |
Dholak: CC0 recordings by curesforbrokenhearts and iyankc on Freesound. About the sounds
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