To hear the Grammy-winning tabla master Zakir Hussain 19H talk about his instrument, it can sound like he's speaking about a respected loved one. In fact, he points out that your instrument is an extension of your body, which is itself where all music originates. As he said in a recent master class hosted by the Berklee India Exchange ahead of his sold-out Signature Series performance, The body is an instrument. Playing music is basically whatever your body is doing-bringing it out onto either an instrument you are playing or [through] your singing. This is the basis of improv-the body.
In many ways, Indian music and jazz are cousins, simply because we both improvise. We believe in spontaneity.
-Zakir Hussain 19H
Known around the world for his fusion jazz improvisation prowess in groups such as Shakti, Hussain talked about, at age 11, seeing Duke Ellington play live in 1962 in what was then Bombay (now Mumbai), and how Western jazz influences worked their way into Indian music by way of Bollywood cinematic scores. The relationship between the musics was natural, according to Hussain. In many ways, Indian music and jazz are cousins, simply because we both improvise. We believe in spontaneity. We believe in being impulsive, creative in that manner.
Thinking Faster than the Rhythm Hussain described his control of rhythm while in improvisational settings in surprisingly (and also, one guesses, deceptively) simplistic terms, comparing it to a language he had internalized since he was very young. He shared how his father, the legendary tabla player Allah Rakha, would send Zakir to school, instructing him to recite riffs as he walked. This kind of deep familiarity allowed him to more easily find structure in improvisation, helping to think faster than [my] hands, or be able to sense shifts in the music before they occur.
Combining Technique and Artistic Risk After explaining parts of his approach, he asked, Am I really improvising? saying that all he's doing is finding phrases and variations on those phrases within a particular musical structure. The process is simple, he added, but to actually put it into action requires ironclad, solid time as well as the courage to take risks. The great players, he said, reach for the sky-they're not just resting on the tried and true. And so, his parting advice to all the musicians in the room was to take all the technical skill and push yourself into less structured territory. Learn every riff, learn every standard, learn all the solos, and put it all together in your head. And then get on the stage and forget all that.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Berklee India Exchange Presents Zakir Hussain The Indian tabla maestro will host a one-week residency at Berklee this November.
Berklee Announces 2019-2020 Signature Series Highlights include Grammy winners Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aida Cuevas, and Zakir Hussain, who will receive an honorary doctorate.
What Is Contemporary Music? Its practically Berklees middle name-but what are we talking about when we say contemporary music?
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
Four Berklee Guitarists Vie for Preeminent Jazz Prize Cecil Alexander, Fran ois Chanvallon, Lucian Gray, and Matt Sewell will compete at the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Competition in December.
Latest
Zakir Hussain and the Art of Forgetting The Indian composer and tabla virtuoso shared his thoughts on improvisation and a musicians relationship to their instrument at a recent master class.
Andrew Sarlos Big Year: On Producing for Bon Iver, Big Thief, and More The alumnus goes behind the scenes of some of 2019's top releases on Sounds of Berklee and curates a playlist of his productions for Berklee Now.
shutterstock_165634493.jpg
How to Write Original Holiday Songs Get in the spirit with these seasonal tips from Berklee songwriting instructors.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
To hear the Grammy-winning tabla master Zakir Hussain 19H talk about his instrument, it can sound like he's speaking about a respected loved one. In fact, he points out that your instrument is an extension of your body, which is itself where all music originates. As he said in a recent master class hosted by the Berklee India Exchange ahead of his sold-out Signature Series performance, The body is an instrument. Playing music is basically whatever your body is doing-bringing it out onto either an instrument you are playing or [through] your singing. This is the basis of improv-the body. 
