a-rhythm-etic

By Jerry Leake

Nine rhythm cells. Endless possibilities.

a-rhythm-etic turns the spoken syllables of North Indian tabla into a universal method for building rhythm on any instrument and in any style of music. Three families of cells-short, medium and long-combine into phrases, meters and grooves you can speak, clap, step and play.

THE GRID OF TIME - the nine cells mapped as "arrows of 8," with yin and yang letter pairs, whole and fractional phrases, and the 24-beat cycle hidden inside them.

THE ABACUS OF TIME - counting rhythm cycles on the hand as Indian musicians do, and a fresh look at what really happened to "zero."

METRIC STRUCTURES - complete sets of phrases in 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, plus cell inversion and practical combinations.

HARMONIC TIME AND THE RELA - stepping, sticking and speaking through the cells, ending with a real tabla composition built from the same building blocks.

For drummers, percussionists and any musician, at any level, who wants new tools for improvising and composing, and a more relaxed, confident sense of time.

Jerry Leake is Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music and has taught at New England Conservatory since 1991. He studied tabla in Pune with Rajiv Devasthali and is the author of Relating Sound & Time and the Series A.I.M. percussion texts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMP44DBB
• ISBN13: 9798161602621
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"