The first matra of the avartan and the gravitational center of Hindustani rhythm. Almost everything a tabla player builds — tihais, chakradhars, mukhdas — is measured by how it arrives on sam.
Sam is marked with a clap and written X. It is usually the point of maximum emphasis, but not always a loud stroke: in accompaniment the arrival is often carried by the soloist's melody while the tabla plays quietly through it. Rupak is the standard exception, where sam itself is khali. Much of the craft at every level is simply leaving sam and returning to it with certainty.