It’s a Sunday at a local Gurdwara, the Sikh place of worship.

Bissum Singh is sitting in a room with about 30 students ranging in ages from 3 to 20. For the next two-and-a-half hours, the junior from Providence Day will teach tabla, an Indian percussion instrument that is played with both hands - no sticks.

He’s a tabla virtuosa, of sorts, and decided two years ago to share his passion for the instrument with others.

“I’ve always loved playing tabla and have gotten pretty good at it,” he says. “For me, it’s kind of an escape from all the things weighing on me, and it helps me relax when I am stressed.”

Bissum was introduced to tabla when he was around three years old because his dad had the same penchant for the instrument and wanted to pass it on to his son. His father taught him tabla, a set of two drums, for much of his life.

Tabla is the most famous percussion instrument of North India and is used mostly in classical music, but it is versatile, and its “sophistication and tonal beauty it possessions has elevated the instrument to an unmatched status in the world of percussion,” according to the Bloomingdale School of Music in New York.

“In addition to teaching for a couple hours every Sunday, if I am not too busy with schoolwork I will typically practice anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour everyday,” Bissum says. “I plan to continue playing around college as much as I can.”

For more than a year, he’s been learning from Rajvinder Singh, one of the best tabla players in the world, Bissum says.

“Once my dad ran out of things to teach me, I started learning from him,” Bissum says. “I am very lucky to be able to learn from him.”

Bissum, who also is pursuing a private pilot’s license, is a tabla performer, as well. He’s performed as a soloist and in a group.

“For example, a concert I did to showcase the tabla at Queens University near Uptown was a solo where I was solely showcasing my tabla skills,” he says. “I also recently did a concert for a Diwali program at the Credit Karma headquarters in Charlotte, where I was accompanied by three other people.

“In that one, we had two of us playing tabla and two others showcasing two other Indian classical music instruments.”

But he’s most excited about teaching. The biggest lesson he’s learned from passing on his passion: trying to keep the little children engaged in what he’s teaching and motivated to practice at home.

“My favorite thing about teaching is when some of my older students send me videos of them playing tabla to show me how far they have come,” he says, “and when the little ones come up to me when I see them and tell me about how they practiced over the week.”