MCQ on Indian

Music,
Instruments &
Musicians
Q. The Saraswati veena, is a large plucked string instrument used in Carnatic
Classical Music. It is made from which of the following trees?

a) Jackwood
b) Bamboo
c) Burma Teak
d) Rosewood
Answer: a
It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music
known as Hindustani and the South Indian expression known
as Carnatic

The Hindustani branch adopted the Shudha Swara Saptaka

scale (श#ु ध &वर स*तक), also known as the "Octave of Natural
Notes.“

In Hindustani music, there are ten main singing styles:

'Dhrupad,' 'Dhamar,' 'Hori,' 'Khayal,' 'Tappa,' 'Chaturang,'
'Ragasagar,' 'Tarana,' 'Sargam,' and 'Thumri.’

'"प
ु द,' 'धमार,' 'होर.,' '/याल,' 'ट3पा,' 'चतरु ं ग,' 'रागसागर,' 'तराना,'
'सरगम,' और 'ठुमर.'
 Difference between Carnatic & Hindustani Music
Points of difference Carnatic Music Hindustani Music

Age Oldest & traditional form Came into existence during 13

century CE

Influence Mostly Indigenous Persian, Afghan, Arabs

Location South India North India

Sub styles One prescribed only Several, led to Gharanas

Instruments used Veena, Mridangam, Mandolin, Tabla, Sarangi, Sitar, Santoor,

Ghatam, Violin, Flute Violin, Flute
Q. Which of the following is not a Sushir vadya?

a) Shehnai
b) Flute
c) Ninkirns
d) Jaltarang
Answer: d
 Classification of Musical Instruments
Tata Vadaya (Stringed instruments) Chordophones
a group of musical instruments in which sound is made by
the vibration of a chord or a string.

• Sarangi, Esraj, Violin

• Sitar, Veena, and Tamboora

• The Bangash family is regarded as the pioneers of

Sarod in the twentieth century - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,
Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash
Sushira Vadya (Wind Instruments) - aerophones
includes all wind instruments - Bansuri (flute), Shehnai, Pungi, Ninkirns

Shehnai: one of India's oldest wind instruments.

Shehnai King: Ustad Bismillah Khan

Flute: originally known as Nadi or Tunava

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a well-known Indian flautist.
Awanad/Avanadha Vadaya (Percussion Instruments)
- membranophone

• These have an outer membrane that is beaten to

extract specific musical sounds.

• Tabla, Drum, Dhol, Congo, Mridangam

Ghana Vadya (Solid Instruments) - idiophones

• Musical instruments included are Manjira,

Jaltarang, Kanch-tarang, Ghungroo, Ghatam,
Morsing, etc.

• Manjira has been traced to Harappan

civilisations by archaeological excavations.
Which of the following pair of Musician – Instrument is not correct?
(a) Shiv Kumar Sharma – Bansuri
(b) Bismillah Khan – Shehnai
(c) Zakir Hussain – Tabla
(d) Ravi Shankar – Sitar

• Santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music

• Pandit Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri in
1991, and the Padma Bhushan 2001.

• His father Uma Dutt Sharma was a vocalist and a tabla player
Amjad Ali Khan is famous for which Musical Instrument?
(a) Violin
(b) Tabla
(c) Flute
(d) Sarod
Answer: Sarod

Sarod: Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev
Dasgupta, Bahadur Khan, Sharan Rani, Zarin S Sharma
Alla Rakha Khan is famous for which Musical Instrument?
(a) Flute
(b) Sarod
(c) Sitar
• Ustad Zakir Hussain: eldest son of Ustad
(d) Tabla Allah Rakha
Answer: Tabla
• Tabla: Zakir Hussain, Allah Rakha, Sabir
Khan, Pt. Kishan Maharaj, Pt. Jnan
Prakash Ghosh, Sandeep Das

• Sarangi: Shakoor Khan, Pt Ram Narayan,

Ramesh Mishra, Sultan Khan, Ustad
Binda Khan
M. S. Gopala Krishnan is famous for which Musical Instrument?
(a) Veena
(b) Tabla
(c) Violin
(d) Sarod
Answer: Violin

Violin: MS Gopalakrishnan, Smt M Rajam, NR

Muralidharan, M Chandrasekharan, VG Jog, Lalgudi
Jayaraman

Mohan Veena: Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhat (inventor of

Mohan Veena)
Ravi Shankar is famous for which Musical Instrument?
(a) Sitar
(b) Tabla
(c) Shehnal
(d) Veena Ravi Shankar was awarded India's highest
Answer: Sitar civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999.

Sitar: Pt Ravi Shankar, Shahid Parvez Khan,

Budhaditya Mukherjee, Anushka Shankar, Hara
Shankar Bhattacharya, Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat
Khan, Mustaq Ali Khan
Hari Prasad Chaurasia is famous for which Musical Instrument?
(a) Sitar
(b) Sarod
(c) Sitar
(d) Flute
Answer: Flute

In 1984 he won the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Padma Bhushan in 1992, and
Padma Vibhushan in 2000.
Ustad Asad Ali Khan was an Indian musician who played which string
instrument?

a) Mohan Veena
b) Rudra Veena
c) Saraswati Veena
d) Chitra Veena
Answer: b

• He was from the seventh generation of Rudra

Veena players in Alwar.
• He received Padma Bhushan in 2008.
T. H. Vinayakram first-ever South Indian Musician to win a Grammy,
played which musical instrument?

a) Ghatam
b) Drum
c) Violin
d) Mridangam
Answer: a

• T.H. Vikku Vinayakram is the first-ever South

Indian Musician to win a Grammy for his
participation in Mickey Hart’s ‘Planet of
Drum’; he played the Ghatam and Morsing
in that album.
• In 2014 he was awarded the Padma
Bhushan.
Who among the following musicians is associated with
Sarangi?
a) Pt. Ram Narayan
b) Nishat Khan
c) Vilayat Khan
d) Anoushka Shankar
Answer: a

Born near Udaipur in Rajasthan, he has been awarded with

Padma Shri in 1976, Padma Bhushan in 1991 and Padma
Vibhushan in 2005
Pandit Jasraj is famous vocalist from which Gharana of Hindustani Music?
(a) Gwalior Some of the gharanas well known for singing are :
(b) Mewati Agra, Gwalior, Mewati, Bhendibazar, Jaipur (Khyal
Singing); Mathura, Rampur, Darbhanga (Dhrupad
(c) Patiala
Singing); Banaras, Lucknow, Patiala (Thumri
(d) Banaras Singing).
Answer: Mewati

• Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (1990) and

Padma Vibhushan (2000)
• The International Astronomical Union (IAU)
named an asteroid after him, formally known as
2006 VP32, as Panditjasraj.
• He was the first Indian musician to receive this
honour.
Who became the first musician to get the Bharat Ratna?
(a) Ustad Asad Ali Khan
(b) Yamini Krishnamurthy
(c) Girija Devi
(d) M. S. Subbalakshmi
Answer: M. S. Subbalakshmi

• Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

• Received Bharat Ratna in 1998
• She was also the first Indian to receive the
prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award.
• She is the first Indian to perform at the UN in
1966, on the occasion of the UN Day.
Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is famous vocalist from which form of
Classical Music?
(a) Thumri
(b) Dhrupad
(c) Qawwali
(d) Carnatic
Answer: Thumri

• Known as ‘Tansen of the 20th century’

• Patiala Gharana
• His brothers Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Ustad Bharat Ali Khan
and Ustad Amanat Ali Khan were also well-known contributors
to the Kasur-Patiala gharana.
What type of musical instrument is a goombay?
(a) Cymbals
(b) Drum
(c) Guitar
(d) Piano
Answer: Drum

Goombay is a form of Bahamian drum.

The drum is a membranophone made with goat skin

and played with the hands.
A Passion For Dance is an autobiography of
(a) Rukmani Dev Arundale
(b) Dr. Padma Subramanyam
(c) Sonal Man Singh
(d) Yamini Krishnamurthy
Answer: d

• Yamini Krishnamurthy is an Indian dancer of

Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles of
dancing.

• She received Padma Shree (1968) Padma

Bhushan (2001), and Padma Vibhushan (2016)
By popular belief, Tabla was invented in which province of India?
a) Gujarat
b) Punjab
c) Delhi
d) Maharashtra
Ans: Punjab
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam used to play :
a) Veena
b) Violin
c) Nadeswaram
d) Sitar
Answer: a

Aurangzeb was the good player of veena

Classical wind music instrument narasinghapettai nagaswaram of which
state has recently received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag?
A) Kerala
B) Maharashtra
C) Odisha
D) Tamil Nadu
Ans: D

Made out of wood, the main centre where this instrument

is carved or produced is Thanjavur.

The horn-like portion of Nagaswaram is known as ‘Olavi’

and the loudspeaker-like portion ‘anasu’.
Who is credited with creating the world famous Raaga ‘Miya ki
Malhar’?
a) Amir Khusro
b) Tansen
c) Meera Bai
d) Bhimsen Joshi
Ans:b

• Tansen (Ramtanu Pande) was the legendary musician of Akbar’s court.

• Tansen’s earliest guru was Swami Haridas
• The Gharana of Tansen is known as Senia Gharana
• Some of the famous Rāgas of today such as ‘Miyan ki Malhar’ and ‘Miyan ki Todi’
were created by Tansen.
The oldest form of composition of Hindustani Vocal Music is:
a) Ghazal
b) Dhrupad
c) Thumri
d) Qawwali
Ans: b
• Traditionally, the dhrupad style of singing was performed with a tanpura and pakhawaj.
• Padma Shri awardee and Dhrupad guru Ramakant Gundecha passed away in 2019
• Surdas, Swami Haridas, Govind Swami, Baiju Bawra, and Tansen were popular singers of
Dhrupad.
• Dhrupad Music peaked during the reign of rulers like Emperor Akbar and Man Singh Tomar of
Gwalior.
• Dhrupad compositions written in praise of Lord Vishnu are known as Vishnupad.
• Abu Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari (1593) is the earliest source to mention Dhrupad as a musical genre.
Which is a wind instrument?
a) Sitar
b) Shehnai
c) Pakhawaj
d) Mridangam
Ans: b
 Noted vocalist Girija Devi was associated with which genre of classical
music?
a) Dhrupad
b) Khayal
c) Thumri
d) Tappa
Ans: c

• Renowned as the 'Queen of Thumri’

• She was one of the foundational figures of Banaras and Senia gharanas.
• Awards - Padma Shri in 1972, Padma Bhushan in 1989, Padma Vibhushan in 2016
Raga 'Lajwanti' was composed by _________?
a) Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
b) Pandit Jasraj
c) Girija Devi
d) None of the above
Answer is a) Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

• He was the master of the sarod.

• Ali Akbar Khan was one of the early band of Indian classical musicians who
took Indian traditional music to the world - especially to the US and helped
it carve a niche for itself. He is the creator of several famous ragas, including
Gauri Manjari, Lajwanti, Madhavi and Madhu Malati.
Revision Time
Name Instrument
Ustad Bismillah Khan Shehnai

Hariprasad Chaurasia Flute

Pandit Ravi Shankar Sitar
Ustad Zakir Hussain Tabla
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma Santoor

Ustad Asad Ali Khan Veena

Amjad Ali Khan Sarod
T. H. Vinayakram Ghatan

Ramnad V. Raghavan Mridangam

Revision Time
Pt. Ram Narayan Sarangi

Shakoor Khan Sarangi

Ali Akbar Khan Sarod

Annapurna Devi Surbahar – Bass Sitar

MS Gopalakrishnan Violin
U Srinivas Mandolin
Braj Bhushan Kabra Guitar
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Veena
Totaram Sharma Pakhawaj
Alla Rakha Tabla
Question of the day
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi, Bharat Ratna and one of the greatest
Indian vocalists in the Hindustani classical tradition, belonged to which
state?
a) Uttar Pradesh
b) Rajasthan
c) Andhra Pradesh
d) Karnataka