Music Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The interval between two shrutis is less than the interval between two swaras.

A shruti is the smallest audible step of pitch that a trained ear can pick out, while a swara is a note that spans several shrutis. In the traditional division the octave holds twenty-two shrutis, and the seven swaras are placed at intervals of four, three, two, four, four, three and two shrutis. So the gap between two shrutis is always smaller than the gap between two adjacent swaras.

'More' and 'Equal' would make a shruti as large as, or larger than, a swara, which is contrary to the definition, and 'None of the above' is therefore wrong.

Answer: C

The ancient scholars counted twenty-two shrutis in a scale.

Bharata's Natyashastra, and Sarngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara after it, divide the octave into twenty-two shrutis. They distribute them among the seven swaras: Sa 4, Re 3, Ga 2, Ma 4, Pa 4, Dha 3 and Ni 2, which adds up to 22.

The numbers 20 and 21 do not add up with this distribution. 24 is the number of quarter-tone steps in some other systems, and is not the figure of the ancient Indian theory.

Answer: A

Tirobhava means hiding the main swaroop of a raga by using the swaras of another raga.

In the Sanskrit texts on raga, tirobhava is the temporary concealing of a raga's own form when the performer, while improvising, brings in the notes of a neighbouring raga, and then returns to the main raga with the same notes, which makes the return pleasing. The opposite of it is avirbhava, the bringing out of the raga's own form.

Using many tanas, the bols of the mridangam and voice modulation are all different matters of presentation and none of them is the meaning of tirobhava.

Answer: A

There are three kinds of laya.

Laya (tempo) is classified as vilambit (slow), madhya (medium) and drut (fast), which are three kinds.

The numbers four, five and six are not the usual count of the kinds of laya.

Vilambit laya is slow, madhya laya is medium and drut laya is fast, and a performer often moves from slow to fast over the course of a rendering; the 'dugun' and other layakari are the multiples of these three.

Answer: B

'Matu' is the textual part of a song, the words (dhatu is the musical part, the melody). The pairing of matu and dhatu, words and tune, is the basic way a composition in Indian music is described. Mukam is a term for a section or station of a modal piece in other traditions, not the word-part of a song. Matra is a unit of time in a tala, a beat. Murki is a quick, delicate ornament of a few notes. None of these three means the text of a song, so the textual part of a song is the answer.

Answer: A

The modulation of the voice, its bending and variation in expression, is called kaku. Kaku is a term of Sanskrit dramaturgy and music for the changes in the voice that carry feeling. Laya is the tempo or rate of the rhythm, bandish is a fixed composition, and tala is a rhythmic cycle. None of those three describes the modulation of the voice itself, so kaku is the answer. In singing, the voice is bent and varied to bring out feeling, and kaku is the name for this variation, which is used both in dramaturgy and in music.

Answer: D

Murki is the term for a small, quick phrase or turn of notes in music, a light ornament used in thumri and khayal singing. Akshiptika is a part of the old dhrupad alap structure, sthay is the first part of a composition, and mukhchalan is the opening movement of a raga. These are not small phrases in the sense asked, so murki is the keyed answer. In practice murki is sung quickly and lightly, a turn of two or three notes that adds a touch of colour to a phrase in thumri, tappa or light classical singing.

Answer: B

The small parts of a geet and of an alap are called bidari, the key says. The word is used for the sections into which an alap or a geet is divided, each section being a bidari. Sthayi is the first part of a composition, the part that is repeated, and matu is the word-part of a song as seen in Q1, so neither names a small section of an alap. Roopkalapti is a different term in the older texts and does not name a small part of a geet. The keyed answer is Bidari.

Answer: B

The key gives pitch for the term used for the wavelength of sound. The question is loosely worded, since pitch depends on the frequency, which is inversely related to the wavelength. Loudness depends on amplitude, timbre on the wave shape and reverberation is the persistence of sound in a space. This explanation follows the key.

Answer: B

Several tones or melodies sounded together form the style called harmony. Melody is a single line of notes in succession, and Khyal and Dhrupad are vocal forms of Hindustani music. So the answer is harmony.