Applied Music Theory Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The crotchet is the filled note head with a stem (4), the semibreve is the open circle (1), the minim is the hollow head with a stem (2) and the quaver is the filled head with a stem and a flag (3). The code is therefore 4 1 2 3. The other codes swap the crotchet and the quaver or the minim and the semibreve, so they do not match the symbols as printed in List II. A point to remember is that the crotchet and the quaver both have a filled head, but only the quaver carries a flag on its stem.

Answer: C

The frequency of shuddha madhyam is 320.

In the modern shuddha scale, madhyam stands at the ratio 4:3 to the tonic. With Sa at 240, madhyam is

\[ 240 \times \frac{4}{3} = 320 \]

The value 270 is the ratio 9:8 (Re), 288 is 6:5 (komal Ga), and 360 is 3:2 (Pa), so none of them is madhyam.

Answer: C

The sign for khali in the Paluskar tala notation is the plus sign.

In Paluskar's system the sam is marked by the figure 1, the khali by a plus sign (+) and the tali by their numbers. Bhatkhande's system, in contrast, marks the sam with a cross and the khali with a zero.

So the cross in option (A) and the zero in option (B) are Bhatkhande's signs for sam and khali, and (D) is not a sign for khali.

In the Bhatkhande notation the sam is marked with a cross (x) and the khali with a zero (o), while the other taalis are shown by their numbers, which is the reverse of what the question's other symbols suggest.

Answer: C

Bhatkhande used ten thats.

Pandit V.N. Bhatkhande classified the ragas of Hindustani music into ten parent scales called thats: Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi.

The numbers 12, 15 and 22 are not his count. 72 is the number of melakartas of the Karnatak system, and 22 is the number of shrutis.

The ten-that scheme took the place of the older raga-ragini system, in which each raga was given a family of 'wives' and 'sons', and it sorted ragas by the notes they use, so that a raga's scale decides its that.

Answer: A

The major scale is tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.

The major scale, as in C D E F G A B C, has semitones between the third and fourth degrees and the seventh and eighth degrees, and whole tones between the others. This gives the pattern in option (A).

Option (B) has the pattern of the natural minor scale, and the others place the semitones at positions that do not give a major scale.

Answer: D

A scale divided into twelve equal intervals is the equally tempered scale.

In equal temperament the octave is split into twelve equal semitones, each with a frequency ratio of the twelfth root of 2. This is the scale of the piano and of most Western instruments.

The diatonic scale has unequal tones and semitones, the Pythagorean scale is built from perfect fifths, and the minor scale is one of the diatonic modes, so none of them has twelve equal intervals.

Answer: B

Mohanam is called Bhupali in Hindustani music.

Mohanam is the Karnatak pentatonic raga with the notes Sa, Ri, Ga, Pa and Dha, and the same scale in Hindustani music is Bhupali (also called Bhoop).

Malkauns uses komal Ga, Dha and Ni, Durga has Sa, Re, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Sohini has a different set of notes with a tivra madhyam, so none of them is Mohanam.

In Hindustani terms, Bhupali uses Sa Re Ga Pa Dha and belongs to the Kalyan that, Durga uses Sa Re Ma Pa Dha and belongs to the Bilawal that, and Sohini belongs to the Marwa that, so the pentatonic scale Sa Ri Ga Pa Dha corresponds to Bhupali alone.

Answer: C

Antar Gandhar is a vikrit swara of Bharat.

In Bharata's scheme, the vikrit (altered) swaras are antara gandhara and kakali nishada, in addition to the shuddha notes. Antara gandhara is Ga raised close to Ma.

Teevratar Ni and Teevratar Gandhar are named after the later system of tivra notes, and Kaishiki Ni is the name of a different nishada in the 22-shruti scheme, so the key gives Antar Gandhar.

The Kakali nishada is the other vikrit note of Bharata, so the pair of antara gandhara and kakali nishada are the two altered swaras of the ancient scheme.

Answer: C

The semitone interval is 15:16.

The semitone of the just scale, between Ni and Sa or Ga and Ma, has the frequency ratio 15:16. For example, Sa at 240 gives Re komal at 256, as 256/240 = 16/15.

9:10 is the minor tone and 8:9 is the major tone. 10:15 is the same as 2:3, the interval of the fifth.

Answer: B

Frequency is related to pitch.

The pitch of a note is determined by the frequency of vibration: the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. Loudness is related to amplitude and quality (timbre) to the overtones present.

Magnitude points to amplitude, timbre is the tone colour of the sound, and the vibrator is the body that produces it, so none of them is what frequency determines.

Frequency is counted in vibrations per second, or hertz. Loudness depends on the amplitude of the vibration and timbre on the overtones present, and the vibrator (a string or an air column) is the body that produces the frequency, not a property of the sound.