The singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan belonged to which gharana of Hindustani music?
- A.Kirana
- B.Patiala
- C.Jaipur-Atrauli
- D.Mewati
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Patiala. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan is the best known singer of the Patiala gharana, a school marked by fast and intricate taans, a free use of thumri alongside khayal, and a bright open tone. His renderings of thumris in ragas such as Bhairavi and Pilu are still treated as models of the form.
Option A, Kirana, is the gharana of Abdul Karim Khan, and later of Bhimsen Joshi and Gangubai Hangal; it is known for slow, elaborate treatment of individual notes. Option C, Jaipur-Atrauli, was shaped by Alladiya Khan and carried on by Kesarbai Kerkar and Mallikarjun Mansur, and is known for complex compound ragas. Option D, Mewati, is the gharana of Pandit Jasraj. All four are real khayal gharanas of the same era, so the pairing of singer to gharana has to be learnt as a list.
Read the full article: Indian Classical Music: Hindustani, Carnatic, Ragas and Talas
Practice Questions
View allWhich Veda is regarded as the source of Indian classical music?
- A.Rigveda
- B.Yajurveda
- C.Samaveda
- D.Atharvaveda
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The Samaveda is the Veda of melody. Most of its verses are taken from the Rigveda, but they are arranged for singing rather than for recitation, and that singing is known as Samagana.
Read the full explanation →The Sangeeta Ratnakara, a treatise accepted by both the Hindustani and the Carnatic traditions, was written by whom?
- A.Matanga
- B.Sarangadeva
- C.Bharata Muni
- D.Venkatamakhin
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Sarangadeva wrote the Sangeeta Ratnakara in the thirteenth century while attached to the Yadava court at Devagiri in the Deccan.
Read the full explanation →How many melakarta ragas are there in the Carnatic system?
- A.10
- B.22
- C.32
- D.72
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The melakarta ragas are the parent scales of Carnatic music, each of them using all seven notes in both ascent and descent.
Read the full explanation →Teentaal, the most common tala of Hindustani music, has how many matras?
- A.10
- B.12
- C.16
- D.14
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Teentaal runs over sixteen matras divided into four equal vibhags of four beats each. The first beat of the cycle is the sam and carries the stress, the third vibhag opens on a khali, and the cycle returns to the sam at the end.
Read the full explanation →Which is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani vocal music?
- A.Khayal
- B.Thumri
- C.Dhrupad
- D.Tappa
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Dhrupad is austere and devotional, sung in four sections called sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhog, and it opens with a long unmetred alap.
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