Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is a celebrated player of which instrument?
- A.Sitar
- B.Sarod
- C.Tabla
- D.Shehnai
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Sarod. The sarod is a plucked instrument with a metal fingerboard and no frets, which lets a player slide continuously between notes and gives it its deep, singing tone. Amjad Ali Khan belongs to a family line of sarod players, and the other great names on the instrument are Allauddin Khan of Maihar and his son Ali Akbar Khan.
Option A, the sitar, is a fretted instrument with sympathetic strings and a gourd resonator, made famous worldwide by Ravi Shankar. Option C, the tabla, is a pair of drums, the wooden dayan and the metal bayan, whose best known players are Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain and Kishan Maharaj. Option D, the shehnai, is the reed wind instrument of Bismillah Khan. Candidates often swap sitar and sarod, so fix the difference: the sitar has frets and the sarod does not.
Read the full article: Musical Instruments and Artists: Tata, Sushira, Avanaddha, Ghana
Practice Questions
View allIn the classification given in the Natya Shastra, wind instruments are called by which name?
- A.Tata vadya
- B.Sushira vadya
- C.Avanaddha vadya
- D.Ghana vadya
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Sushira means hollow, and the class covers every instrument in which a column of air inside a tube is set vibrating.
Read the full explanation →Ustad Bismillah Khan is associated with which musical instrument?
- A.Sarod
- B.Sarangi
- C.Shehnai
- D.Santoor
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Bismillah Khan played the shehnai, a double reed wind instrument long associated with weddings, temple processions and auspicious beginnings in north India, and he is credited with carrying it from ceremonial use onto the classical concert stage.
Read the full explanation →Pandit Shivkumar Sharma is known for playing which instrument?
- A.Santoor
- B.Sitar
- C.Flute
- D.Veena
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The santoor is a trapezoid wooden box carrying many strings over small bridges, struck with a pair of light curved mallets.
Read the full explanation →The ghatam, used in Carnatic music, belongs to which class of instruments?
- A.Avanaddha vadya
- B.Sushira vadya
- C.Ghana vadya
- D.Tata vadya
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The ghatam is a clay pot with nothing stretched across its mouth. The player strikes the body of the pot with fingers, palms and wrists, and changes the tone by moving the mouth of the pot against the stomach.
Read the full explanation →The chenda, a drum played during Kathakali performances and temple festivals, belongs to which state?
- A.Kerala
- B.Odisha
- C.Manipur
- D.Assam
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The chenda is a cylindrical drum hung from the shoulder and struck with curved sticks, and it carries the sound of Kerala's temple festivals, of the percussion ensemble called Chenda Melam, and of Kathakali and Theyyam.
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