Ustad Bismillah Khan is associated with which musical instrument?
- A.Sarod
- B.Sarangi
- C.Shehnai
- D.Santoor
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Shehnai. 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. He spent his life in Varanasi and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001.
Option A, the sarod, is the fretless plucked instrument of Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan. Option B, the sarangi, is the bowed instrument said to come closest to the human voice, whose best known player is Ram Narayan. Option D, the santoor, is the struck string instrument of Kashmir that Shivkumar Sharma established in classical concerts. Every option names a real instrument with its own famous player, so the question is a straight test of the artist and instrument table.
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 →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 →Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is a celebrated player of which instrument?
- A.Sitar
- B.Sarod
- C.Tabla
- D.Shehnai
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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.
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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