Which is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani vocal music?
- A.Khayal
- B.Thumri
- C.Dhrupad
- D.Tappa
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Dhrupad. Dhrupad is austere and devotional, sung in four sections called sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhog, and it opens with a long unmetred alap. It is accompanied by the pakhawaj rather than the tabla. Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior is remembered for patronising it, and the Dagar family has carried it into modern times.
Option A, khayal, takes its name from the Persian word for imagination, allows far more ornament, and only became the dominant form long after dhrupad; it is sung as a slow bada khayal followed by a fast chhota khayal. Option B, thumri, is semi-classical and romantic, with Lucknow and Benares as its centres and Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh as its best known patron. Option D, tappa, is a quick form full of short runs that grew out of the songs of the camel drivers of Punjab. All four are Hindustani vocal forms, but dhrupad is the oldest of them.
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 →The pakhawaj is the percussion instrument traditionally used to accompany which form?
- A.Dhrupad
- B.Thumri
- C.Kriti
- D.Ghazal
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The pakhawaj is a long barrel drum played horizontally with both hands, deeper and graver in tone than the tabla, and its weight suits the slow and solemn movement of dhrupad.
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