Which Veda is regarded as the source of Indian classical music?
- A.Rigveda
- B.Yajurveda
- C.Samaveda
- D.Atharvaveda
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Samaveda. 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. Every later Indian treatise on music traces the tradition back to it, which is why the pairing appears in paper after paper.
Option A, the Rigveda, is the oldest Veda and is a collection of hymns to the gods; it supplies the words the Samaveda sings, but it is not itself the musical Veda. Option B, the Yajurveda, is the Veda of sacrificial formulae, giving the prose mantras a priest uses while performing a ritual. Option D, the Atharvaveda, collects charms, spells and remedies of everyday life along with some philosophical hymns. Of the four, only the Samaveda was organised around melody, so it alone is called the source of Indian classical music.
Read the full article: Indian Classical Music: Hindustani, Carnatic, Ragas and Talas
Practice Questions
View allThe 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.
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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