UPHESC Assistant Professor Music Tabla 2025 PYQs

Concept: Nau (9) + hakka (strokes): a tihai whose phrase is repeated so that 9 'dha' occur, the 9th on sam.

1. Each of the three parts itself contains a small tihai of 3 dha – 3 × 3 = 9.
2. An ordinary tihai has only 3 dha.

Short trick: Nau = 9 → 9th dha on sam.

Concept: Pt. Bhairav Prasad Mishra is known chiefly as the guru of Pt. Anokhelal Mishra.

1. Bhairav Prasad himself learnt from Bhagat Ji of Banaras.
2. Bhairo Sahai, Bikku Maharaj belong to other branches of the Ram Sahai lineage.

Short trick: Bhagat Ji → Bhairav Prasad → Anokhelal.

Concept: Maharashtra's pakhawaj tradition is the Nana Panse gharana (Pune).

1. Pt. Sakharam Mridangacharya was a Maharashtrian exponent of this Panse tradition.
2. Kodau Singh (Datia/Rampur), Nathdwara (Rajasthan), Vishnupur (Bengal) are other regional pakhawaj traditions.

Short trick: Maharashtra pakhawaj = Nana Panse gharana.

Concept: Pt. Sharda Sahai (1935–2011) was a direct descendant of Pt. Ram Sahai.

1. He first learnt from his father Pt. Bhagwati Sahai; after his father's death (1946) he became the disciple of Pt. Kanthe Maharaj.
2. Kanthe Maharaj had himself learnt from Sharda Sahai's grandfather Pt. Baldev Sahai.

Short trick: Baldev Sahai → Kanthe Maharaj → Sharda Sahai (knowledge returned to the family).

Concept: Padma awards 2023 (announced Jan 2023).

1. Ustad Zakir Hussain received the Padma Vibhushan in 2023 (Padma Shri 1988, Padma Bhushan 2002).
2. The other three are earlier masters (Latif Ahmad Khan, Nizamuddin Khan, Karamatulla Khan) who were not given this award in 2023.

Short trick: Zakir Hussain: Shri 1988 → Bhushan 2002 → Vibhushan 2023.

Concept: Match each master with his gharana.

1. Ut. Natthu Khan – Delhi (iv).
2. Pt. Kishan Maharaj – Banaras (iii).
3. Ut. Alla Rakha – Punjab (ii).
4. Ut. Amir Husain Khan – Farukhabad (i).

Short trick: a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i: the code runs backwards iv-iii-ii-i.

Concept: The Punjab gharana grew out of the pakhawaj tradition of Lahore.

1. Mian Fakir Bakhsh and his son Mian Kadir Bakhsh (II) shaped its tabla style and composed much of its repertoire.
2. Ut. Alla Rakha was a disciple of Mian Kadir Bakhsh II.

Short trick: Fakir Bakhsh → Kadir Bakhsh II → Alla Rakha → Zakir Hussain.

Concept: Each artist is matched with his father-guru.

1. Zakir Hussain – Ut. Allarakha Khan (iii).
2. Kumar Lal Mishra – son of Pt. Samta Prasad 'Gudai Maharaj' (iv).
3. Afaq Hussain (Lucknow) – son of Ut. Wajid Hussain (i).
4. Pooran Maharaj – son of Pt. Kishan Maharaj (ii).

Short trick: Fathers: Allarakha-Zakir, Gudai-Kumar Lal, Wajid-Afaq, Kishan-Pooran.

Concept: Pt. Suresh Talwalkar is known for bringing Carnatic laya concepts (jati, gati, korvai-type calculations) into Hindustani tabla.

1. He also created the vocal-percussion ensemble 'Taal Yatra' using these ideas.
2. Anindo Chatterjee, Kumar Bose – Farukhabad/Banaras soloists; Aneesh Pradhan – Delhi-style scholar-performer.

Short trick: Talwalkar = Carnatic laya in tabla.

Concept: 'Kanoon Tabla' is a Hindi text on the rules (kanoon) of tabla composition and playing.

1. It is credited to Prof. Praveen Uddhav.
2. Pt. Vijay Shankar Mishra is known for works such as 'Tabla Puran'; the others are not its authors.

Short trick: Kanoon (rules) of tabla – Praveen Uddhav.

Concept: Authors and their texts.

1. Maharana Kumbha – Sangeet Raj (ii).
2. Nanyadeva – Bharata Bhashya (iv).
3. Srikantha – Rasa Kaumudi (i).
4. Srinivasa – Raga Tattva Vibodha (iii).

Short trick: Kumbha-Raj, Nanya-Bhashya, Srikantha-Kaumudi, Srinivas-Vibodh.

Concept: 'The Art of Tabla Rhythm: Essentials, Tradition and Creativity' is by Sudhir Kumar Saxena.

1. Sudhir Mainkar wrote 'Tabla Vadan Kala aur Shastra' (Marathi/Hindi).
2. The other two names are distractors.

Short trick: Art of (Tabla) Rhythm – Saxena.

Concept: In the pushkara (avanaddha) chapter Bharat lists the properties of drums, many of them in sets of three.

1. Tri-terms: tripushkara, trimarjana, triyati, trilaya, trigata (trigati), triprachara, trisamyoga, tripani.
2. That makes 8 terms beginning with 'tri'.

Short trick: Count the 'three-fold' qualities: 8.

Concept: Narada's Sangeet Makarand has two adhyayas (Sangeet and Nritya), each in four padas.

1. The first pada of the Nritya-adhyaya deals with tala; it is here that the ten pranas of tala are first enumerated.
2. Later padas deal with dance, gestures etc.

Short trick: Ten pranas first appear in Sangeet Makarand – Nritya-adhyaya, pada 1.

Concept: Kaku is the change of voice/intonation that conveys meaning and rasa.

1. Bharat gives six angas (alankaras) of kaku: uchcha, deepta, mandra, neecha, druta, vilambita.
2. These are combined with the 7 swaras, 3 sthanas etc. for expressive speech.

Short trick: Kaku angas = 6 (3 pitch pairs: high/bright, low/deep, fast/slow).

Concept: The earliest Indian vocabulary of beauty is found in the Rigveda.

1. Words like 'shri', 'charu', 'peshas', 'bhadra' describe beauty and the beautiful in Rigvedic hymns.
2. Hence the Rigveda is regarded as the first source of Indian aesthetic terms.

Short trick: Oldest text → oldest beauty words: Rigveda.

Concept: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten published 'Aesthetica' (1750).

1. He coined 'aesthetics' (from Greek aisthesis, sense perception) for the science of beauty and art.
2. Philosophy, psychology and musicology were not named by him.

Short trick: Baumgarten 1750 = Aesthetica.

Concept: Totak = four sagana (॥ऽ) – 12 syllables per line.

1. Each sagana = 1 + 1 + 2 = 4 matras.
2. Groups of 4 matras give a chatasra (four-fold) rhythmic jati.

Short trick: Totak: ‘la-la-GAA’ ×4 – every unit 4 matras → chatasra.

Concept: Bharat names four primary (mool) rasas, from which the other four arise.

1. Primary: Shringar, Raudra, Veer, Bibhatsa.
2. Derived: Hasya (from Shringar), Karun (from Raudra), Adbhut (from Veer), Bhayanak (from Bibhatsa).

Short trick: Karun is born of Raudra – not a primary rasa.

Concept: Bharat assigns a colour to each rasa.

1. Shringar – shyam (dark), Hasya – white, Karun – grey, Raudra – red.
2. Veer – gaur (fair), Bhayanak – black, Bibhatsa – blue, Adbhut – yellow (peet).

Short trick: Adbhut (wonder) = golden-yellow.