UPHESC Assistant Professor Music Vocal 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: A Padam is a slow, lyrical composition (often shringara bhakti, e.g. Kshetrayya) sung for abhinaya in Bharatanatyam.

1. Its slow tempo leaves room for detailed facial expression (abhinaya).
2. Kriti is the main concert form; Varnam is a practice/concert opener with swara passages (a pada-varnam is a dance piece but mixes nritta).
3. Alap is a Hindustani improvised introduction, not a Carnatic form.

Short trick: Padam = Pada + abhinaya (Kshetrayya padams).

Concept: Matanga's Brihaddeshi (c. 6th–8th century) is the first text to use and define the word 'raga'.

1. Definition: 'yo'yam dhvani-visheshastu svara-varna-vibhushitah, ranjako janachittanam sa ragah kathito budhaih'.
2. Natyashastra (Bharata) speaks of jatis, not ragas.
3. Sangeet Makarand (Narada) and Sangeet Ratnakar (13th c.) came later.

Short trick: Raga's first definition = Matanga (Brihaddeshi).

Concept: Ragamala paintings (16th–19th c., Rajput, Pahari, Deccani, Mughal) personify each raga/ragini as a scene.

1. They are based on the dhyana (verbal image) of each raga, e.g. Bhairav as Shiva, Todi as a lady with deer.
2. They depict mood, season and time, not dance steps, instruments or tala.

Short trick: Ragamala = raga in colours.

Concept: Raga Jog (Khamaj thaat) uses both Gandhars: shuddha Ga in aroha (S G M P N S) and komal ga in avaroha (S n P M g S).

1. Maru Bihag uses both Madhyams (tivra prominent) – A wrong.
2. Bhimpalasi (Kafi thaat) uses shuddha Ma as vadi – B wrong.
3. Puriya Kalyan (Marwa thaat) uses tivra Ma – D wrong.

Short trick: Jog = two Gandhars; Maru Bihag = two Madhyams.

Concept: Melody is horizontal (notes one after another); harmony is vertical (notes together).

1. Melody – successive arrangement (a-II).
2. Harmony – simultaneous sounding (b-I).
3. Consonance – pleasant, stable combination (c-III).
4. Dissonance – harsh, unstable combination needing resolution (d-IV).

Short trick: Melody = line, Harmony = chord.

Concept: Jaipur-Atrauli gharana (Ustad Alladiya Khan) is known for rare (aprachalit) and jod (compound) ragas and intricate, layered gayaki.

1. Exponents: Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kishori Amonkar.
2. Gwalior – oldest, straightforward gayaki; Agra – nom-tom, bol-baant; Kirana – slow, swara-centred alap.

Short trick: Rare + compound ragas = Jaipur-Atrauli (Alladiya Khan).

Concept: Sangeet Ratnakar (13th c.) was written by Sharangadeva at the Yadava court of Devagiri (King Singhana).

1. It has 7 chapters (Swaragata, Ragavivek, Prakirnaka, Prabandha, Tala, Vadya, Nartana).
2. It is regarded as the common source of both Hindustani and Carnatic music.
3. Narada – Sangeet Makarand; Bharata – Natyashastra; Matanga – Brihaddeshi.

Short trick: Ratnakar = Sharangadeva, 7 adhyayas.

Concept: Matanga called regional music 'deshi'; many deshi tunes were refined into ragas.

1. Ragas like Pahadi, Mand, Des, Sorath, Kafi, Bhatiyali-based tunes have folk roots.
2. Semi-classical forms – Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti, Hori, Tappa (Punjabi camel-drivers' songs) – grew from folk.
3. B, C, D are wrong/exaggerated: the raga system was not replaced, and influence is mainly melodic and in vocal music.

Short trick: Deshi (folk) → Raga: Pahadi, Mand, Tappa.

Concept: Match each person with the best-known contribution.

1. Shyama Sastri (Trinity) – his three swarajatis (Bhairavi, Todi, Yadukulakambhoji) are called 'Ratnatrayam' (a-III).
2. P. Sambamurthy – musicologist, author of 'South Indian Music' (6 volumes) (b-IV).
3. M.S. Subbulakshmi – UN General Assembly 1966; first musician to get the Bharat Ratna (1998) (c-II).
4. M. Balamuralikrishna – created ragas Mahati, Lavangi, Sumukham and a new tala scheme (d-I).

Short trick: Shyama-Swarajati, Sambamurthy-Books, MS-Bharat Ratna, Balamurali-new ragas.

Concept: Indian classical music is learnt by ear and imitation from a guru (oral tradition).

1. (A) is true – it is the traditional mode of transmission.
2. (R) is true – subtle gamakas, raga chalan and gharana style pass only by direct demonstration.
3. Because it allows direct oral/practical transmission, it became the traditional method – (R) explains (A).

Short trick: Music lives 'seena-ba-seena' (heart to heart).

Concept: Tagore's Gitabitan groups his songs under Puja (devotion), Swadesh (patriotism), Prem (love), Prakriti (nature), Bichitra and Anushthanik.

1. Swadesh songs include 'Amar Sonar Bangla' and 'Jana Gana Mana'.
2. Many were written during the 1905 Swadeshi (anti-partition) movement.

Short trick: Swadesh = own country = patriotic.

Concept: Bhairav (Bhairav thaat, komal re and dha) is a sandhi-prakash raga of dawn (about 4–7 a.m.).

1. Re-dha komal ragas (Bhairav, Kalingda, Ramkali) are sung at the junctions of day and night.
2. Bhairav is the first raga of the morning in the traditional scheme.

Short trick: Bhairav = dawn; Yaman = evening.

Concept: Tagore trained in Hindustani music (dhrupad at Jorasanko, Vishnupur tradition) and set most songs in ragas like Bhairavi, Behag, Kafi, Khamaj.

1. He also borrowed from Baul, Kirtan and a few Western and Carnatic tunes, but the base remained Hindustani ragas.
2. Many songs are 'bhanga gaan' – broken versions of dhrupad/khayal bandishes.

Short trick: Rabindra Sangeet = Hindustani raga base + Baul/Kirtan colour.

Concept: Kathak (Uttar Pradesh) grew from the kathakars (storytellers) and the Krishna Raas Leela of Braj; its gharanas are Lucknow, Jaipur, Banaras (and Raigarh).

1. Lucknow gharana (Wajid Ali Shah's court; Bindadin, Kalka Maharaj, Birju Maharaj) stresses bhava and nazakat.
2. Kuchipudi – Andhra; Sattriya – Assam; Mohiniyattam – Kerala.

Short trick: Kathak = katha + Krishna + Lucknow.

Concept: In Kathakali, the Thirasheela (Tiraseela) is a hand-held curtain held by two attendants.

1. In Tiranokku, powerful characters (Kathi, Thadi, e.g. Duryodhana, Ravana) peep over and slowly lower it.
2. This builds suspense and shows the character emerging from the mythical/divine world into the visible human stage world.
3. It is not merely a barrier, a screen for helpers or a backdrop.

Short trick: Curtain lowered = the myth enters our world.

Concept: Tarangam (from Narayana Teertha's Krishna Leela Tarangini) is Kuchipudi's signature item.

1. The dancer performs on the rim of a brass plate (tambalam), sometimes with a pot of water or lamps on the head.
2. It shows balance and rhythmic footwork at once – unlike ordinary nritta done on the floor.
3. It is not seated, not purely narrative and not an invocation.

Short trick: Tarangam = dance on the brass plate.

Concept: Subbarama Dikshitar (grandson of Baluswami, adopted heir of the Dikshitar line) published Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini in Telugu in 1904 at Ettayapuram.

1. It notates hundreds of compositions, including Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis, with gamaka symbols.
2. Ramaswami – father; Muthuswami – composer; Baluswami – brother of Muthuswami.

Short trick: SSP 1904 = Subbarama.

Concept: Alpatva (sparing use) and Bahutva (abundant use) are among the ten raga lakshanas of the old texts.

1. Bahutva – a note used often (e.g. vadi, samvadi).
2. Alpatva – a note touched lightly or rarely (by langhan/skipping or anabhyas).
3. They describe how much each swara is used, not laya, tala or shruti.

Short trick: Alpa = little, Bahu = much.

Concept: Each system has a characteristic emphasis.

1. Hindustani – long alap, taan and free elaboration (improvisation) – I true.
2. Carnatic – concerts built on fixed compositions (kriti, varnam) of the Trinity – II true.
3. Western – chords, counterpoint and harmony – III true.

Short trick: Hindustani-improvise, Carnatic-compose, Western-harmonise.

Concept: The Tillana is a brisk Carnatic composition of rhythmic syllables (dheem, tanana, dir) with a short sahitya; it usually ends a concert or Bharatanatyam recital.

1. It is the Carnatic counterpart of the Hindustani Tarana.
2. Famous composers: Swathi Thirunal, Lalgudi Jayaraman, M. Balamuralikrishna.

Short trick: Tarana (North) = Tillana (South).