UPHESC Assistant Professor Music Vocal 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: Gottuvadyam (Chitravina) is a fretless South Indian slide veena.

1. a ✔ South Indian; d ✔ also called Mahanataka Veena; e ✔ played with a sliding rod, so meend is its beauty.
2. c ✘ it has no frets (sarikas).
3. b ✘ "Surbeen" is not its name (its North Indian cousin is the Vichitra Veena).

Short trick: Slide instrument = no frets + rich meend.

Concept: Folk songs sung while working are called kriya or shram geet.

1. Ropni – sung by women while transplanting paddy.
2. Jatsaar – sung while grinding grain on the jaanta (hand mill).
3. Sanskar geets are for birth, marriage etc.

Short trick: Work while singing = Shram geet.

Concept: Madhavi Mudgal is a leading Odissi dancer (disciple of Kelucharan Mohapatra).

1. Yamini Krishnamurti – Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
2. Swapna Sundari – Kuchipudi/Vilasini Natyam.
3. Geeta Chandran – Bharatanatyam.

Short trick: Madhavi Mudgal – Odissi, Delhi (Gandharva Mahavidyalaya).

Concept: Bharata described murchanas of 7 notes; Matanga in Brihaddeshi described 12-note (dwadasha-swara) murchanas.

1. Matanga argued for 12 notes in a murchana (including notes of the next octave), referring also to earlier opinions.
2. Bharata – saptaswara murchana; Nanyadeva came later.

Short trick: Bharata 7, Matanga 12.

Concept: Folk/traditional theatre forms and their states.

1. Yakshagana – Karnataka.
2. Kutiyattam (Sanskrit theatre) – Kerala.
3. Maach – Madhya Pradesh (Malwa).
4. Ankiya Naat – Assam (Shankaradeva).

Short trick: Y-Kar, K-Ker, M-MP, A-Assam.

Concept: Bhawaiya (North Bengal), Bhatiyali (boatmen's song) and Baul (mystic minstrels) are Bengali folk songs.

1. Swang is a folk theatre-song form of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

Short trick: Swang = Haryana.

Concept: Kajri is the rainy-season (Sawan–Bhadon) song of Mirzapur–Banaras.

1. Statement I is true – it is a ritu geet.
2. Its themes are the rains, viraha, Radha-Krishna and the swing – it is classed as a seasonal song, not as a song composed on contemporary events, so Statement II is false.

Short trick: Kajri = Sawan + viraha (ritu geet).

Concept: Pai-danda is a vigorous stick dance of the Ahir community of Bundelkhand.

1. Performed around Diwali with dhol and nagadiya, it resembles martial movements.

Short trick: Bundelkhand Ahirs: Diwari and Pai-danda.

Concept: Folk-based ragas/songs and their regions.

1. Asa – Punjab (Asa di Var, Gurbani).
2. Maand – Rajasthan.
3. Pahadi – Himalayan hill region.
4. Baul – Bengal.

Short trick: Asa-Punjab, Maand-Rajasthan, Pahadi-hills, Baul-Bengal.

Concept: "Shyama" (1939) is one of Tagore's nritya-natyas (dance dramas).

1. His dance dramas: Chitrangada, Chandalika, Shyama.
2. His geeti-natyas (musical plays) are Valmiki Pratibha, Kalmrigaya, Mayar Khela.

Short trick: Chitrangada-Chandalika-Shyama = dance dramas.

Concept: Ancient texts give four kinds of murchana: Shuddha, Kakali-sahita, Antara-sahita and Sadharanakrita.

1. Sadharanakrita murchana uses both antara Gandhara and kakali Nishada.
2. Thus "sadharanakrita" is a type of murchana.

Short trick: Murchana types: Shuddha, Kakali, Antara, Sadharanakrita.

Concept: Order through the day.

1. Nat Bhairav – morning (1st prahar of day).
2. Multani – afternoon (3rd prahar of day).
3. Puriya Kalyan – evening twilight (sandhi prakash).
4. Adana – late night (3rd prahar of night).

Short trick: Morning → afternoon → dusk → night.

Concept: Miyan ki Malhar (attributed to Tansen) combines Kanhada anga with Malhar anga.

1. Kanhada anga: komal ga with andolan "ga ma re sa", "ni dha ni sa" with both Ni.
2. Malhar anga: "ma re pa".

Short trick: Miyan (Tansen) loved Kanhada → Miyan Malhar = Kanhada + Malhar.

Concept: Maru Bihag belongs to Kalyan thaat – Statement I is true.

1. Tivra Ma is dominant, but shuddha Ma is also used lightly ("ni sa ma ga", "ga ma ga re sa").
2. So it does not use only tivra Ma – Statement II is false.

Short trick: Maru Bihag = both Ma, tivra prominent.

Concept: Match each folk form with its typical feature.

1. Nautanki – sung in metres such as Bahr-e-taveel (with doha, chaubola).
2. Pandvani – Mahabharata narration of Chhattisgarh with a single-string (iktara/tambura) prop.
3. Gidda – Punjabi women's dance sung in boliyan (couplets).
4. Birha – Bhojpuri song with "kavi viram" (naming the poet/guru at the end).

Short trick: Only option B gives Gidda–Boliyan with Nautanki–Bahr-e-taveel.

Concept: A thesis begins with an introduction and ends with conclusions.

1. Introduction → Review of literature (finds the research gap) → Aims/objectives (based on the gap) → Methods and materials → Conclusion.

Short trick: Intro – Review – Aim – Method – Conclusion ("I-R-A-M-C").

Concept: Folk instruments/forms and their regions.

1. Sundari – small shehnai-like wind instrument of Maharashtra.
2. Dhak – big drum of Bengal (Durga Puja).
3. Mohuri – double-reed wind instrument of Odisha.
4. Dandiya – Gujarat.

Short trick: Sundari-MH, Dhak-Bengal, Mohuri-Odisha, Dandiya-Gujarat.

Concept: In Gitabitan Tagore's songs are grouped into paryayas (sections).

1. Six main paryayas: Puja, Swadesh, Prem, Prakriti, Bichitra and Anushthanik.
2. (Plays/dance-drama songs are kept separately.)

Short trick: P-S-P-P-B-A = 6.

Concept: Matanga (Brihaddeshi) names five kinds of nada produced in the body: Sukshma, Atisukshma, Vyakta, Avyakta and Kritrima.

1. These arise from the striking of air at different places (navel, heart, throat, head, mouth).
2. Being produced by striking (aghata), they are kinds of ahata nada – the nada used in music.

Short trick: 5 nadas of Matanga are all ahata.

Concept: Laggi-ladi is the fast tabla play used in Thumri.

1. After the singer's bol-banao in a slow taal, the tabla switches to fast Kaharwa/Dadra laggi and ladi (chains of bols) while the singer returns to the mukhda.
2. Not used in khayal, tappa or chaturang.

Short trick: Laggi = thumri's tabla climax.