UPHESC Assistant Professor Music Vocal 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: Bharata describes 18 jatis: 7 shuddha (named after the 7 notes) and 11 sansargaja (born of mixing).

1. Total 18 − 7 shuddha = 11 sansargaja.
2. Shuddha jatis become "vikrita" when their rules are relaxed; sansargaja are always vikrita.

Short trick: 18 = 7 + 11.

Concept: Patdeep (Kafi thaat) = komal Ga with shuddha Ni and shuddha Dha.

1. Komal Ga (underlined) rules out Bihag.
2. Bhimpalasi and Dhanashree use komal Ni; here Ni is shuddha.
3. "ga ma pa ni, dha ni sa, ni dha pa" is the pakad of Patdeep.

Short trick: Bhimpalasi with shuddha Ni = Patdeep.

Concept: Aad laya = 3 matras in the time of 2 (3/2). One avartan of teentaal = 16 matras.

1. 16 matras of aad take 16 × 2/3 = $10\frac{2}{3}$ matras of time.
2. To finish on sam, start after 16 − $10\frac{2}{3}$ = $5\frac{1}{3}$ matras.

Short trick: Start point = total − (total × 2/3) = total/3.

Concept: Ancient tala kriya: sashabd (with sound) and nishabd (silent).

1. Sashabd kriyas: Dhruva (snap), Shamya (right-hand clap), Tala (left-hand clap), Sannipata (both hands).
2. Nishabd kriyas: Avapa, Nishkrama, Vikshepa, Pravesha.

Short trick: Clap/snap = sound = Sashabd.

Concept: Samprakriti ragas share similar notes/movement but differ in chalan.

1. Shuddha Kalyan uses Bhupali's five notes (sa re ga pa dha) in aaroh; avroh adds touches of Ma and Ni.
2. Its chalan (ga re, pa re) differs from Bhupali – a classic same-nature pair.

Short trick: Bhupali ↔ Shuddha Kalyan (also Deshkar).

Concept: Swami Ramshankar Das "Pagal Das" (1920–1997) of Ayodhya was a leading pakhavaj player.

1. He learnt in the tradition founded by Kudau Singh (Datia), through Swami Bhagwan Das.
2. He is counted among the main exponents of the Kudau Singh gharana.

Short trick: Ayodhya Pagal Das → Kudau Singh parampara.

Concept: Kamod (Kalyan thaat): pakad "re pa, ma̍ pa dha pa, ga ma pa ga, ma re sa".

1. The jump "(ma)re–pa" and the phrase "ma̍ pa dha pa" are Kamod's identity.
2. Chhayanat goes "pa re, ga ma pa"; Kedar "sa ma, ma pa"; Durga has no Ga.

Short trick: Re→Pa leap + "ma̍ pa dha pa" = Kamod.

Concept: Tagore grew up with the Bishnupur Dhrupad tradition (Jadu Bhatta etc.).

1. Most Rabindra songs follow the dhrupad structure – asthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog – and dhrupad's gravity.
2. Tappa and folk (Baul, Kirtan) influences exist, but the basic frame is dhrupad.

Short trick: Four parts of Rabindra song = four parts of dhrupad.

Concept: Bhatkhande placed Jaijaiwanti (both Ga, both Ni) in Khamaj thaat.

1. Kedar – Kalyan thaat.
2. Lalit – Marwa thaat (some put it in Poorvi).
3. Basant – Poorvi thaat.

Short trick: Khamaj thaat: Khamaj, Desh, Tilak Kamod, Jaijaiwanti, Rageshree, Jhinjhoti.

Concept: A kriti has essential angas (Pallavi, Anupallavi, Charanam) and decorative angas.

1. Decorative (alankarika) angas: Chittaswaram, Swara-sahitya, Madhyamakala sahitya, Sangatis.
2. Pallavi is a basic anga; Kalpana swaram is improvised by the performer, not part of the composition.

Short trick: Chitta = pre-composed swara ornament.

Concept: Sangeet Ratnakar (Vadyadhyaya) classifies vrinda (group) as uttama, madhyama and kanishtha.

1. Uttama vrinda: 4 lead singers, 8 chorus singers, 12 women singers, 4 flutists and 4 mridanga players = 32.
2. Madhyama vrinda has half of these (16).

Short trick: Uttama 32 → Madhyama 16.

Concept: Match each Hindustani form with its nearest Carnatic counterpart.

1. Tarana (syllables like ta-na-dere) ↔ Tillana.
2. Swarajati ↔ Sargam geet (sung with swaras).
3. Kriti, the main concert form ↔ Khyal.
4. Dhrupad, the grand, slow elaboration form ↔ Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi.

Short trick: Tarana-Tillana sound alike; RTP is the "dhrupad" of the South.

Concept: Four banis of dhrupad: Gauhar (Gobarhar), Dagur, Khandar, Nauhar.

1. Gauhar/Gobarhar bani is associated with Tansen (Gwalior; shanta rasa, slow, majestic).
2. Dagur – Brijchand; Khandar – Raja Samokhan Singh; Nauhar – Shrichand.

Short trick: Tansen → Gauhar (Gobarhar).

Concept: Sangeet Ratnakar classifies the Deshi prabandhas into three groups.

1. Suda (Shuddha suda and Salaga suda), Ali (Aali-krama prabandhas) and Viprakirna (miscellaneous).
2. Thus all three are classes of Prabandha.

Short trick: "S-A-V" = three families of prabandha.

Concept: Lalit (komal re, both Ma, komal dha) is a dawn raga commonly placed under Poorvi thaat.

1. Bilaval – Bilaval thaat; Ramkali and Bhairav – Bhairav thaat.
2. Most Poorvi ragas (Poorvi, Shree, Puriya Dhanashree) are evening ragas; Lalit is the morning exception.

Short trick: Poorvi in the morning = Lalit.

Concept: The descending Pa→Re sangati is a hallmark of Kalyan-anga ragas.

1. Shuddha Kalyan: "ga re, pa re, ga re sa".
2. Chhayanat: "pa re, ga ma pa".
3. Kamod's identity is the ascending Re→Pa leap ("re pa"); Shuddha Sarang moves "ma̍ pa, ma re, ni sa".
4. So i and iii.

Short trick: Pa-re: Yaman family (Shuddha Kalyan, Chhayanat); Re-pa: Kamod.

Concept: Matanga's five geetis: Shuddha, Bhinna, Gaudi, Vesara, Sadharani; modern forms are traced to them.

1. Bhinna geeti uses vakra (oblique) movements, subtle notes and sweet gamakas with varied rhythm – features seen in Dhamar's layakari and vakra phrases.
2. Shuddha geeti (straight, simple) is linked with dhrupad; Sadharani (mixture) with khayal.

Short trick: Dhrupad–Shuddha, Dhamar–Bhinna, Khayal–Sadharani.

Concept: Ustad Amir Khan (1912–1974) founded the Indore gharana.

1. His style blends Abdul Wahid Khan's (Kirana) ati-vilambit, Rajab Ali Khan's taans and Aman Ali Khan's merukhand.
2. Because it was his own synthesis, it is called the Indore gharana.

Short trick: Amir Khan = Indore (merukhand, ati-vilambit).

Concept: Surshri Kesarbai Kerkar (1892–1977) was the foremost disciple of Ustad Alladiya Khan.

1. Alladiya Khan founded the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana.
2. Her song "Jaat kahan ho" (Bhairavi) went on the Voyager record.

Short trick: Alladiya Khan → Kesarbai, Mogubai → Jaipur.

Concept: In the standard (Bhatkhande) scheme none of the four printed Kalyan-thaat ragas has Rishabh as vadi.

1. Yaman Kalyan – vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; Jait Kalyan – vadi Pa, samvadi Sa; Hameer – vadi Dha, samvadi Ga.
2. Kamod is built on the Re–Pa sangati, but its vadi is Pa and Re is only the samvadi.
3. The Kalyan-thaat raga with Re as vadi (and Pa as samvadi) is Chhayanat, which is not printed. So no option is correct as printed and the question is treated as a bonus.

Short trick: Re vadi in Kalyan thaat → Chhayanat; Kamod = Pa vadi, Re samvadi.