UPHESC Assistant Professor Music Vocal 2025, 2026 PYQs

Concept: Pt. Narayan Moreshwar Khare (disciple of V. D. Paluskar) proposed the Raganga system.

1. He grouped ragas under about 30 raganga ragas (Bhairav-anga, Kalyan-anga, Kanhada-anga…) according to shared characteristic phrases.
2. It was an alternative to Bhatkhande's thaat system.

Short trick: Raganga = Khare (Paluskar school).

Concept: Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan (1849–1919) is the founder figure of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana.

1. After early training with Bahadur Hussain Khan at Rampur, he learnt khayal from Ustad Haddu Khan of Gwalior and became his son-in-law.
2. Hence the gharana carries a strong Gwalior influence.

Short trick: Inayat Hussain – disciple and son-in-law of Haddu Khan.

Concept: The Western major scale has all natural notes: C D E F G A B C.

1. Bilawal thaat has all shuddha swaras – identical to the major (Ionian) scale.
2. Kalyan = Lydian (tivra Ma), Khamaj = Mixolydian (komal Ni), Kafi = Dorian.

Short trick: Bilawal = white keys from C = major scale.

Concept: Bharata mentions only two vikrita (sadharana) swaras.

1. Antara Gandhara – Ga raised by 2 shrutis.
2. Kakali Nishada – Ni raised by 2 shrutis.

Short trick: Bharata's 2 = Antara + Kakali.

Concept: A "third" is the interval from the 1st to the 3rd degree of the scale.

1. Sa→Ga is the major third (ratio 5:4), the consonance of third (Shadaj–Gandhar bhava).
2. Sa–Ma is the fourth (4:3), Sa–Pa the fifth (3:2).

Short trick: 1st to 3rd note = third = Sa–Ga.

Concept: Two well-known Sanskrit commentaries on Sangeet Ratnakar exist.

1. Kalanidhi by Kallinatha (15th c., Vijayanagara).
2. Sangeet Sudhakara by Simhabhupala (14th c.) is also a commentary on Sangeet Ratnakar.
3. So both options A and C are correct as printed; the question has two right answers (Kalanidhi is the one most textbooks expect).

Short trick: Ratnakar commentaries: Kallinatha – Kalanidhi; Simhabhupala – Sudhakara.

Concept: Place each treatise with its author and period.

1. Brihaddeshi – Matanga (c. 8th–9th c.).
2. Saraswati Hridayalankar – Nanyadeva (c. 11th–12th c.).
3. Swaramela Kalanidhi – Ramamatya (1550).
4. Raga Vibodha – Somanatha (1609).

Short trick: Matanga → Nanyadeva → Ramamatya → Somanatha.

Concept: Jati in Carnatic tala fixes the number of beats of the laghu.

1. Five jatis: Tishra (3), Chaturashra (4), Khanda (5), Mishra (7), Sankeerna (9).
2. 7 suladi talas × 5 jatis = 35 talas.

Short trick: 35 talas = 7 × 5 jatis.

Concept: A slur in staff notation joins notes to be played/sung smoothly without break.

1. Meend is the unbroken glide from one swara to another – the Indian equivalent.
2. Kan = grace note; Khatka = quick cluster; Behlava = slow swaying elaboration.

Short trick: Slur ≈ glide ≈ Meend.

Concept: Raga-dhyanas (verses picturing a raga as a deity/person) belong to the medieval period.

1. Raga Tattva Vibodha (Shrinivasa, 17th c.) contains such descriptions.
2. Natyashastra and Naradiya Shiksha are pre-raga texts; Brihaddeshi first defines raga but gives no dhyanas.

Short trick: Dhyana = medieval texts; ancient texts have none.

Concept: Modern Western music uses 12-tone equal temperament.

1. The octave is divided into 12 equal semitones; every interval is measured as a number of semitones.
2. Major/minor tone are just-intonation intervals (9/8, 10/9); "diatonic" is a type of scale, not an interval.

Short trick: Piano key to next key = one semitone, the basic unit.

Concept: Accidentals in staff notation alter pitch.

1. Flat (♭) lowers by one semitone (≈ komal).
2. Sharp (♯) raises by one semitone (≈ tivra); double flat lowers by two; natural cancels.

Short trick: Flat = komal.

Concept: Sangeet Makaranda is attributed to Narada (c. 7th–11th c.).

1. It classifies ragas as masculine, feminine and neuter and links ragas with time.
2. Sharngadeva – Sangeet Ratnakar; Matanga – Brihaddeshi; Bharata – Natyashastra.

Short trick: Makaranda (nectar) – Narada.

Concept: Acharya Vamana (8th c., Kavyalankara-sutra-vritti) first used "saundarya" for poetry.

1. His sutras: "Kavyam grahyam alankarat" and "Saundaryam alankarah" – beauty itself is alankara.
2. Bharata explained rasa; Abhinavagupta commented on rasa much later.

Short trick: Vamana: "Saundaryam alankarah".

Concept: Somanatha's Raga Vibodha (1609) describes both the sound form and the personified (deity) form of swaras and ragas.

1. He gives the audible (nadamaya) nature of each swara and its divine form (devamaya) with colour, deity etc.
2. Lochana (Ragatarangini) and Vidyaranya (Sangeet Sara) deal with raga classification; Ramakrishna Kavi was a 20th-century editor.

Short trick: Somnath – Raga Vibodha – sound + deity forms.

Concept: Sharngadeva gives six kakus: Swara, Raga, Anyaraga, Desha, Kshetra and Yantra kaku.

1. Here "kshetra" means the body (sharira); kshetra-kaku is the individual quality of each person's voice.
2. Yantra-kaku is the sound of instruments; Desha-kaku relates to region.

Short trick: Kshetra = body → voice; Yantra = instrument.

Concept: Swar-samvad = consonance, the pleasing agreement of two notes (Sa–Pa, Sa–Ma).

1. Agreement/concord of sounds is the aesthetic element called harmony (aikya).
2. Symmetry, proportion and balance relate to form and structure.

Short trick: Samvad (concord) = Harmony.

Concept: Bharata explains rasa in the 6th chapter (Rasadhyaya) and bhava in the 7th.

1. The rasa sutra "Vibhavanubhava-vyabhichari-samyogad rasa-nishpattih" is in chapter 6.
2. Music (swara, jati) is in chapters 28–33.

Short trick: 6 = Rasa, 7 = Bhava.

Concept: Classical dances and home states.

1. Kathak – Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Banaras).
2. Bharatanatyam – Tamil Nadu.
3. Kathakali – Kerala.
4. Odissi – Odisha.

Short trick: K-UP, B-TN, K-Ker, O-Odi.

Concept: Takshashila was the most renowned seat of learning in the Buddha's time.

1. Jataka stories describe students (including princes) going to Takshashila to learn arts, music and sciences.
2. Nalanda and Vikramshila became famous later.

Short trick: Buddha age = Takshashila; later = Nalanda.