Art & Culture
🔒 Log in to trackMusic, Instruments & Maestros
🔒 Log in to trackTwo systems: Hindustani (north; Persian influence; ragas tied to time of day; forms — dhrupad (oldest), khayal, thumri, tappa) and Carnatic (south; kriti composition; fixed compositions).
Carnatic essentials
- Purandara Dasa = "father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music".
- Trinity of Carnatic music: Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri (all 18th–19th c., Thiruvarur region, TN).
- Tyagaraja Aradhana festival is held at Thiruvaiyaru.
Instrument → maestro
| Instrument | Type | Maestro(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Sitar | String | Pt. Ravi Shankar (Bharat Ratna 1999), Vilayat Khan, Anoushka Shankar |
| Sarod | String | Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan |
| Shehnai | Wind | Ustad Bismillah Khan (Bharat Ratna 2001) |
| Tabla | Drum | Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj |
| Bansuri (flute) | Wind | Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghosh |
| Santoor | String (struck) | Shivkumar Sharma, Rahul Sharma |
| Sarangi | Bowed string | Pt. Ram Narayan, Sabri Khan |
| Violin (Carnatic) | Bowed | Lalgudi Jayaraman, L. Subramaniam, N. Rajam (Hindustani) |
| Mandolin | String | U. Srinivas |
| Mridangam | Drum | Palghat Mani Iyer, Umayalpuram Sivaraman |
| Veena (Saraswati) | String | E. Gayathri, S. Balachander |
Vocalists who won the Bharat Ratna: M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998, first musician), Pt. Ravi Shankar (1999, sitar), Lata Mangeshkar (2001), Bismillah Khan (2001), Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (2009, Kirana gharana), Bhupen Hazarika (2019, posthumous).
Classical instrument families (Natya Shastra): Tata (string) · Sushira (wind) · Avanaddha (membrane/drum) · Ghana (solid — cymbals, ghatam).
Detailed notes
Two systems of classical music
Hindustani (north) — Persian influence; ragas tied to the time of day; older form dhrupad, then khayal, thumri, tappa; musicians belong to gharanas. Carnatic (south) — kriti compositions; the Trinity: Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri; Purandara Dasa is the 'father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music'. Tansen, at Akbar's court (one of the Navaratnas), is the fountainhead of Hindustani music.
Instruments — the four-fold classification
| Class | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Tat (stringed) | strings vibrated | sitar, veena, sarod, santoor, violin |
| Sushir (wind) | air column | flute (bansuri), shehnai, nadaswaram |
| Avanaddha (membrane) | skin struck | tabla, mridangam, pakhawaj, dholak |
| Ghana (solid) | struck/struck solid | ghatam, kanjira, manjira, jal tarang |
Quick sort: shehnai = wind, santoor = stringed (100 strings struck with mallets), tabla = membranophone, ghatam = clay-pot idiophone.
Maestros ↔ instruments
| Maestro | Instrument |
|---|---|
| Ustad Bismillah Khan | Shehnai (Bharat Ratna 2001) |
| Pt. Ravi Shankar | Sitar (Bharat Ratna 1999) |
| Ustad Amjad Ali Khan / Ali Akbar Khan | Sarod |
| Ustad Zakir Hussain | Tabla |
| Pt. Shivkumar Sharma | Santoor |
| Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia | Flute |
| Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt | Mohan veena (slide guitar) |
| Ustad Allah Rakha | Tabla (Zakir's father) |
| M.S. Subbulakshmi | Carnatic vocal (first musician Bharat Ratna, 1998) |
| Pt. Bhimsen Joshi | Hindustani vocal (Kirana gharana; Bharat Ratna 2008) |
| Ustad Allauddin Khan | Sarod/raga architect — Maihar gharana; teacher of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan |
M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998) was the first musician to get the Bharat Ratna; Ravi Shankar followed in 1999. Lata Mangeshkar (2001) and Bhimsen Joshi (2008) complete the musician Bharat Ratnas.
Gharanas (Hindustani)
Gwalior is the oldest khayal gharana. Others: Kirana (Bhimsen Joshi's line via Abdul Karim Khan), Jaipur-Atrauli, Agra, Patiala (Bade Ghulam Ali Khan), Banaras (tabla and thumri). Tabla gharanas: Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Banaras, Punjab, Delhi. In Kathak, gharanas are Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras.
The violin in Carnatic music
The European violin was absorbed into Carnatic music around the 18th–19th century (credited to Baluswami Dikshitar, brother of Muthuswami); it is now indispensable as an accompaniment. The nadaswaram (wind) leads temple processions in the south, paired with the thavil drum.
Quick revision
- Purandara Dasa = Carnatic Pitamaha; Trinity = Tyagaraja, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri.
- Tat-sushir-avanaddha-ghana: sitar-shehnai-tabla-ghatam.
- Bismillah Khan = shehnai (BR 2001); Ravi Shankar = sitar (BR 1999); MS 1998 = first musician BR.
- Shivkumar Sharma = santoor; Chaurasia = flute; Zakir Hussain = tabla.
- Gwalior = oldest gharana; Allauddin Khan = Maihar.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Instrument ↔ classcommon3 practice Q
'Shehnai is what kind of instrument', or odd-one-out among wind/string/percussion instruments.
Use the four classes: tat (stringed), sushir (wind), avanaddha (membrane drum), ghana (solid). Flute/shehnai/nadaswaram = wind; tabla/mridangam = drum; ghatam/kanjira = solid; sitar/sarod/santoor = string.
Example: The shehnai is classified as —
A wind (sushir) instrument — sound from a vibrating air column.
Type 2: Maestro ↔ instrumentvery common4 practice Q
A musician's name (Bismillah Khan, Zakir Hussain, Shivkumar Sharma…) with four instruments.
One-to-one map: Bismillah Khan-shehnai, Ravi Shankar-sitar, Amjad Ali Khan/Ali Akbar Khan-sarod, Zakir Hussain/Allah Rakha-tabla, Shivkumar Sharma-santoor, Chaurasia-flute, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt-mohan veena.
Example: Ustad Zakir Hussain is a virtuoso of —
The tabla — son of the legendary Ustad Allah Rakha.
Type 3: Hindustani vs Carnaticvery common3 practice Q
'Father of Carnatic music', the Carnatic Trinity, Tansen's court, or a statement-pair about the two systems.
North = Hindustani (dhrupad/khayal, gharanas, Tansen); South = Carnatic (kriti, Trinity, Purandara Dasa). Any 'Pitamaha' question points to Purandara Dasa.
Example: The Carnatic Trinity consists of —
Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.
Type 4: Bharat Ratna musicians & gharanascommon3 practice Q
'First musician to get the Bharat Ratna', which gharana a singer belongs to, the oldest gharana.
Order of musician Bharat Ratnas: M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998), Ravi Shankar (1999), Lata Mangeshkar (2001), Bismillah Khan (2001), Bhimsen Joshi (2008). Gwalior = oldest khayal gharana; Maihar = Allauddin Khan's school.
Example: Who was the first musician to be awarded the Bharat Ratna?
M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998) — the Carnatic vocalist.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Carnatic Trinity — "Tea, Milk, Sugar"
Tyagaraja · Muthuswami Dikshitar · Syama Sastri. Purandara Dasa is the father, not part of the trinity.
Example: Who is called the Pitamaha of Carnatic music?
Purandara Dasa — father, not one of the trinity.
⚡ Instrument families — "Tata Sings, Avan Drums, Ghana Clangs"
Tata = strings, Sushira = air (wind), Avanaddha = skin drums, Ghana = solid (bells, cymbals, ghatam).
Where students lose marks
Sarod ≠ sitar: Ravi Shankar = sitar; Ali Akbar Khan & Amjad Ali Khan = sarod.
First musician to receive the Bharat Ratna = M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998), not Lata Mangeshkar (2001).
Hariprasad Chaurasia plays the flute; Shivkumar Sharma played the santoor.
Practice sets — 16 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 3 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.