BSEH Secondary Music Instrumental common mistakes
BSEH Secondary Music Instrumental · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing aroha and avaroha of a prescribed raga as the same straight scale, omitting the vakra (zig-zag) or skip movements - e.g. giving Bhairav's avaroha as S r G M P d N S instead of the characteristic komal re and komal dha movements in descent.
Candidates memorise ragas as ascending/descending lines from a summary table and never practise singing the pakad aloud, so the distinguishing phrases that make a raga recognisable are lost.
What to do instead
For each prescribed raga, learn the pakad first and derive aroha-avaroha from it. Write the aroha and avaroha side by side and mark every vakra turn, skip, or omitted note with an arrow; then sing the avaroha slowly with tanpura until the characteristic phrase is automatic.
Confusing vadi and samvadi with the graha (starting note) or with the nyasa (resting note), and assigning the same swara as both vadi and samvadi in a raga where they differ.
Textbook tables list vadi/samvadi as bare letters without explaining their function, and candidates rarely connect them to the time-of-day theory or to the phrase where the raga actually settles.
What to do instead
For each raga, identify the note on which phrases most often come to rest (vadi) and the second most important note, usually a fourth or fifth away (samvadi). Verify by singing the pakad and noticing where you pause; then link vadi to the raga's prescribed performance time and test yourself with blank tables.
Treating all twelve swaras as equally spaced and describing shruti as if there were a fixed, universally agreed set of 22 equal divisions of the octave.
The 22-shruti figure is repeated in introductory books without the caveat that shruti denotes minute intervals of intonation and that different theorists (Bharata, Sarangadeva, Ahobala, Bhatkhande) number and place them differently.
What to do instead
State that 22 shruti is a traditional theoretical framework, not an equal-tempered division, and that Hindustani practice uses movable intonation for komal and tivra swaras. Learn the distinction between shruti (intonation unit) and swara (musical note) and be ready to name at least two theorists whose placements differ.
Naming the ten thatas or the swaras of a raga without noting which are komal, tivra, or shuddha, and writing 'Sa re Ga Ma Pa dha Ni' with inconsistent case or no marking at all.
Candidates copy notation from memory in a hurry and use capitalisation loosely, then cannot tell whether their own answer shows Bhairav or Bhairavi.
What to do instead
Adopt one convention and use it every time: capitals for shuddha, lower case for komal, and a clear mark (e.g. M^) for tivra Ma. Before submitting any written answer, re-read each swara and confirm the komal/tivra pattern against the raga's pakad.
Marking vibhag divisions in a tala without showing which vibhag is tali (clapped), which is khali (waved), and where sam falls, so that Jhaptal is written as a flat row of ten matras.
Candidates count matras correctly but treat the cycle as arithmetic rather than as a gestural pattern of clap, wave, and clap.
What to do instead
Write every tala as grouped matras with symbols: X for sam, 0 for khali, and numbers 2, 3, 4 for the remaining tali. Practise Jhaptal (2+3+2+3), Rupak (3+2+2, khali on sam), and Dhamar (5+2+3) by hand while reciting the bols, so the grouping is felt, not just counted.
Using laya terms interchangeably - calling any fast tempo drut and any slow tempo vilambit - without relating them to the tala's matra duration or demonstrating a specific laya such as barabar, dugun, or tigun.
Laya is taught as three vague speeds rather than as a ratio against the basic beat, and candidates never practise laya-bant or layakari exercises against a metronome or tabla.
What to do instead
Define laya as the rate of matras per unit time and practise dugun (2 matras per beat) and tigun (3 per beat) against a fixed pulse. Be able to state that vilambit, madhya, and drut are relative, and demonstrate a laya change on a single tala rather than describing it in words only.
Mixing Bhatkhande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar notation in one answer - e.g. using Bhatkhande's bar-lines and avagraha while writing swaras in Paluskar's script conventions - and omitting the symbols for komal, tivra, and octave marks.
Candidates learn notation from different books and apps and never compare the two systems side by side, so the symbols blur together.
What to do instead
Learn one system thoroughly first: Bhatkhande uses Devanagari with horizontal lines for vibhag, a cross or dot for sam, and specific signs for komal/tivra and mandra/tar octaves; Paluskar uses a different set of markers for the same information. Write the same composition in both systems and compare symbol by symbol.
Describing khayal, dhrupad, tarana, and bhajan with the same generic sentence ('a classical vocal form with tabla accompaniment') without naming each form's structure, taal preference, and ornament style.
Forms are memorised as labels rather than as structures, and candidates never learn what a sthayi, antara, sanchari, and abhog actually do within a composition.
What to do instead
Build a comparison table: dhrupad uses chautal or dhamar, has four sections (sthayi, antara, sanchari, abhog), and favours nom-tom and meend; khayal has sthayi and antara with bol-banao and taan; tarana uses meaningless syllables in a fast laya; bhajan is devotional and often in keherwa or dadra. Attach one memorised composition to each form.
Classifying instruments loosely - calling the harmonium a string instrument, or failing to distinguish tat (string), sushir (wind), avanaddha (membrane), and ghan (solid) - and being unable to describe tuning of the tanpura or the placement of frets on the sitar.
Candidates learn instrument names from listening alone and never study the Natya Shastra fourfold classification or the physical construction of the instruments they play.
What to do instead
Memorise the four classical categories with two examples each, then describe one instrument in detail: the tanpura's four strings tuned in the pa-sa-sa-mandra-sa pattern, the sitar's movable frets and sympathetic strings, the tabla's syahi and tuning with gatta. Draw and label the parts from memory.
Performing alankar as a mechanical scale run up and down the saptak without applying the raga's own swaras, and losing the tala during practical rendering by speeding up or dropping matras when a taan or palta begins.
Alankar is practised as a warm-up exercise divorced from raga, and candidates practise without a steady pulse, so tala-keeping collapses under the pressure of fast passages.
What to do instead
Practise alankar in the prescribed raga's scale, not in a generic bilawal thaat, and always with a tanpura and a metronome or tabla. Keep tala by reciting the bols aloud while playing or singing, and slow the laya until the vibhag and sam stay intact through every taan; record yourself and check sam placement against the pulse.