BSEH Secondary Music Vocal common mistakes
BSEH Secondary Music Vocal · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing aroha/avaroha of a raga as a flat scale (e.g., writing Bhairav's aroha as S r G M P d N S) without marking vakra motion, varjit swaras, or the correct order of phrases, so the ascent no longer distinguishes the raga from its near neighbours.
Candidates memorise ragas as Western-style scales because that is the easiest thing to cram, and they never practise writing the chalan in phrase form. In Hindustani music the aroha is often not a straight line: ragas such as Bhairav, Kafi, and Bageshri have skipped or reordered notes that carry the identity of the raga, and examiners mark the notation, not the memory.
What to do instead
Learn every raga through its pakad and chalan first, then derive the aroha/avaroha from those phrases. In the exam, write the aroha with the swaras in the order actually sung, explicitly marking varjit (omitted) notes and any vakra (zig-zag) movement, and add the pakad below the scale. Check that your written aroha cannot be mistaken for a neighbouring raga (e.g., Bhairav vs. Ahir Bhairav, Bageshri vs. Rageshri).
Confusing the thaat of a raga with the raga itself, or assigning a raga to the wrong thaat because the candidate matches only the set of notes and ignores the vadi/samvadi and the treatment of komal/shuddha notes.
Ten-thaat classification is taught early and superficially, so candidates treat thaat as a synonym for raga. Ragas like Bhairavi and Asavari share note material with more than one thaat family, and the distinguishing factor is the emphasis and the treatment of the notes, not the note list.
What to do instead
For each raga, write a small table: thaat, jati (audav/sampurna etc.), vadi, samvadi, time of day, and pakad. Learn the thaat by the notes actually used in ascent and descent, and rehearse the classic traps: Bhairavi (Bhairavi thaat), Asavari (Asavari thaat), Kafi vs. Bhimpalasi (both Kafi thaat but different vadi and time), and Miyan ki Malhar (Kafi thaat).
Using the wrong notation symbols in swaralipi: writing komal notes without the flat mark, mixing up the symbols for komal (r, g, d, n) and tivra (M with sharp), omitting the dots for mandra and tar saptak, and not marking the sam with the correct symbol (usually an 'x' or a vertical bar) in the tala line.
Candidates copy notation from memory or from a friend's notebook and never learn the standard conventions: the underlining of komal notes, the bar lines, the use of '-' for a held note, and the convention for writing the matra numbers. Small symbol errors make a theoretically correct answer unreadable to the examiner.
What to do instead
Practise writing one composition per day in full notation on ruled paper with matra numbers, sam marked with 'x', khali with '0', and tali with the appropriate number. Build a personal symbol chart and use it consistently: komal with a small line under the letter, tivra Ma with a small line above, mandra saptak with a dot below, tar saptak with a dot above. Get a teacher to check three notations before the exam.
Reciting a tala with the wrong theka syllables or with the wrong hand pattern: for example, reciting Jhaptal as 'dhin na dhin na dhin na dhin na' instead of 'dhi na dhi na tin na dhi na', or showing khali on the wrong matra.
Candidates learn theka by ear from recordings and never check the textbook syllables, and they practise clapping only the tali and forget khali. In Jhaptal and Rupak the position of khali is the most examined detail, and in Rupak the khali comes on the first matra, which candidates routinely get wrong.
What to do instead
Write out the theka of each prescribed tala with matra numbers, tali/khali marks, and the corresponding hand gesture (clap, wave, or finger count). Recite aloud with the hand pattern, not just the syllables, at a slow tempo, then at exam tempo. Drill the specific traps: Rupak (khali on sam), Jhaptal (khali on matra 6), Dhamar (14 matras, khali on 8), and Chautal (12 matras with the specific dha dha din ta pattern).
Losing the sam when performing a composition or a tala recitation: the candidate starts the bandish on the wrong matra, drifts by one matra after the antara, or cannot land the final note on sam.
Candidates practise the composition as a song, without a metronome or a tabla player, so they have no external reference for the cycle. Under exam pressure the tempo changes and the sam slips, which the examiner hears immediately.
What to do instead
Practise every bandish with a metronome or a tanpura-plus-tabla app set at a fixed tempo, marking sam aloud as 'sam' or with a clap. Practise starting the bandish from different matras (khali, tali, and sam) so the cycle is internalised. Before the exam, do a slow run-through with the tabla player to agree the tempo and the sam, and keep a mental count of the matra number while singing.
Giving a biography answer as a list of dates and places with no identification of the musician's gharana, guru, style contribution, or famous compositions, and confusing two musicians with similar names.
Candidates memorise a one-line summary per musician from a guidebook and cannot distinguish, for example, Faiyaz Khan from Vilayat Hussain Khan, or Allauddin Khan from Alladiya Khan. The examiner is testing whether the candidate knows why the musician matters, not the birth year.
What to do instead
For each prescribed musician, prepare a five-line card: gharana, guru/lineage, instrument or voice, one specific stylistic contribution (e.g., the invention of a raga, a new composition form, a notation system), and one or two famous compositions or recordings. Group musicians by gharana so the lineage is visible, and practise saying the card aloud in under 60 seconds.
Treating the history of Indian music as a single timeline: dating the Natyashastra to the medieval period, attributing the current Hindustani-Carnatic split to ancient times, or confusing the roles of Bharata, Sarangadeva, Amir Khusrau, and Tansen.
Candidates study history from scattered notes and never build a chronology, so the periods blur. They also mix legend with documented history, which examiners probe with follow-up questions.
What to do instead
Build a one-page timeline with five anchors: Natyashastra (Bharata, roughly 200 BCE–200 CE), Sangita Ratnakara (Sarangadeva, 13th century), the Delhi Sultanate and Amir Khusrau (13th–14th century), the Mughal period and Tansen (16th century), and the 19th–20th century revival (Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, V. N. Bhatkhande, the gharana system, and the split into Hindustani and Carnatic as we know it). For each anchor, note one specific contribution and one source, and be ready to say which parts are documented and which are traditional attribution.
Describing an instrument only by its appearance and not by its acoustic or structural classification: calling the sitar a 'string instrument' without naming it as a plucked chordophone with sympathetic strings, or misclassifying the sarangi, harmonium, and tanpura.
Candidates learn instruments from pictures and never connect them to the classical categories (tata, sushira, avanaddha, ghana) or to their role in vocal accompaniment. The examiner's follow-up is usually 'why is it used for accompaniment?', which exposes the gap.
What to do instead
For each prescribed instrument, write four facts: classical category (tata/sushira/avanaddha/ghana), how sound is produced, the number and function of strings or reeds, and its role in vocal music (e.g., tanpura for drone, harmonium for accompaniment and pitch reference, sarangi as a bowed melodic accompaniment, tabla for tala). Practise explaining why the tanpura's overtones support the voice and why the harmonium's fixed tuning is both useful and limited.
In the practical viva, answering 'what is the vadi of this raga?' or 'what is this tala?' with a guess, or freezing and saying nothing, instead of stating what is known and reasoning aloud.
Candidates prepare the practical pieces but not the viva, and they fear a wrong answer more than silence. Examiners mark the reasoning and the confidence, and a candidate who says 'I am not certain, but the samvadi is usually a fourth or fifth from the vadi, so it should be...' scores better than one who says nothing.
What to do instead
Prepare a 20-question viva drill covering vadi/samvadi, jati, time of day, thaat, theka, and the names of the tali/khali positions for every prescribed raga and tala. Practise answering aloud in full sentences, and rehearse the fallback phrase: state the confident part, name the uncertainty, and reason to a likely answer. Have a teacher run a mock viva with follow-up questions.
Singing a prescribed raga with the wrong treatment of a key note: singing tivra Ma in Yaman but also in Bhimpalasi, using shuddha Ni in Bhairav, or flattening Dha in ragas where it should be shuddha, because the candidate learned the raga from a film song or a single recording.
Candidates learn ragas by imitation from whatever recording is available, and film or fusion versions alter the notes. Without a teacher correcting the komal/tivra placement, the error becomes habitual and is hard to hear in one's own voice.
What to do instead
Learn each raga from a written notation and a teacher's demonstration, and sing the aroha and avaroha slowly with a tanpura, checking each komal and tivra note against the drone. Record yourself and compare with a reference recording, listening specifically for the altered note. Before the exam, list the 'danger notes' for each prescribed raga (e.g., tivra Ma in Yaman, komal Ga and komal Dha in Bhairav, komal Ni in Bhimpalasi) and drill them in isolation.