Sangeet Paribhasha: Technical Terminology of Indian Music
This domain tests precise definitions of the vocabulary used across Hindustani and Odissi music theory - naad, shruti, swara, raga-lakshan and tala terms. CHSE questions are usually short-answer: define a term, distinguish two terms, or apply a term to a named raga or tala. Marks are lost mainly through loose or interchangeable use of words.
Naad, shruti and swara
- Naad is sound; ahata is struck or produced sound, anahata the unstruck. Musical naad must be steady in pitch and pleasing - the raw material of swara.
- Shruti is the smallest perceptible interval; Bharata's Natyashastra fixes 22 shrutis in the octave, while modern practice recognises 12 swara-sthanas.
- Swara: 7 shuddha (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) + 4 komal (Re, Ga, Dha, Ni) + 1 tivra (Ma) = 12. Sa and Pa are achal (immovable).
Raga-lakshan terms
- Vadi (king), samvadi (queen, usually the 4th or 5th from vadi), anuvadi (attendants), vivadi (dissonant, sparingly used in some ragas).
- Varjit = an omitted swara. Jati: audav (5), shadav (6), sampurna (7), taken separately for aroha and avaroha.
- Pakad = identifying catch-phrase; chalan = characteristic movement.
Tala terms
Matra (beat), vibhag (bar), tali (clap), khali (unstressed, marked 0), sam (first matra, the resolution point), avartan (cycle), laya (tempo), theka (drum syllable pattern).
Worked example
"State the varjit swaras and jati of Bhupali." Aroha: S R G P D S'; avaroha: S' D P G R S. Ma and Ni never appear → audav-audav (5-5). Vadi Ga, samvadi Dha, thaat Kalyan. Note the trap: because the thaat is Kalyan, candidates wrongly insert tivra Ma into the raga. A thaat lists the notes available to a family; the raga chooses among them.
Marks-losing traps
Treating vadi and samvadi as synonyms; calling khali a silent beat (it is sounded, only unstressed); claiming Sa can be komal; writing audav for the aroha but forgetting the avaroha may differ.