KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music study guide
KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music examination is the Class 10 public examination in Hindustani (North Indian classical) music offered under the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board, usually taken alongside the standard SSLC subjects by students who have studied music as an elective. It serves school candidates who learn vocal or instrumental Hindustani music, and it rewards both book knowledge and trained performance: the assessment combines a written paper on theory with a practical examination in which you sing or play before examiners. The KSEAB SSLC Hindustani Music study guide has 7 sections and about 2,193 words.
01Svar, Raga and Scale Fundamentals
Domain 1 tests your command of svara vocabulary and your ability to separate a thaat (parent scale) from a raga (performed melody). A saptak holds twelve svaras: seven shuddha (S R G M P D N) and five vikrit - komal Re, Ga, Dha, Ni and tivra Ma.
310 words, about 2 min02Notation Systems and Writing of Compositions (Svaralipi)
Domain 2 checks whether you can read and write svaralipi in the Bhatkhande or Paluskar systems and set a composition correctly against a tala. Svaras are written in Devanagari.
312 words, about 2 min03Tala System and Rhythmic Notation
Domain 3 tests tala vocabulary and your ability to place tali, khali and sam correctly in the prescribed talas. Matra is one beat; vibhag is a bar of matras; tali is a clapped vibhag; khali is a waved, empty vibhag; sam is matra 1 and the point of resolution; avartan is one full cycle.
315 words, about 2 min04Raga Study: Prescribed Ragas, Aroha-Avaroha and Characteristics
Domain 4 asks you to identify prescribed ragas from aroha-avaroha, pakad, vadi-samvadi, thaat and samay, and to spot the single note that separates two similar ragas. Yaman: S R G M^ P D N S / S N D P M^ G R S; Kalyan; vadi Ga, samvadi Ni; evening.
388 words, about 2 min05Compositions: Bandish, Tarana and Song Forms
Domain 5 tests whether you can name the parts of a composition, distinguish a bandish from a tarana, and match a form to its language and tala. A bandish is a fixed, composed song set in a raga and tala.
306 words, about 2 min06Practical Performance: Vocal or Instrumental
Domain 6 is the performance paper: the examiner listens for correct svara, steady laya, clean sam and a presentation that follows the raga's grammar. Tune the tanpura to Sa–Pa–Sa–Sa (or Sa–Ma–Sa–Sa) and settle your pitch before the first note.
273 words, about 1 min07History of Hindustani Music and Contribution of Musicians
Domain 7 covers the historical arc of Hindustani music and the musicians the syllabus credits with shaping it. Sama chant and the Natyashastra of Bharata provide the early theoretical base; Sarngadeva's Sangeet Ratnakara (13th century) codifies raga and tala.
289 words, about 1 min