Life Sketches and Contributions of Instrumentalists and Musicologists
Life-sketch questions are marked on dates, gharana, instrument or field, guru, and concrete contribution - not on adjectives. Learn two musicologists and three instrumentalists in detail.
Musicologists
- V. N. Bhatkhande (1860–1936): lawyer turned musicologist; toured India collecting compositions; formulated the ten-thaat system; wrote Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati; helped found the Marris College of Music, Lucknow (1926).
- V. D. Paluskar (1872–1931): founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901 (later Bombay); devised a notation with fixed Sa = C; opened music teaching to a wider public.
Instrumentalists
- Allauddin Khan (c. 1881–1972): sarod; trained under Wazir Khan of Rampur; founded the Maihar gharana; taught Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Annapurna Devi and Pannalal Ghosh.
- Ravi Shankar (1920–2012): sitar; international tours and collaborations; Bharat Ratna 1999.
- Vilayat Khan (1928–2004): sitar, Imdadkhani gharana; developed the gayaki ang and the Vilayatkhani baaj.
- Bismillah Khan (1916–2006): shehnai; Bharat Ratna 2001; played at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947.
Worked example - linking a musician to a tradition If asked about Allauddin Khan's contribution, do not stop at 'great sarod player'. Say: he trained in the Senia tradition, combined dhrupad-based alaap with new instrumental technique, founded the Maihar gharana, and produced students who carried sarod and sitar worldwide. Reasoning: the mark scheme rewards lineage plus institutional impact.
Traps: mixing up Vilayat Khan's and Ravi Shankar's gharanas; giving Paluskar's school as Lucknow; attributing the ten-thaat system to Paluskar; inventing dates.