Music questions come in three shapes — an instrument is named and you supply the exponent, an instrument is named and you supply its category, or a gharana is named and you supply the art form. All three are fixed lists that never change. This post gives the four-fold classification of instruments, the instrument-to-exponent pairs, the gharanas, and 15 previous year questions.
Key Points (Quick Revision)
- Instruments are classified into four groups — Tat, Sushir, Avanaddha and Ghan
- Sitar — Ravi Shankar · Sarod — Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan
- Shehnai — Bismillah Khan · Santoor — Shivkumar Sharma
- Flute — Hariprasad Chaurasia · Mandolin — U. Srinivas
- Gharana means a school of style; Gwalior is regarded as the oldest Khayal gharana
1. The four categories of Indian instruments
Classification questions are asked directly, and the four names come from the ancient treatises rather than from Western categories.
| Category | How sound is produced | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Tat Vadya | Strings | Sitar, Sarod, Veena, Santoor, Sarangi, Tanpura, Violin, Rudra Veena |
| Sushir Vadya | Wind, blown air | Flute or Bansuri, Shehnai, Nadaswaram, Pungi, Harmonium |
| Avanaddha Vadya | Stretched membrane, percussion | Tabla, Pakhawaj, Mridangam, Dholak, Damru, Khol |
| Ghan Vadya | Solid body struck, no membrane or string | Manjira, Ghatam, Jaltarang, Ghungroo, Khartal |
Two entries in this table are the ones papers use to catch candidates. Santoor is a string instrument, played by striking the strings with mallets, and it belongs to Tat Vadya rather than to percussion. And Ghatam is Ghan Vadya — it is a clay pot with no membrane, which is exactly why it is not grouped with the drums.
Harmonium sits in Sushir Vadya because it works on air blown through reeds, despite having a keyboard. That too appears as a question.
2. Instruments and their famous exponents
| Instrument | Associated with |
|---|---|
| Sitar | Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee |
| Sarod | Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan |
| Shehnai | Bismillah Khan |
| Flute or Bansuri | Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghosh |
| Santoor | Shivkumar Sharma |
| Tabla | Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj |
| Sarangi | Ram Narayan, Sultan Khan |
| Veena | S. Balachander, Chitti Babu |
| Mandolin | U. Srinivas |
| Violin, Carnatic | L. Subramaniam, M. S. Gopalakrishnan |
| Mridangam | Palghat Mani Iyer |
| Ghatam | Vikku Vinayakram |
| Rudra Veena | Asad Ali Khan |
| Nadaswaram | Sheikh Chinna Moulana |
Five pairs carry most of the marks: Bismillah Khan with shehnai, Shivkumar Sharma with santoor, Hariprasad Chaurasia with flute, Ravi Shankar with sitar and Zakir Hussain with tabla. Fix those five and the rest are bonus.
Bismillah Khan and Ravi Shankar both received the Bharat Ratna, which is asked as a separate question in awards papers, so the pairing earns marks twice.
3. Gharanas of Hindustani music
A gharana is a school of style, usually named after the place where it took shape and carried forward through a lineage of teachers. Questions ask for the place, the art form, or a famous name attached to it.
| Gharana | Art form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gwalior | Khayal vocal | Regarded as the oldest Khayal gharana |
| Kirana | Khayal vocal | Abdul Karim Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal |
| Jaipur-Atrauli | Khayal vocal | Alladiya Khan, Kishori Amonkar |
| Agra | Khayal vocal | Known for a forceful, rhythmic style |
| Patiala | Khayal and thumri | Bade Ghulam Ali Khan |
| Rampur-Sahaswan | Khayal vocal | — |
| Banaras | Thumri and tabla | Girija Devi in thumri |
| Maihar | Instrumental | Allauddin Khan; Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan came from this lineage |
| Lucknow | Kathak | Birju Maharaj; expressive and graceful style |
| Jaipur | Kathak | Known for footwork and speed |
| Banaras | Kathak | The third major Kathak gharana |
Two clusters are asked repeatedly. Gwalior as the oldest Khayal gharana, and the three Kathak gharanas — Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras, which are asked as a set. Note that Banaras appears in both lists, once for thumri and tabla and once for Kathak, so read whether the question is about music or dance.
Maihar gharana is worth its own line: Allauddin Khan taught both Ravi Shankar and his own son Ali Akbar Khan, which links the gharana question to the instrument-exponent table above.
4. Forms of Indian classical music
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Hindustani and Carnatic | The two systems of Indian classical music, northern and southern |
| Raga | The melodic framework of a composition |
| Tala | The rhythmic cycle |
| Dhrupad | The oldest surviving form of Hindustani vocal music, austere in style |
| Khayal | The dominant Hindustani vocal form today, allowing more improvisation |
| Thumri | Lighter, romantic and devotional vocal form |
| Tarana | Fast vocal form using rhythmic syllables |
| Ghazal and Qawwali | Poetic and Sufi devotional forms |
| Kriti | The principal composition form in Carnatic music |
| Trinity of Carnatic music | Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri |
The Carnatic trinity is asked as a set and is the single most reliable question in this section. Dhrupad against Khayal is the other standard pairing — Dhrupad is older and more austere, Khayal is later and more improvisational.
Tansen attaches to this topic in several ways: he was one of the nine jewels at Akbar's court, he is associated with Dhrupad, and the Tansen Samaroh is held at Gwalior, which links back to the gharana table.
5. Previous year questions
- Bismillah Khan was associated with which instrument? — Shehnai
- Shivkumar Sharma is associated with which instrument? — Santoor
- Hariprasad Chaurasia is known for playing what? — Flute or Bansuri
- Zakir Hussain is associated with which instrument? — Tabla
- U. Srinivas was known for playing which instrument? — Mandolin
- Vikku Vinayakram is associated with which instrument? — Ghatam
- Santoor belongs to which category of instruments? — Tat Vadya, string
- Ghatam belongs to which category? — Ghan Vadya
- Instruments played by blowing air fall in which category? — Sushir Vadya
- Which is regarded as the oldest gharana of Khayal singing? — Gwalior
- Bade Ghulam Ali Khan belonged to which gharana? — Patiala
- Bhimsen Joshi belonged to which gharana? — Kirana
- Which are the three main gharanas of Kathak? — Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras
- Who are the trinity of Carnatic music? — Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri
- Which is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani vocal music? — Dhrupad
6. How to revise this topic
Revise the exponents from instrument to person, because that is the direction the question runs. Only about fourteen pairs matter, and five of them account for most of the questions.
Then take the four-fold classification separately, and learn it through the two traps rather than through the whole list — Santoor is a string instrument and Ghatam is a solid-body instrument. If those two are secure, the rest of the classification is intuitive.
Keep the gharanas on their own card, split into vocal and Kathak, and note that Banaras appears in both. Finally, attach Tansen to Gwalior and Dhrupad, since he links this topic to medieval history and to the Akbar questions.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
Which category does the Santoor belong to?
Tat Vadya, the string category. It is played by striking the strings with light mallets, which leads candidates to place it with percussion. That misclassification is exactly what the question is testing.
What are the four categories of Indian musical instruments?
Tat Vadya for strings, Sushir Vadya for wind, Avanaddha Vadya for membrane percussion, and Ghan Vadya for solid-body instruments struck without a membrane or string. The names come from the ancient treatises rather than from Western classification.
Which is the oldest gharana of Khayal singing?
The Gwalior gharana. The Kirana, Jaipur-Atrauli, Agra, Patiala and Rampur-Sahaswan gharanas are the other major Khayal schools, each associated with well-known exponents.
Who are the trinity of Carnatic music?
Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri. They are asked as a set, and it is one of the most reliable questions in the whole culture section.
What is the difference between Dhrupad and Khayal?
Dhrupad is the older and more austere form of Hindustani vocal music, with a formal structure and limited improvisation. Khayal developed later, allows far more improvisation, and is the dominant vocal form today.
For more Static GK topics in simple language, see our Classical Dances of India and Theatre Forms of India posts, or browse the Static GK section. Preparing for a specific exam? Start with the SSC CGL guide or join the 100 Hour GS Course.