SSC
Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan was an exponent of which instrument?
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Answer: Option B — Shehnai
Detailed Solution
Explanation
Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan was one of the leading shehnai players of Hindustani classical music. He belonged to the Benaras gharana, the same tradition as the great Ustad Bismillah Khan, and was based in Kolkata.
Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan was born into a family of shehnai players, and he learnt the instrument from his father. He became known for his sweet and melodious tone, his mastery of ragas and his ability to play the shehnai with the depth and subtlety of classical music. He performed in concerts and festivals in India and abroad and was a regular artist on All India Radio. He also trained many students, helping to keep the shehnai tradition alive in a time when the number of shehnai players was falling. He received several honours for his contribution to music.
The shehnai is a double-reed wind instrument of North India, made of a wooden tube that widens towards the end, with a metal bell and finger holes. It is considered an auspicious instrument (mangal vadya) and is traditionally played at weddings, temple ceremonies and other happy occasions. Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) raised the shehnai to the classical concert stage and received the Bharat Ratna in 2001. The shehnai is a sushira vadya (wind instrument) in the Indian system of classification. Its South Indian counterpart is the nadaswaram.
Other famous shehnai players include Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Anant Lal, Pandit Daya Shankar, Pandit S. Ballesh and Bageshwari Qamar, who is known as one of the first women shehnai players in India.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sitar is linked with Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan.
- ✗Tabla is linked with Zakir Hussain.
- ✗Sarangi is linked with Ram Narayan.
💡 Exam tip
Link the shehnai with Bismillah Khan and players such as Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, S. Ballesh and Bageshwari Qamar.💬 Discussions on this question
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Music & Musical Instruments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Music & Musical Instruments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers Indian classical music, its two main traditions (Hindustani and Carnatic), gharanas, ragas and talas, folk music styles, and the musical instruments of India along with the artists who are famous for playing them. It also includes the four classes of instruments: string (tata), wind (sushira), percussion (avanaddha) and solid (ghana). Exam questions usually pair an instrument with its maestro, such as the sitar with Pandit Ravi Shankar, the shehnai with Ustad Bismillah Khan or the santoor with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Other common questions ask about the origin of a gharana, the instrument a folk style uses, or the class an instrument belongs to. Making a two-column list of instruments and artists is the quickest way to revise. Practise the music and musical instruments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.