SSC
Ustad Hassu Khan was one of the founders of which gharana?
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Answer: Option D — Gwalior gharana
Detailed Solution
Explanation
Ustad Hassu Khan, along with his brothers Haddu Khan and Nathu Khan, is regarded as one of the founders of the Gwalior gharana, the oldest gharana of khayal singing in Hindustani classical music.
The brothers lived in the first half of the 19th century and were court musicians of the Scindia rulers of Gwalior. They learnt music from their grandfather Nathan Pir Bakhsh and their father Qadir Bakhsh, and they developed the style of khayal singing that became the foundation of the Gwalior gharana. Khayal is the most popular form of Hindustani vocal music today. It developed from older forms such as dhrupad and is more flexible and ornamental, allowing the singer to improvise. The Gwalior gharana is known for its simple, clear and balanced style, its emphasis on the composition (bandish), its straightforward presentation of the raga, and its powerful, open-throated singing. Because it is the oldest khayal gharana, many later gharanas, such as Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli and Kirana, were influenced by it.
Famous musicians of the Gwalior gharana include Haddu Khan, Hassu Khan, Nathu Khan, Bade Mohammad Khan, Rahimat Khan, Balakrishnabuva Ichalkaranjikar, Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, Omkarnath Thakur, D.V. Paluskar and Malini Rajurkar. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, a singer of the Gwalior tradition, founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901 and composed the tune of "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram". Gwalior is also linked with Tansen, whose tomb is there, and with Raja Man Singh Tomar, the great patron of dhrupad.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Kirana gharana was founded by Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan.
- ✗Patiala gharana is linked with Bade Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Baksh Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
- ✗Mewati gharana is linked with Pandit Jasraj.
💡 Exam tip
The Gwalior gharana is the oldest khayal gharana, founded by Hassu Khan, Haddu Khan and Nathu Khan.💬 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.