The Sound of Music – NCERT Solutions

Q. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?

Ans. Evelyn was not even seventeen when she went to the Royal Academy of Music.

Q. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

Ans. Her deafness was noticed when she was eight years old. It was confirmed by the time she was eleven.

Q. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?

Ans. Ron Forbes helped her to continue with music. He spotted her potential and said, “Don’t listen through your ears, try to sense it some other way.” He began by turning two large drums to different notes.

Q. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

Ans. Evelyn performed free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She made music her life and performed many regular concerts.

Q. How does Evelyn hear music?

Ans. Evelyn became deaf by the time she was eleven. But she did not give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. Ron Forbes the percussionist spotted her potential. He asked her not to listen through ears but try to sense it some other way. She realized she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower one from the waist down. Forbes repeated the exercise and soon Evelyn discovered that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body. She learnt to open her body and mind to sounds and vibrations. She herself explained. “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she played the xylophone, she could sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By learning against the drums, she could feel the resonances flowing into her body. She used to remove her shoes so that the vibrations pass through her bare feet and up her legs.

Q. Tick the right answer:

1. The (shehnai, pungi) was a ‘reeded noisemaker’.
2. (Bismillah Khan, A barber, Ali Bux) transformed the pungi into a shehnai.
3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were (barbers, professional musicians).
4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from (Ali Bux, Paigambar Bux. Ustad Faiyaaz Khan).
5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to (Afghanistan, U.S.A., Canada).

Answer

1. Pungi
2. Ali Bux
3. Professional musicians
4. Ali Bux
5. Afghanistan

Q. Find the words in the text which show Ustad Bismillah Khan’s feelings about the items listed below. Then mark a tick in the correct column. Discuss your answers in class.

Bismillah Khan’s Feelings about	Positive	Negative	Neutral
1. teaching children music
2. the film world
3. migrating to the U.S.A
4. playing at temples
5. getting the Bharat Ratna
6. the banks of the Ganga
7. leaving Benaras and Dumraon

Answer

Bismillah Khan’s Feelings about	Positive	Negative	Neutral
1. teaching children music	✓
2. the film world			✓
3. migrating to the U.S.A			✓
4. playing at temples		✓
5. getting the Bharat Ratna	✓
6. the banks of the Ganga	✓
7. leaving Benaras and Dumraon		✓

Q. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?

Ans. Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi because it had a shrill unpleasant sound.

Q. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?

Ans. A shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow that is longer and broader than a pungi. It has seven holes on the body of the pipe.

Q. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?

Ans. The shehnai was played traditionally in the Vishnu temple of Varanasi. His maternal uncle used to play this instrument. He invented ragas that were earlier considered to be beyond the range of the shehnai.

Q. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?

Ans. Bismillah Khan got his big break with the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938.

Q. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?

Ans. Bismillah Khan played the shehnai on 15 August, 1947 at Red Fort. He was the first Indian to greet the nation with his musical instrument. He poured his heart out into Raag Kafito an audience which included Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Q. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?

Ans. He refused to start a shehnai school in the USA because the nation did not have the holy river Ganga. It was not possible to transport Ganga from India to the USA. That was why whenever he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning to see Hindustan.

Q. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.

Ans. Bismillah Khan loves India and Banaras from the bottom of his heart. He says that he misses the holy Ganga and India when he goes abroad. While in Mumbai, he thinks of only Benaras and the holy river.

Q. Complete the following sentences. Beginning with a to-verb, try to answer the questions in brackets.

1. The school sports team hopes ___________.(What does it hope to do?)
2. We all want __________. (What do we all want to do?)
3. They advised the hearing-impaired child’s mother ___________. (What did they advise her to do?)
4. The authorities permitted us to __________. (What did the authorities permit us to do?)
5. A musician decided to ____________. (What did the musician decide to do?)

Answer

1. to win
2. to succeed
3. to take her to a specialist
4. play
5. play a new Raaga

Q. From the text on Bismillah Khan, find the words and phrases that match these definitions and write them down. The number of the paragraph where you will find the words/phrases has been given for you in brackets.

1. the home of royal people (1) __________.
2. the state of being alone (5) _____________.
3. a part which is absolutely necessary (2) __________.
4. to do something not done before (5) __________.
5. without much effort (13) ___________.
6. quickly and in large quantities (9) ___________ and ____________ .

Answer

1. royal residence
2. solitude
3. an indispensable component
4. improvise
5. effortlessly
6. thick; fast

Q. Tick the right answer.

1. When something is revived, it (remains dead / lives again).
2. When a government bans something, it wants it (stopped / started).
3. When something is considered auspicious (welcome it / avoid it).
4. When we take to something, we find it (boring / interesting).
5. When you appreciate something, you (find it good and useful / find it of no use).
6. When you replicate something, you do it (for the first time / for the second time).
7. When we come to terms with something, it is (still upsetting / no longer upsetting).

Answer

1. lives again
2. stopped
3. welcome it
4. interesting
5. find it good and useful
6. for the second time
7. no longer upsetting

Q. Consult your dictionary and complete the following table. The first one has been done for you.

Objective	Only before noun	Not before noun	Both before and after the verb be
indispensable
impressed
afraid
outdoor
paternal
countless
priceless

Answer

Objective	Only before noun	Not before noun	Both before and after the verb be
indispensable			✓
impressed		✓	✓
afraid		✓	✓
outdoor	✓
paternal	✓
countless	✓
priceless	✓		✓