Last Updated on February 6, 2023 by Admin
Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 2 The Sound of Music By Deborah Cowley.
Thinking about The Text (Part-1)
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It
Q:1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
Ans: Evelyn was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Q:2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?
Ans: Her deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old and it was confirmed when she was eleven.
Q:3 Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?
Ans: Percussionist Ron Forbes helped Evelyn to continue with music. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He asked her not to listen the notes through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner.
Q:4 Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.
Ans: Evelyn, with a hectic international schedule, gives solo performances at regular concerts. Apart from these, she gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians because of which she is a shining inspiration for deaf children.
Q:1. How does Evelyn hear music?
Ans: Evelyn hears music by sensing the notes in different parts of her body. Initially, she was encouraged by Percussionist Ron Forbes, who tuned two drums to different notes and asked her to sense the sound without using her ears. She realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down. This exercise helped Evelyn to open up her mind and body to sounds and vibrations.
When she plays the xylophone, she is able to sense the sound passing up the stick and into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the echoes flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removes her shoes so that the vibrations can pass through her bare feet.
The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan (Part-2)
Answer these questions in 30 – 40 words.
Q1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?
Ans: Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the musical instrument called pungi in the royal residence because its sound was shrill and unpleasant.
Q 2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
Ans: Shehnai has a better tonal quality than pungi. It is a natural hollow stem pipe with holes on its body and is longer and broader than the pungi. Shehnai is, in a way, an improvement upon the pungi.
Q 3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?
Ans: Traditionally, the shehnai was part of the naubat or traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts. Those days, it was played only in temples and weddings. Bismillah Khan changed this by bringing it onto the classical stage.
Q 4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
Ans: With the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938, Bismillah Khan got his big break. Soon he became an often heard shehnai player on radio.
Q 5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?
Ans: On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the Raag Kaafi on his shehnai from the Red Fort. The event was historical because it was on the occasion of India’s Independence from British Rule.
Q 6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?
Ans: Bismillah Khan refused one of his student’s request to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he would not live away from Hindustan, specifically, from Benaras, the River Ganga and Dumraon.
Q 7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.
Ans: In his initial years, Bismillah used to practice in the temples of Benaras and on the banks of River Ganga. Later, his love for India and Bernaras made him turn down the offer to head a shehnai school in the U.S.A.
I hope that you would have enjoyed NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter-2 The Sound of Music By Deborah Cowley. If you have any query regarding this chapter, please feel free to get in touch with me through comment box or social media and I assure you to resolve all your queries related to the topic as soon as possible.