Musical Instruments – Class 8 Arts Chapter 6 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 8ArtsChapter 6NCERT book: Kriti - Arts Class 8

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 6 of the NCERT Class 8 Arts book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

🎧 Listen to the content

Chapter 6: Musical Instruments (Music)

Introduction

Why does a tabla sound different from a flute? This chapter shows that music is both an art and a science. You learn how sound is produced, how instruments are made, and meet great musicians who became "synonymous with their instruments".

Key Ideas

1. The science of sound

Vibration: sound is produced by vibrations. A vibrating object creates sound waves that travel through a medium (air, water, etc.) to reach our ears — e.g. a ringing bell makes air molecules vibrate until the sound reaches a listener.

Resonance: sound is amplified (made louder) through resonance. In a percussion instrument, the hollow body or cavity resonates, amplifying the sound.

Frequency: the number of vibrations per second. Faster vibration → higher frequency → higher pitch. Example: tightening the tuning peg of a sitar increases the string's tension and frequency, giving a higher pitch. A bat's sound is high frequency; an elephant's is low frequency.

Timbre: the 'tone' or 'colour' of a sound. It varies with the material of the instrument, its construction and the playing technique — which is why different instruments sound different even on the same note.

2. Making musical instruments

Instrument makers are essential for the survival of traditional art forms, and they use scientific principles. For a drum:

The maker shapes a log of wood into a cylinder.

The head of the drum is created and fixed onto the wooden body.

Straps are tied to help with tuning.

3. Musicians and their instruments

Annapurna Devi (1927–2018), born Roshanara Khan, daughter of Baba Allauddin Khan of the Maihar Gharana. She played the surbahar, a 'bass sitar' with deep, resonant tones and a lower range suited to elaborate alaap. It was uncommon for women because it is physically demanding. She did not perform publicly, but her students Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute) and Nikhil Banerjee (sitar) became acclaimed musicians.

Pannalal Ghosh (1911–1960) — his name became synonymous with the bansuri. A disciple of Baba Allauddin Khan, he popularised the flute as a concert instrument in Hindustani classical music. He experimented with metal and different woods, chose bamboo, and settled on a flute 32 inches long. He was the first to introduce the seven-hole flute. His debut film as an independent composer was Sneh Bandhan (1940), and he jointly scored Aandhiyan (1952) with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar (born 1920) — veena. He began learning from his father Venkatesh Iyengar at age 6, later became a disciple of Veena Venkatagiriyappa, and developed the style called the Mysore Bani. He grew up in Gaddavalli village, Hassan district, Karnataka, became Asthana Vidvan (royal court musician) of Mysore very young, and was Music Director at All India Radio, Bangalore. Honours include an Honorary Doctorate (University of Mysore, 1975), Padma Bhushan (1983) and Sangeetha Kalanidhi (1984).

4. Instruments across India (Activity 6.2 — map)

Halge — Gujarat and Karnataka

Udukkai — Tamil Nadu

Madal/Mandar — Bihar and Jharkhand

Nagara — Rajasthan

Pung — Manipur

Khol — East and North-East India

Tumbaknaari — Jammu and Kashmir

Panchmukh vadya — Haryana and southern states

Chenda — Kerala

Anand Lahiri / Gopi Jantra / Gapchu — Assam, West Bengal, Odisha

Activities in the Chapter

6.1 Word search: find Bansuri, Clarinet, Dholak, Ektara, Flute, Ghatam, Guitar, Morsing, Sarod, Saxophone, Shehnai, Sitar.

6.2 Map the instrument: mark the percussion instruments above on an outline map of India.

6.3 Crossword: clues include a hardwood string instrument with more than a hundred strings, the percussion instrument used in dhrupad, the instrument of Ustad Zakir Hussain, the string instrument of Pandit Ravi Shankar, a clay-pot percussion instrument, a keyboard wind instrument with reeds, a bowl-and-water percussion set, and the wind instrument of Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Teachers may invite a local instrument maker for a live demonstration.

Key Terms

Vibration — back-and-forth movement producing sound (कम्पन)

Medium — what sound travels through (माध्यम)

Resonance — amplification by a hollow body (अनुनाद)

Frequency — vibrations per second (आवृत्ति)

Pitch — highness or lowness of a sound (तारत्व)

Timbre — tone colour of a sound (ध्वनि-गुण)

Surbahar — bass sitar (सुरबहार)

Bansuri — bamboo flute (बाँसुरी)

Veena — plucked string instrument (वीणा)

Mysore Bani — Doraiswamy Iyengar's veena style (मैसूर बानी)

Gharana — musical lineage/school (घराना)

Asthana Vidvan — royal court musician (आस्थान विद्वान)

Connect to Your Life

Pluck a rubber band stretched loosely and then tightly — you are changing frequency and pitch just like a sitar tuning peg. Knock on a hollow box and a solid block to hear resonance.

Common Mistakes

Saying loudness and pitch are the same — pitch depends on frequency; resonance makes sound louder.

Thinking timbre depends only on the player — it also depends on material and construction.

Mixing up Annapurna Devi's instrument (surbahar, not sitar) or Pannalal Ghosh's contribution (seven-hole flute, 32 inches, bamboo).

Let's Reflect

Is music both an art and a science? Give examples from this chapter.

Why are instrument makers important for traditional art forms?

Self-check with the chapter's outcomes: awareness of instruments and their origin, the science of sound, and the lives of legendary musicians.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Sound is produced by vibrations that travel as waves through a medium
✓Resonance amplifies sound; frequency decides pitch; timbre is the tone colour
✓Instrument makers apply scientific principles and keep traditions alive
✓Annapurna Devi, Pannalal Ghosh and Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar shaped Indian music through their instruments
✓Percussion instruments come from every region of India, e.g. Chenda (Kerala), Pung (Manipur), Nagara (Rajasthan)

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Demonstrate pitch by tightening and loosening a string or rubber band
→Compare a hollow and a solid object when struck to show resonance
→Play the same note on two instruments so pupils hear timbre
→Invite a local instrument maker for a live demonstration, as the book suggests
→Use an outline map of India for Activity 6.2 and let pupils colour regions
→Assign each group one musician (Annapurna Devi, Pannalal Ghosh, Doraiswamy Iyengar) for a short presentation
→Turn the word search and crossword into a timed team game

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the student explain vibration, resonance, frequency and timbre with an example?
Can the student describe how a drum is made?
Can the student match three musicians to their instruments and one achievement each?
Can the student place five regional percussion instruments on the map of India?

Ask the AI tutor about Class 8 Arts Chapter 6

Get question answers, important questions, a quick MCQ quiz or a simple explanation of “Musical Instruments”. Free — sign in with Google.

How the AI tutor works →

👩‍🏫 Class 8 Arts classes near you — online or at home

Prefer a real teacher? TalentJR teachers take live online classes anywhere in India and visit homes in selected cities. Tell us what you need and our team will call you with timings and fees.

Live online classesSmall groups or 1:1 with a teacher, from home, any city.
Teacher at homeA TalentJR teacher visits your home (selected cities).
At a centreClasses at a TalentJR partner centre near you, where available.

Keep learning

← Previous: Chapter 5Discovering the Elements of Music Next: Chapter 7 →Indian Classical Music