Class 9 English Chapter 2 Important Question Answers - The Sound of Music

Part I- Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It

Evelyn could sense music through her body. While playing on the xylophone, she could sense music through her fingertips and would learn against drums to sense. On the wooden floors, she used to remove her shoes and sense music through her feet moving of the legs.

Q1. How did Evelyn Glennie fight with her physical disability?

• Evelyn Glennie was a very brave girl. She learned to open her body and mind to the sounds and vibrations. She used to feel as if the music was flowing through her body. So she joined an orchestra and later the Royal Academy of Music. 
• She did not want to be deprived of the joy of music that made her happy. She later even gave solo performances on stage in many countries and became famous.

Q2. In spite of her towering success, Evelyn Glennie does not accept any hint of heroic achievement. Explain?

• Evelyn Glennie had a hearing loss and was discouraged by most of the teachers but she did not give up. Ron Forbes guided her to listen through her body, not ears. 
• Eventually, Evelyn learned to open her body and mind to sound and vibrations. She scored the highest marks in the history of the Royal Academy of Music. She also captured many top awards and brought percussion to the front of the orchestra. 
• She has given pleasure to millions and in spite of this towering success, she does, not accept any hint of heroic achievement and is a very simple person.

Q3. Evelyn’s determination to overcome her disability has made her a source of inspiration for deaf children. Comment?

• When Evelyn became deaf, she was determined to lead a normal life. She was encouraged by her percussion teacher. She learned to sense music through different parts of the body and opened her mind and body to vibrations. 
• She could feel higher drum from the waist up and xylophone music through her fingertips. She used to remove her shoes on the wooden floors. 
• She was the master of a thousand instruments and most sought after as a multi-percussionist.

Q4. How is Evelyn Glennie helping others with her popularity and skill?

• In spite of Evelyn’s deafness, she joined the prestigious Royal Academy of Music and won the “Soloist of the Year” award. Evelyn used to practice for hours learning languages such as Japanese and French. 
• She earned a lot but was kind at heart. She used to give free performances in prisons and hospitals and also proved a personal example of tireless hard work and firm determination.

Q5. How did Evelyn succeed in pursuing her interest in music?

• Evelyn decided not to give up. It was Ron Forbes who recognized her potential and supported her. He advised her not to listen through her ears but to open her body and mind to the vibrations. 
• She mastered the art of interpreting different vibrations of sound on her body to different notes. She could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower one from the waist down. 
• After the practice, she could sense music in different parts of her body. And by this, Evelyn succeeded in pursuing her interest in music.

Value-Based Question 

Q1. “A problem is only as big as we make it.” This thought has been very beautifully brought out in the lesson. Discuss? 

• Evelyn Glennie is profoundly deaf and cannot hear a word. Thus, she overcame this difficulty and learnt to listen music from her body. She not only scored highest marks in the history of the Royal Academy of Music but also became a renowned musician. 
• She is an idol for a lot of people and a source of inspiration for them. Her story tells us that no problem is so great that it cannot be overcome.

Part II- The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan

• Teachers craft us to become better individuals both personally and professionally. Ron Forbes understood Evelyn’s passion for music. He taught Evelyn the nuances of hearing music not through her ears but through her body. He taught her to feel the vibrations in her hands and parts of her legs to get the pitch. So, he crafted her to be more musical and confident.
• Bismillah Khan’s teacher and mentor was his maternal uncle Ali Bux. Bismillah used to be transfixed when Ali Bux used to play Shehnai. As a child, Bismillah used to accompany his material uncle to Vishnu Temple of Benares where Ali Bux was employed to play Shehnai. Bismillah picked up the finer nuances of Shehnai and practiced for hours on the banks of river Ganga. He attained perfection only because of his uncle and mentor.

• Ustad Bismillah Khan was a Shehnai master of great national and international fame. He was a great musician. 
• Ali Bux, his maternal uncle perfected him in music. Shehnai was brought to the classical stage by Ustad Bismillah Khan. He practiced for hours and worked very hard to attain perfection. 
• It was his melodious music that made him the first Indian to greet tire independent India. Ustad Bismillah Khan created many new rags. He was given many awards and he even received the “Bharat Ratna”. 
• He was a true patriot who declined many offers to settle abroad. He was a true artist but a simple man. He had great regard for Hindustani Classical Music.

• Bismillah was fascinated by watching his uncle practice the Shehnai when he was only three. He was deeply fascinated by the music of Shehnai.
• Soon Bismillah started accompanying his uncle Ali Bux, to the Vishnu Temple of Benares where Bux was employed to play Shehnai. Bismillah picked up the finer nuances of Shehnai and practiced for hours on the banks of river Ganga. 

• The themes of his music are deeply affected by the sounds of flowing water of the Ganga. At the age of 14, Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad music conference where Ustad Fayaz Khan patted his shoulder which inspired and encouraged him to work harder.

• Bismillah Khan was not only renowned in India also internationally. 
• He promoted Shehnai to international levels of participating in the world exposition, Cannes Art Festival and Osaka Trade Fair. 
• He became the first Indian to be invited to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Central Hall in the United States of America. 
• So well known did he become internationally that an auditorium in Tehran was named after him, “Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan.”

• Bismillah Khan was exceedingly fond of Benares and Dumraon. They were the most wonderful towns of the world for him.
• The students promised to recreate the atmosphere of Benares, but he asked if they would be able to transport River Ganga as well. Whenever he was in a foreign country he yearned for Hindustan.
• In Mumbai also he thought of only Benares and the holy Ganga. Thus, he refused to start a Shehnai School in the U.S.A.

Value-Based Question