The Sound of Music Class 9 Worksheet English Chapter 1

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1: Where was the Shehnai played traditionally?
(a) In wedding ceremonies
(b) In temples
(c) Auspicious ceremonies
(d) All of these
Ans: (d)

Q2: Who banned pungi from the royal residence?
(a) Jahangir
(b) Emperor Akbar
(c) Shah Jahan
(d) Emperor Aurangzeb
Ans: (d)
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical instrument called pungi in the royal residence because of its shrill and unpleasant sound.

Q3: Name India's highest civilian award that Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded in the year 2001.
(a) The Padmashri
(b) The Padma Bhushan
(c) The Bharat Ratna
(d) The Padma Vibhushan
Ans: (c)
Ustad Bismillah Khan was awarded the Bharat Ratna regarded to be India's highest civilian award in the year 2001.

Q4: From whom did Bismillah Khan learn shehnai?
(a) Akbar Ali
(b) Ali Bux
(c) Ghulam Ali
(d) Ali Ahmed
Ans: (b)
Bismillah Khan learnt from his maternal uncle Ali Bux who lived in Benaras.

Q5: What does the title of the text The Sound of Music denote?
(a) The sound of a particular instrument
(b) The sound of a song
(c) The life in music
(d) The sound of various musical instruments

Ans: (c)
The chapter is divided into two parts portray the development of two well-known, revered personalities within the world of music in the West as well as in the East, whose life developed and revolved solely around music which taught them the meaning of life.

Q6: When did Evelyn feel everything so dark in life?
(a) When she was advised to go to a deaf school
(b) When she performed poorly at the examination
(c) When she failed in her music audition
(d) When she was advised to use hearing aids and go to the deaf school
Ans: (d)

Q7: The instrument of shehnai was brought to the ________ stage in the history of Indian music by Ustad Bismillah Khan.
(a) classical
(b) western
(c) folk
(d) popular music
Ans: (a)
The shehnai was played only in temples and weddings in the Northern parts of India until Ustad Bismillah Khan extended it to the field of classical music, therefore giving it a space in the history of music in India.

Q8: What was the source of inspiration for Bismillah?
(a) Royal Palaces
(b) Red Fort
(c) Ganga Ghats
(d) None of these
Ans: (c)

Q9: When did Bismillah get his first big break as a Shehnai performer?
(a) 1945
(b) In 1938, when All India Radio came into existence
(c) 1987
(d) 1989
Ans: (b)

Q10: Who was Ali Bux?
(a) Bismillah’s grandfather
(b) Bismillah’s maternal uncle
(c) Bismillah’s friend
(d) Bismillah’s father
Ans:  (b)

Short Answer Questions

Q1: How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music? Why was she nervous on her way to the academy?
Ans: Evelyn was only seventeen years of age when she was selected to the Royal Academy of Music, London. She had come straight from a farmland in Scotland, she had not experienced much of the world. In addition, she was profoundly deaf and was going to a big institute like The Royal Academy of Music. Her nervousness was the result of her young age, her lack of exposure and her hearing disability.

Q2: Why was Evelyn Glennie going to face a bigger challenge at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London?
Ans: Evelyn Glennie was passionate about music, and would not let anything stand in her way, but studying music at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London was a challenge for her for two reasons: in the first place she was deaf and in the second, she was brought up on a Scottish farm. It was a challenge for a deaf village girl to compete with other singers who had perfect hearing.

Q3: Who advised Evelyn’s parents to take her to a specialist? Why?
Ans: Evelyn managed to hide her growing deafness from students and teachers for some time. However, by the time she was eleven years old, her performance in school deteriorated and her marks began to fall. It was then that the headmistress advised her parents to consul a specialist.

Q4: “Everything suddenly looked black”. Why did Evelyn feel this way?
Ans: When Evelyn was advised to use hearing aids and join a school for the deaf, she felt that her future was bleak and dark. She was depressed, as she felt she would not be able to lead a normal life nor pursue her interest in music.

Q5: How did Evelyn’s teachers respond when she expressed her desire to play a xylophone?
Ans: Evelyn had always loved music and despite her deafness, she expressed a desire to play the xylophone when she saw another girl playing it. However her teachers felt that she would not be able to play it because of her impaired hearing and they discouraged her from doing so.

Long Answer Questions

Q1: “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there,” remarks Evelyn Glennie. What does it reveal about her character?
Ans: Evelyn’s firm determination, her hard work and her focus on her goal are well revealed in her statement. These values of her character have enabled her to successfully overcome her handicap of deafness. Though she developed hearing impairment at the young age of eight, and became profoundly deaf by the age of twelve, she has never let it become a stumbling block in her way to success.

Firmly determined to pursue music and to lead a normal life, Evelyn did not let her disability stand in her way. The encouragement and training provided by percussionist Ron Forbes paved the way for her advancement and she stuck to the path with unshakeable self-confidence. It was this confidence and faith in herself that made her dare to audition for the Royal Academy of Music, London where she received the top most awards.

Evelyn is very hard working. She has worked hard, in fact much harder than the other classical musicians to bring percussion to the front stage in orchestra. She believes that no goal is unachievable for those who work hard and are focussed on the goal. With her earnest efforts, she moved from orchestra to solo performances and eventually became an internationally renowned percussionist owing to her command over a large number of instruments. Her courage and confidence to rise above her disability has made her a soprce of inspiration for all.

Q2: Evelyn is an inspiration to all. Justify.
Ans: Despite her disability, Evelyn rose to great heights as a musician. When talking of music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removes her shoes so that the vibrations pass through her bare feet and up her legs.

Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award. Says master percussionist James Blades, “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back something extraordinary. What we hear, she feels — far more deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so beautifully.”

Evelyn confesses that she is something of a workaholic. “I’ve just got to work … often harder than classical musicians. But the rewards are enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere that they cannot go.”

Evelyn Glennie has already accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra, and demonstrated that it can be very moving. She has given inspiration to those who are handicapped, people who look to her and say, ‘If she can do it, I can.’ And, not the least, she has given enormous pleasure to millions.

Q3: Evelyn did not succumb to her disability. Comment.
Ans: Evelyn Glennie was always interested in music. In fact, her mother realised she was having problems with her hearing when at the age of eight years Evelyn was to give a piano recital and she didn’t hear her name being called. By the age of twelve, Evelyn had lost her hearing. However, she did not let this stand in the way of her pursuing her passion music.

Though she was advised to wear a hearing aid and to attend a special school for the deaf, Evelyn did not give up. Despite facing discouragement from her teachers, she wanted to lead a normal life and play xylophone. However, Ron Forbes, a great percussionist, trained her to listen to the musical sounds and vibrations not through ears, but through other parts of her body.

He created two drums with different sounds to make her hear the higher beats from the upper part of her body and the lower beats from below her waist. The experiment was so effective that Evelyn opened her mind and body to the fine sounds of music. Evelyn now believes that music penetrates into her through every part – through her skin, cheekbones and even her hair.

When she plays xylophone, she feels that the sounds move from the stick into the tips of her fingers. When the drums are played, she can feel the resonant sounds pouring into her body. She takes off her foot wears on a wooden stage and the vibrations of the instruments pass from her bare feet into her legs. Thus, Evelyn has sensitized the different parts of her body to the different sounds of music.

Q4: Evelyn is very down-to-earth and does not succumb to hero worship. Comment.
Ans: Evelyn Glennie did not let her loss of hearing get her down. She was determined to make a career in music, and with the help of percussionist Ron Forbes, she trained herself to feel music through every part of her body. She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life. She auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy.

She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards. And for all this, Evelyn doesn’t accept any hint of heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-percussionist with a mastery of some thousand instruments, and hectic international schedule.

Reference Based Questions 

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

Q1: It was her first day at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and daunting enough for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But this aspiring musician faced a bigger challenge than most.

(a) Who is referred to as the ‘aspiring musician’?
Ans: Evelyn Glennie is referred to as the aspiring musician.

(b) How old was this ‘aspiring musician’ when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
Ans: She was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

(c) What was likely to ‘daunt any teenager’?
Ans: The first day in a great and renowned institute like The Royal Academy of Music, London was likely to daunt any teenager.

(d) Why did she face “a bigger challenge than most”?
Ans: She faced a ‘bigger challenge’ than most as she was profoundly deaf and was yet joining a music academy.

Q2: Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano.
“They called her name and she didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,” says Isabel Glennie.

(a) Who is Isabel Glennie?
Ans: Isabel Glennie is Evelyn Glennie’s mother.

(b) Why did Evelyn Glennie not move to play the piano?
Ans: Evelyn did not move because she had not heard her name being called.

(c) When was her deafness first noticed?
Ans: Evelyn’s deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old.

(d) How did Evelyn lose her hearing?
Ans: Evelyn’s hearing impairment happened as a result of gradual nerve damage.

Q3: They were advised that she should be fitted with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
(a) Who are ‘they’? By whom were they advised?
Ans: ‘They’ are the parents of Evelyn Glennie. They were advised by the specialist to whom Evelyn’s parents had taken her for a check-up.

(b) Who is ‘she’?
Ans: ‘She’ is Evelyn Glennie.

(c) What was the course of action recommended for her?
Ans: It was recommended that she should be provided with hearing aids in order to be able to hear and that she be sent to a school for the deaf.

(d) How had her mother realised that Evelyn was having problems with her hearing?
Ans: Evelyn’s mother realised she was having problems with her hearing when Evelyn did not go for her piano recital when her name was called.

Q4: But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. One day, she noticed a girl playing a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her, but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential.

(a) Why was Evelyn not going to give up?
Ans: She was not going to give up because of her interest in music. Music was her passion.

(b) What did she want to do?
Ans: She wanted to learn to play the xylophone.

(c) Why did her teachers not encourage her?
Ans: They did not encourage her because they felt it was impossible for a deaf girl to pursue her career in music.

(d) Who encouraged her? What did he say?
Ans: Ron Forbes, who saw her potential and capabilities, encouraged her. He suggested she ‘hear’ with the whole of her body.

Q5: She never looked back from that point onwards. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra, and by the time she was sixteen, she had decided to make music her life.

(a) Who is ‘she’?
Ans: She refers to Evelyn Glennie.

(b) What does ‘that point’ refer to?
Ans: ‘That point’ refers to the time when Evelyn learnt to listen to music by feeling the vibrations through her body.

(c) Where did she go with a youth orchestra?
Ans: She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra.

(d) What was her age when she decided to make music her life?
Ans: She was just sixteen when she decided to make music her life.

Q6: She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. At the end of her three-year course, she had captured most of the top awards.

(a) How did Evelyn advance in her career?
Ans: Initially Evelyn performed in a group of orchestra. Gradually, she started giving solo performances.

(b) Where did she pursue her three-year course?
Ans: She pursued her three-year course in the most prestigious institute of music in England, The Royal Academy for Music, London.

(c) What were her achievements at the end of her course?
Ans: At the end of her course, she had bagged the biggest awards in her field.

(d) What made her achievements so great?
Ans: The fact that she had won the awards despite her hearing disability made her achievements so great.

Q7: And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know where you are going, you’ll get there.”

(a) What does ‘all this’ refer to?
Ans: “All this” refers to the fact that by the end of her three-year course at the Royal Academy she had captured most of the top awards.

(b) Why is it a heroic achievement?
Ans: It is a heroic achievement as she has achieved success in music despite being profoundly deaf.

(c) To what does Evelyn give credit for her achievement?
Ans: Evelyn gives credit for her achievements to her focus on her aims and her hard work.

(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is reflected in this?
Ans: This shows Evelyn is a humble and down-to-earth person.

Q8: In our two-hour discussion she never missed a word. “Men with bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face, especially the eyes.”

(a) Who is ‘she’? Why is it strange that she never missed a word?
Ans: She refers to Evelyn Glennie. She is profoundly deaf yet she heard each word.

(b) How does she hear the words?
Ans: She hears the words by reading lips and by studying the whole face and eyes of the speaker.

(c) Why do men with bushy beards give her trouble?
Ans: She is unable to read their lips and their face.

(d) Which are the languages that she speaks?
Ans: She has managed to learn French and master basic Japanese.

Q9: As for music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she can feel the resonances flowing into her body.

(a) Who is the speaker in the first line?
Ans: In the first line, the speaker is Evelyn Glennie, the famous multi-percussionist.

(b) What is it that pours in through every part of her body?
Ans: Music and its vibrations pour in through every part of her body.

(c) How was she able to hear sounds and vibrations?
Ans: She was able to hear sounds and vibrations by sensing them through her body and her mind. Being deaf, she could not hear with her ears so she had trained and sensitized her body and mind.

(d) How did Ron Forbes help her to continue with music?
Ans: Percussionist Ron Forbes tuned two large drums to different notes. He asked her not to listen to them through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner.

Q10: “I’ve just got to work… Often harder than classical musicians. But the rewards are enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere that they cannot go.”

(a) Evelyn works harder than classical musicians. What does it imply?
Ans: Classical music needs a lot of practice. However, Evelyn works even harder than the others.

(b) For whom does Evelyn perform for free?
Ans: Evelyn gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals.

(c) “…there is nowhere that they cannot go.” Who are they here?
Ans: They are deaf children.

(d) What quality of Evelyn’s character is shown by her actions?
Ans: Evelyn is committed to music. She is also compassionate and generous towards those in need.