Madhurima Class 9 Chapter 7, The Science of Music, treats music as both an art and a science, connecting it to physics, biology and mathematics.
What Madhurima Chapter 7 Covers
C.V. Raman and Indian drums: Raman showed that the mṛidaṅgam and tabla give a sustained, tunable sound because of the karaṇai or syāhī, the black patch of iron or manganese powder, starch and water that makes the membrane vibrate in complex patterns.
The physics of strings: in Activity 7.1 a rubber band stretched over a tissue box shows that a tighter string raises the pitch, a hollow body makes it louder, and thickness or material changes the quality. The same rules apply to a tanpura, veena or violin.
Sound in Indian texts: the Nāṭyaśhāstra and Saṅgītaratnākara explain dhvani (sound), nāda (musical sound), śhruti (discernible intervals) and svara (notes).
The human voice: three subsystems work together: air pressure (diaphragm and lungs), vibration (larynx and vocal folds) and resonance (throat, mouth, nasal cavities). Saint Thyagaraja described the same seven svaras glowing in the navel, heart, throat, tongue and nose in his kriti Śhobhillu Saptasvara.
Voice care and warm-ups: drink enough water, avoid oily and very acidic food, and speak at a moderate volume. A daily routine of breathing, humming (bhrāmarī prāṇāyāma), lip trills and sargam alaṅkāras builds breath control. Rhythm links to maths: a 5-akṣhara phrase is 2 + 3, taka takita.
Exercises in Chapter 7
- Build a stringed-instrument model and record how tension and thickness change the sound.
- Identify the three subsystems of the human vocal system.
- Make your own rhythmic phrase from 2- and 3-akṣhara units.
Read Madhurima Class 9 Chapter 7 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 6: Music, Me and Us
- Next: Chapter 8: Rāga and Tāla
- All Art chapters and the other Class 9 books: Class 9 NCERT books 2026-27
FAQ
What did C.V. Raman discover about the mṛidaṅgam and tabla?
That the black patch (karaṇai or syāhī) on the membrane makes it vibrate in complex patterns, giving a sustained, rich sound that can be tuned.
What are the three parts of the human vocal system?
The air pressure system (diaphragm and lungs), the vibratory system (larynx and vocal folds) and the resonating system (throat, mouth and nasal cavities).