Chapter 12 of Class 5 Arts Bansuri (Music), Sounds and Instruments, explores India’s fourfold classification of musical instruments — Tata Vadya, Sushira Vadya, Avanaddha Vadya, and Ghana Vadya — while guiding students to build a working Ektara, sing a Bengali Baul song, and discover the terracotta clay bird whistle.
What Class 5 Art Chapter 12 Covers
Four Categories of Indian Musical Instruments (Activities 12.1a & 12.1b) — Classifies instruments by how they produce sound: Tata Vadya (stringed instruments like sitar, veena, tanpura, sarod, ektara), Sushira Vadya (wind instruments like bansuri, shehnai, nadaswaram), Avanaddha Vadya (percussion/membrane instruments like tabla, mridangam, dholak, pakhawaj), and Ghana Vadya (solid idiophones like manjira, ghatam, kartal).
Decorating & Making an Ektara (Activities 12.2 & 12.3) — Step-by-step craft activity to construct a functional one-stringed Ektara using everyday materials and decorate it with traditional folk motifs.
Bengali Baul Song — ‘Baadol Baaul Baajay Re Ektaara’ — Sings a lyrical Bengali song describing a wandering Baul minstrel playing the ektara amidst pouring monsoon rains, paddy fields, and jamun groves.
Terracotta Clay Bird Whistle — Highlights one of India’s oldest folk acoustic toys — a water-filled terracotta bird whistle that mimics real bird tweets when blown.
Exercises in Chapter 12
- Activities 12.1a & 12.1b — Identify Instruments by Sound and Picture: Listen to audio clips and inspect illustrations to name each instrument and classify it as Tata, Sushira, Avanaddha, or Ghana Vadya.
- Activities 12.2 & 12.3 — Make an Ektara & Sing the Baul Song: Build and decorate a model Ektara, explore how tightening the string changes pitch, and sing ‘Baadol baaul baajay re ektaara’.
Read Class 5 Art Chapter 12 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 11: Music Around Me
- Next: Chapter 13: Building Blocks
- Hindi medium: Class 5 Arts Chapter 12 PDF in Hindi (Bansuri)
- All Art chapters and the other Class 5 books: Class 5 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What are the four traditional categories of musical instruments in India?
They are Tata Vadya (string instruments like sitar and ektara), Sushira Vadya (wind instruments like bansuri and shehnai), Avanaddha Vadya (membrane percussion like tabla and mridangam), and Ghana Vadya (solid instruments like manjira and ghatam).
How does a terracotta clay bird whistle mimic a bird’s sound?
When a small amount of water is poured inside the hollow terracotta bird and air is blown through the mouthpiece, the bubbling water modulates the air column to produce a realistic tweeting warble.