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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th The World Around Us Chapter 5 Musical instruments — Write

Book page 89 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
What are some traditional Indian musical instruments that you know of?
Answer

Indian instruments fall into four easy groups — the ones you hit, the ones you blow, the ones with strings, and the ones you shake or strike together.

GroupInstrumentsWhere you may have heard it
Drums — you hit themTabla, dholak, dhol, mridangam, pakhawaj, nagara, khol, thavil, idakka, dhama, khanjiraThe eleven drums in the picture on page 88
Wind — you blow into themBansuri (flute), shehnai, nadaswaram, pungi, beenShehnai at a wedding; bansuri in film songs
Strings — you pluck or bow themSitar, veena, sarod, santoor, sarangi, ektara, tanpura, dilrubaSitar in Hindustani music; veena in Carnatic music
Struck or shakenManjira (small cymbals), ghungroo (ankle bells), ghatam (a clay pot), chimta, kartalManjira in a bhajan; ghungroo on a Kathak dancer's ankles

The two music traditions named in your book:

Carnatic music (South India) — mridangam, veena, nadaswaram, ghatam, khanjira
Hindustani music (North India) — sitar, shehnai, tabla, sarod, sarangi, pakhawaj
Why one drum is not like another: A drum is made from whatever the place gives — wood, clay or metal for the body, animal skin for the face, rope or leather for the tightening. Change the size, the wood and the tightness, and the sound changes completely. That is why a thavil in Tamil Nadu, a khol in Assam and a dhol in Punjab all sound different, though all three are drums.
Write about your own place: Name the instruments you have actually heard — at a wedding, a temple, a mosque, a village fair, a school function. Those count more than famous names from a book.
Q2.
Try to make a musical instrument from locally available materials.
Answer

Every instrument works in one of three ways: something is stretched and hit, something is stretched and plucked, or air is made to shake inside a tube. Make one of each and you will understand all of them.

1. A drum (a small dholak)

  1. Take an empty tin or a plastic bucket with the top cut off.
  2. Cut a circle from a thick balloon or an old inner tube, a little wider than the mouth.
  3. Stretch it tight over the mouth and tie it down hard with strong string or a rubber ring.
  4. Tap it with your fingers. Then tighten the string more and tap again — the sound gets higher.

2. A string instrument (a one-string ektara)

  1. Take a strong cardboard box or a tin with an open top.
  2. Stretch two or three rubber bands of different thickness across the opening.
  3. Slip a pencil under the bands near each end, so they lift off the box.
  4. Pluck them. The thin band gives a high sound, the thick band a low one.

3. A wind instrument (a straw shehnai)

  1. Flatten one end of a drinking straw and cut it into a narrow V.
  2. Press that end lightly between your lips and blow hard. It buzzes.
  3. Snip the straw shorter while you blow. The note rises each time you cut.
Instrument you madeWhat makes the soundHow to change the note
Tin drumThe stretched rubber shakesTighten it for a higher sound; loosen it for a lower one
Rubber-band ektaraThe stretched band shakesA thinner or tighter band gives a higher note
Straw shehnaiThe air inside the straw shakesA shorter straw gives a higher note
Bottle xylophoneThe air above the water shakesMore water in the bottle means a lower note
The one rule behind all of them: Sound is made by something shaking quickly — the drum skin, the band, the air in the tube. Shake it faster and the note is higher. Small, tight and short things shake faster, so they sound higher. Big, loose and long things shake slower, so they sound lower.
Play together: Three children with a drum, an ektara and a straw make a band. Keep a steady beat on the drum first, then let the others come in on the beat. That is exactly how a real group starts.
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