A Friend Found in Music Questions and Answers | Class 9 Kaveri

I prefer instrumental music, especially the flute and the santoor. My favourite musicians are Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. I choose instrumental music because, without words, it leaves room for my own feelings — when I am studying it calms me, and when I am sad it comforts me exactly as the poem describes, like a friend who understands without speaking.

1. shore; 2. rhythm; 3. core; 4. therapy; 5. spirits; 6. cheerful; 7. needed; 8. care.

• Ocean: music is as compelling as an ocean.
• Rhythm: music is like a rhythm that stirs my feelings.
• Therapy: music is like therapy for the speaker’s sadness.
• Needed friend: music is as comforting as a dependable friend.

(i) The phrase ‘feel blue’ indicates ___________.
…feeling sad or low. The idiom alone does not establish clinical depression.

(ii) Identify the line which shows music makes the poet happy.
“Music lifts my spirits”.

(iii) What does the last line of the extract signify?
“To make sure I pull through” signifies that music gives the poet the strength to survive and come safely out of her difficult times — the line expresses her confidence that music helps her cope; it does not establish a medical recovery.

(iv) True or False: Music plays a vital role in the poet’s life.
True

(v) Select the central idea of the extract.
A. Music brings comfort during sadness.

1. How is music able to move the poet ‘to the core’?
The phrase suggests that music’s rhythm deeply affects the speaker — her deepest emotions and memories. A beat or melody resonates with feelings she cannot express, so she is stirred not on the surface but at the very centre of her being.

2. Why does the poet compare music to a ‘needed friend’?
The speaker experiences music as comforting company in sadness and joy. Calling it a friend conveys closeness and trust, especially when the speaker feels alone. It is a comparison, not a claim that music can replace every human relationship.

3. Explain the poet’s attitude towards music.
Her attitude is one of deep gratitude, love and dependence. She credits music with her recoveries from sadness and her happiest hours, elevating it from a pastime to a therapist and a best friend. The whole poem reads like a thank-you letter to music.

4. Support the opinion that this poem has a universal appeal.
The poem can appeal to many readers because it connects music with familiar feelings of sadness, joy and companionship. Its simple language and rhymes make these connections easy to follow. “Universal appeal” means broad relevance here, not that every person experiences music in exactly the same way.

5. Compare your experience of music with the feelings expressed in the poem.
(Model answer) My experience matches the poet’s closely. Before exams, soft instrumental music calms my nerves; when I lost a school competition, my favourite songs slowly lifted my spirits, just as the poem says; and my happiest memories — birthdays, festivals, school functions — all have music in them. Like the poet, I have found in music a friend who never refuses to listen.

Positive emotions (happiness): lifts my spirits, most cheerful. Negative emotions (sadness): feel blue.

1. The familiar tune stimulated a rush of nostalgia…  2. The soulful ballad expressed the singer’s anguish…  3. …creating an ambience of melancholy.  4. The festive symphony filled the air with jubilant tones…

Box problem: options (iv) and (vi) overlap strongly as definitions of “move over”. “Move along” means continue onwards, as when police ask a crowd not to linger. Do not learn “make room” as its only meaning. Also, “moves me” in the poem is an ordinary verb plus object, not a phrasal verb: it means affects me emotionally.

1. The two speakers are connected as — (i) parent-child (Jaspreet and his mother).
2. The conversation takes place at the — (i) music centre (about to close for the day).
3. The instrument causing the problem is the — (ii) santoor.
4. The problem discussed is — (ii) irregularity of the music class (the santoor teacher comes only twice a week).
5. The unsuccessful solution was — (iii) watching videos about playing the instrument.
6. The best option is (iii) purchase the musical instrument. More precisely, his mother will first ask a friend to lend a santoor until they buy their own, allowing home practice.

Teacher: Would you like to try a music class? We can discuss the practice time before you decide.

Student 1: I am interested, but I worry that lessons might leave too little time for homework.

Student 2: I learn music. A short practice session fits into my timetable, although I change the schedule during busy weeks.

Parent: I share that concern. How much practice would a beginner need?

Teacher: We can agree on a manageable routine and review it together. Enjoyment and steady learning matter more than rushing.

Student 1: Could I try a few lessons and check whether the routine works?

Parent: Yes. After this discussion, I am happy to support a trial that leaves time for study and rest.

Student 2: I can show you how I plan my week, and you can adapt it.

Music therapy is a structured practice involving a trained therapist and individual goals; it is different from simply listening to a favourite song. Research suggests some music-based interventions may help with stress, anxiety or other symptoms in particular settings, but findings vary. Music should not be presented as a guaranteed cure or a substitute for indicated care. The poem uses “therapy” to express comfort. NCCIH: Music and Health provides an evidence-based starting point for the activity.

The familiar names are Sa, Re (Ri), Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni: Shadja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Panchama, Dhaivata and Nishada. Ask your teacher to demonstrate them and explain traditional accounts of their origins. Stories connecting notes with animal calls should be identified as traditional associations, not established acoustic proof of a single historical origin. Record the source and tradition your teacher uses.

Create a table with title, writer/composer, language, source and one sentence explaining the role of music. Possible starting texts already in this book are A Friend Found in Music, Walter de la Mare’s Music and the play Twin Melodies for comparison. Add a song in a language you know and credit its creator. Write your own short response rather than copying entire lyrics.

De la Mare imagines familiar nature becoming enchanted when music sounds: trees, flowers and mythological water nymphs form a dreamlike world. Perkins focuses more directly on personal comfort and companionship. Both present music as transformative, but one emphasises imaginative vision while the other expresses intimate emotional support. A naiad is a water nymph in mythology, not a real animal described by the poem.

Q1. Why is the poem titled ‘A Friend Found in Music’? (30–40 words)
Because the poem’s final discovery is that music behaves like a true friend — comforting the poet in sadness, sharing her cheerful moments and standing by her when no one else seems to care.

Q2. Which two idiomatic expressions of emotion does the poet use? (30–40 words)
She uses ‘feel blue’, meaning to feel sad or low, and ‘pull through’, meaning to come safely out of a difficult time — both showing music’s role in her emotional life.

Q3. What role does music play in the poet’s happy moments? (30–40 words)
The poet notes that in her most cheerful times, “it’s clear, music was there” — music is associated with both comfort during sadness and cheerful experiences; the poem does not establish it as the sole cause of happiness.

Q4. “The poem presents music as ocean, medicine and friend.” Explain how the three metaphors build the poem’s meaning. (100–120 words)
Each metaphor adds a layer to music’s portrait. The ocean conveys music’s vastness and irresistible pull — the poet is drawn to it as the tide draws a swimmer to shore, and its rhythm moves her to the core. The therapy metaphor shifts from power to healing: when she feels blue, music treats her sadness, lifts her spirits and ensures she pulls through, as a metaphor for emotional support, not a guaranteed cure. Finally, the friend metaphor makes music personal and faithful — present in her cheerful hours and loyal when no one seems to care. Together the images move from nature’s grandeur to a doctor’s care to a friend’s intimacy, bringing music steadily closer to the heart.