Humans today make music. Think beyond all the qualifications that might trail after this bald statement: that only certain humans make music, that extensive training is involved, that many societies distinguish musical specialists from nonmusicians, that in today’s societies most listen to music rather than making it, and so forth. These qualifications, whatever their local merit, are moot in the face of the overarching truth that making music, considered from a cognitive and psychological vantage, is the province of all those who perceive and experience what is made. We are, almost all of us, musicians — everyone who can entrain (not necessarily dance) to a beat, who can recognize a repeated tune (not necessarily sing it), who can distinguish one instrument or one singing voice from another. I will often use an antique word, recently revived, to name this broader musical experience. Humans are musicking creatures. . . .
The set of capacities that enables musicking is a principal marker of modern humanity. There is nothing polemical in this assertion except a certain insistence, which will figure often in what follows, that musicking be included in our thinking about fundamental human commonalities. Capacities involved in musicking are many and take shape in complicated ways, arising from innate dispositions . . . Most of these capacities overlap with nonmusical ones, though a few may be distinct and dedicated to musical perception and production. In the area of overlap, linguistic capacities seem to be particularly important, and humans are (in principle) language-makers in addition to music-makers — speaking creatures as well as
musicking ones.
Humans are symbol-makers too, a feature tightly bound up with language, not so tightly with music. The species Cassirer dubbed Homo symbolicus cannot help but tangle musicking in webs of symbolic thought and expression, habitually making it a component of behavioral complexes that form such expression. But in fundamental features musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, and from these differences come many clues to its ancient emergence.
If musicking is a primary, shared trait of modern humans, then to describe its emergence must be to detail the coalescing of that modernity. This took place, archaeologists are clear, over a very long durée: at least 50,000 years or so, more likely something closer to 200,000, depending in part on what that coalescence is taken to comprise. If we look back 20,000 years, a small portion of this long period, we reach the lives of humans whose musical capacities were probably little different from our own. As we look farther back we reach horizons where this similarity can no longer hold — perhaps 40,000 years ago, perhaps 70,000, perhaps 100,000. But we never cross a line before which all the cognitive capacities recruited in modern musicking abruptly disappear. Unless we embrace the incredible notion that music sprang forth in full-blown glory, its emergence will have to be tracked in gradualist terms across a long period.
This is one general feature of a history of music’s emergence . . . The history was at once sociocultural and biological . . . The capacities recruited in musicking are many, so describing its emergence involves following several or many separate strands.
Which one of the following sets of terms best serves as keywords to the passage?
- Humans; Psychological vantage; Musicking; Cassirer; Emergence of music.
- Musicking; Cognitive psychology; Antique; Symbol-makers; Modernity.
- Humans; Capacities; Language; Symbols; Modernity.
- Humans; Musicking; Linguistic capacities; Symbol-making; Modern humanity.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
When answering this question, it's crucial to avoid choosing a option simply because the words in it appear in the passage. The selection should be based on the importance of those words. We can approach this by identifying the odd one out. Both option 2 and option 3 contain the word 'modernity,' but the author in the last two paragraphs specifically discusses modern humans, not modernity. Thus, we can eliminate options 2 and 3. Comparing options 1 and 4, "linguistic capacities" and "symbol making" are more significant terms than "Cassirer" and "psychological vantage," even though all four are mentioned in the passage. Therefore, option 4 includes the most relevant keywords and should be the correct answer.
Based on the passage, which one of the following statements is a valid argument about the emergence of music/musicking?
- Although musicking is not language-like, it shares the quality of being a form of expression.
- All musical work is located in the overlap between linguistic capacity and music production.
- Anyone who can perceive and experience music must be considered capable of musicking.
- 20,000 years ago, human musical capacities were not very different from what they are today.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
This should be an easy question to answer because it asks us to identify the valid argument, meaning there is one valid argument among the options. Option 3 is a valid argument as it aligns with the theme of the passage. Option 2 is also mentioned in the passage, and to verify it, one can refer to the options and correct answers of the preceding two questions. Option 1 is true according to the passage, and option 4 is also correct.
However, the reason option 4 is the right answer is because of the careful reading of the question. It specifically asks to choose a statement 'about the emergence of music/musicking.' Options 1, 2, and 3, while correct, do not relate to the emergence of musicking. The emergence of musicking is discussed in the last two paragraphs of the passage.
“Think beyond all the qualifications that might trail after this bald statement . . .” In the context of the passage, what is the author trying to communicate in this quoted extract?
- Thinking beyond qualifications allows us to give free reign to musical expressions.
- A bald statement is one that is trailed by a series of qualifying clarifications and caveats.
- Although there may be many caveats and other considerations, the statement is essentially true.
- A bald statement is one that requires no qualifications to infer its meaning.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
In CAT RCs, questions are often contextual and may not be proven by logic alone. The quoted part has no connection to musical expressions; there is no correlation between the two. Hence, option 1 is not the correct choice. A bald statement is one that is simple and straightforward, and it doesn't necessarily require a series of clarifications. Options 2 and 4 incorrectly define a bald statement as if it were a scientific concept, overlooking the contextual reference. Reading the entire first paragraph reveals that option 3 is the best choice and the correct answer. The author introduces all the caveats after making the bald statement.
Which one of the following statements, if true, would weaken the author’s claim that humans are musicking creatures?
- As musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, it is a much older form of expression.
- Nonmusical capacities are of far greater consequence to human survival than the capacity for music.
- Musical capacities are primarily socio-cultural, which explains the wide diversity of musical forms.
- From a cognitive and psychological vantage, musicking arises from unconscious dispositions, not conscious ones.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The first sentence of the third paragraph aligns with option 1 and supports what the author is expressing. Therefore, option 1 is ruled out. Option 2 may seem tempting, but it doesn't weaken the author's viewpoint. The author hasn't compared musical capacities to non-musical capacities concerning human survival, nor has he claimed the superiority of music over other capacities. Therefore, option 2 does not undermine the author's argument. Option 3 is the correct answer as it contradicts what the author stated in the first paragraph, where he mentioned that extensive training does not necessarily make us musical and that musical capacities are innate dispositions. This contradicts the idea that musical abilities are acquired through training. Thus, option 3 is the best choice, directly opposing the author's viewpoint expressed in the first paragraph. Option 4 is also ruled out because the author emphasizes that musicking is born out of 'innate dispositions,' indicating it is not solely a conscious, social, or cultural process.
Top Questions on Historical Events
- The following are various dance forms found in different parts of India. While a certain dance form may be associated with more than one state, select the most appropriate response to the noted options below:
\(\text{Dance Form}\) \(\text{State of Origin}\) Bharatanatyam Tamil Nadu Sattriya Assam Kathakali Kerala Kuchipudi Andhra Pradesh - AILET BALLB (Hons.) - 2025
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- Which athlete achieved the distinction of becoming the first Indian athlete from independent India to win two medals in a single edition of the Summer Olympics?
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- During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. To organise business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927. The industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first launched. They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. After the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiastic. They were apprehensive of the spread of militant activities, and worried about prolonged disruption of business, as well as of the growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress.
The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers stayed aloof. But inspite of that, some workers did participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreign goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions. There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930, thousands of workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns. But the Congress was reluctant to include workers' demands as part of its programme of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti-imperial forces.
Another important feature of the Civil Disobedience Movement was the large-scale participation of women. During Gandhiji's salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him. They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many went to jail.
[Excerpt from Chapter II - Nationalism in India, India and the Contemporary World, NCERT]- CLAT - 2025
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