Carnatic musical hype on skype

KOCHI:  Carnatic music is now riding high on the waves of technology, quite literally. Software like Skype and GTalk are now among the favourites of classical musicians who are venturing out to teach their pupils across the country and the world. And if you think only the young and the tech-savvy are going for it, then you are terribly wrong.  Recently some veteran Carnatic musicians from the country took to Skype to teach US-based students for the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, which is the largest Indian classical music festival abroad. A total of 50 students were selected from across the US to perform at the concert.  “Some senior teachers took their classes here. These classes were then streamed to the students in the US via Skype. This went on for a few months. After this, some of us (junior teachers) went there and gave them final lessons,” said Savita Narasimhan, principal of the School of Fine Arts, Chennai. Savita has been teaching students via the Internet for over the past nine years now.“Initially we used to do it via Yahoo Messenger. Later we switched to Skype. It is a good option, considering the dearth of good teachers and convenience of the Internet. It is very difficult to get sessions with senior teachers. Through this technology, many students from various places can gain from these teachers,” she said.“Earlier it was only on one-to-one basis. But now there are people taking conference calls with multiple students simultaneously,” Chennai-based musician Lata Ravichandran said. Lata has students in Europe, the US and Gulf countries.The trend is catching up in Kerala too. Chandramana Narayanan Namboothiri from Perumbavoor, one of the most sought-after Carnatic music teachers of the state, has been teaching students from both the US and Gulf countries via Skype. It is not just the vocalists who are into Hi-Fi technology. Even Carnatic instrumentalists are taking online classes. But due to practical difficulties, the trend is catching up at a slower pace in the case of instrumentalists.