‘Difference between learning music, about it’

Kolkata’s ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) has had an illustrious roster of teachers such as Agra Gharana’s Latafat Hussain Khan, Jaipur Gharana’s Nivruttibuwa Sarnaik and Kirana Gharana’s Hirabai Barodekar. A unique institution of music run by a trust, the SRA was established in 1978. For over two decades, Pandit Kashalkar has remained a much-sought-after Guru at SRA, representing Gwalior Gharana, though he has received training in the Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra Gharanas.

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The degree and PG courses in music have failed to produce artistes. Why has the method of teaching not changed in colleges and universities? 

Universities impart knowledge. A post-graduate student of music learns close to 25 ragas in two years. This apart, the student has to learn a lot about our shastras like Sangeet Ratnakar and Natya Shastra, western music, the history of music and as many number of tals. Too much is packed, in terms of knowledge, within too short a period.

There is a difference between learning music as a performing art and acquiring knowledge about music. The two should not be confused. One does not ask a scholar with a PhD in history at a dinner to rattle out dates of different battles, but people expect a scholar of music to sing. Indian classical music is not designed to be taught under the pedagogical practices followed by the university system. It has to be learnt by doing, under the guru-shishya parampara, and a teacher of music has to be a performer, not just a scholar. Performance is a different business. 

You have been teaching music at ITC Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, for 20 years now. How is the approach different?  

The criteria for admission to the academy is based solely on the musical talent. There are two categories: students with promising talent are taken in the general category. They are imparted rigorous training for two years to help them graduate as scholars. If they fail to improve within this period, they are asked to leave. Scholars live within the academy for five to 10 years, and receive training and guidance from the gurus under the guru-shishya parampara. All their needs are taken care of so that they concentrate only on their training. There is a provision for recognising and training prodigious talent.

Here, unlike the university education, we teach one raga for months. Because a raga is not a set of notes alone, the same set of notes may create another raga, as is the case with Bhoop. The Deshkar, Todi and Multani, etc, ragas are made by the phrases and their movement; these define the character of a raga. Just the way every person has a set of eyes, a nose and a mouth, the unique features give each face a distinct character. Similarly, the seven notes acquire a distinct feature in each raga with the help of musical phrases. Then there is the movement of the raga within the tal (rhythm); the complexity of learning demands time and constant monitoring.

The students are made to listen to masters. Listening too is a part of learning music. The Wednesday recitals, the baithaks where the scholars perform, followed by a critique and analysis helps them hone skills in performance.

Why is the SRA model not being replicated? 

The government thinks by holding music festivals, it has done its duty. Corporates don’t take social responsibility with the seriousness it requires. Many more gurukuls are needed because a lot of promising musicians from small towns lack access to the gurus living in Mumbai, Kolkata or Delhi. They need music schools closer home that can help them become performers; this should have been done by the government. 

Fortunately, many great masters have started their own gurukuls to help talented students. Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia in Mumbai, Dr Prabha Atre in Pune, the Gundecha brothers in Bhopal run their own gurukuls for promising musicians. The Karnataka government runs a residential school of classical music at Hubli, called Gangubai Hangal Gurukul. It has teachers of the repute of Dr N Rajam, Pt Maniprasad, Pt SS Haldankar et al. Other states could have followed the Karnataka example.  

What else is the contribution of SRA to Hindustani classical music?   

SRA has worked relentlessly on creating archives of our oral traditions. Great masters are invited from obscure places to stay in the academy, their unique styles of rendering music are documented. Their stay also enriches the students. Old recordings are procured for archives. Most of it is available online.

It has an advanced scientific research department that interacts with the traditional ambience of Indian classical music. 

It works in areas like music acoustics, music cognition, synthesis, music analysis and composition, music signal processing, psychoacoustics, musicology, music aesthetics, philosophy of music, and music and society. Our journal Ninad provides a platform to the in-house scholars to research and analyse all these aspects of music. 

A rich library and latest technology provides the gurus and the scholars the opportunity to compare their research with global institutions of music.

What has been the role of institutions like Prayag Sangeet Samiti and Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, solely committed to music? 

These bodies are meant to conduct examinations in courses in music; in that respect, they have played their role well. All these institutions have been instrumental in popularising classical music among the masses. As Vishnu Digambar Paluskar noted, they were there to produce kaansens (informed listeners), not taansens (performers). Universities are doing the same.

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