Music, they say, is a language in its own right, enjoyed by many but understood by few. The nuances of picking the apt note from hundreds of the same nomenclature and stringing them into melodic passages, creating either foot stompers or a piece which transports one into the fantastic realm remains exclusively the domain of stalwarts of song writing – until now.
Surprised? Well, in a country attuned largely to Bollywood music which has the dubious distinction of dishing out songs that place the blame for Munni’s badnaami squarely on your shoulders, hundreds of youngsters are defying the norm by taking serious lessons in understanding the nitty-gritties of music. While they admit that strumming chords on the guitar as they hum Iris, the quintessential Goo Goo Dolls’ love song, or striking the keys of a piano while playing Mad World immortalized by Gary Jules, remains unbeatable, it is time that they took a step further by understating the anatomy of a song.
Take for example, Ashmi H, a student of St Francis College, who is training to be a classical pianist. All of 15, Ashmi has registered with Trinity College, London, an international examination board which conducts Grade tests I through VIII in music. Ashmi’s slender fi ngers dance, hop and trot across the keys of the piano as she plays renditions of Beethoven’s Sonata in F and French composer Poulenc’s Assez Modéré.
For Ashmi, what started as curiosity about the instrument only a couple of years ago soon turned into passion. “I used to play piano when I was bored. Things have taken a serious turn now. I am preparing to take Grade VIII piano examinations next year and hope to enrol at Trinity to take my passion of playing to a professional level,” she says.
Y Vaibhav Shankar, another piano afi cionado, is hopeful of clearing his Grade V examinations next June. Vaibhav spends long hours practicing sonatas after school under the watchful eye of his instructor. “It has been about a year now that I can play Benda’s Sonata in G. I want to continue taking tests so that I can become a better pianist,” says the 10-year-old.
Instructor and musician alike say that the internet has opened the floodgates through which students have access to previously ‘lesser known’ genres of music like classical, jazz , fl amenco and metal.
Says Prabhu Shadrach, guitarist and cofounder of Full Volume, a musical instruments store in Banjara Hills, “Kids these days know what they want. From a Rs 2,000 Kolkata made guitar they graduate to an imported acoustic Yamaha. Around 40 percent of these buyers make the transition to an electric guitar, say an Ibanez or a Fender. Many have gone on to form successful semi-professional bands.”
Drawing inspiration from guitar virtuosos like Slash and Steve Vai to power pianists Jon Lord and Jordan Rudess, Shadrach says that students have chalked out a route map and are choosy about the instruments they buy. There are different instruments to suit different styles of playing such as fingerstyle and lagato.
“What starts as an infatuation with a musician’s playing style changes after a couple of years. From playing covers of songs like Sweet Child O’ Mine and trying to copy the musician’s signature moves and even clothes, students have started to make original music. They begin by composing simple three chord songs, writing lyrics and then giving the song a tune. This is how good musicians are made. The trend is promising,” Shadrach observes.
Shadrach’s views find resonance with Trinity’s local representative Jagruti Hundiwala who says that the number of students registering for grade examinations has been on the upsurge in the past three years. She too pegs the rise in the number of budding musicians to the access to concerts and the availability of music on the internet.
“Around 900 people took the exams in 2011. The number rose to about 1,100 in 2012. This June, the number increased to around 1,500, which is a positive sign. Around two-thirds of these are students who appear for foundation and intermediate levels. But we do have people appearing for advanced grades exams as well, albeit few in number. The exams test the profi ciency of the student in playing an instrument and understanding music theory,” Hundiwala says.
For instance, Rock On Institute of Music in Gachibowli, with a strength of around 250 students, has been training Trinity aspirants for the past two years. “This year we had 70 people who appeared out of which 60 passed the test. This is a marked change when compared to 40 who passed last year,” says co-founder Avinash Vatti.
While playing an instrument for many remains a passion, for others like fi nancial analyst Vishal Reddy it is a stress buster. Packed schedules, working on weekends and little time for recreation left Vishal a dull boy. “Long hours before a flickering screen, analysing credits and debits in excel sheets and preparing daily, monthly and weekly reports made my mind numb. That’s why I began taking guitar lessons around six months ago. Playing the instrument is therapeutic as it gives me respite from the dry world of numbers,” he says.
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