Online · Anywhere in the world
Learn Carnatic vocal from Hyderabad, wherever you are.
Live classes over video — never recordings. The same guru, the same syllabus, and a time that works where you actually live.
Timings
When we teach, where you are.
- India
- Weekday evenings and weekend mornings IST
- Gulf (UAE, Qatar, Oman)
- Evening IST — early evening your time
- United Kingdom
- Late afternoon IST — mid-morning your time
- US East
- Early morning IST — evening your time
- US West
- Early morning IST — late afternoon your time
- Singapore & Australia
- Morning IST — afternoon your time
Exact slots vary by term and by teacher availability. Tell us your city and we’ll send you what is open now.
How online classes work
What you need, and what you don’t.
A phone or laptop is enough
No special equipment. Wired earphones help more than an expensive microphone — they stop the echo that makes a teacher unable to hear pitch.
A free shruti app, not a tanpura
For the first year an app on a phone is genuinely fine, and it is what most of our students use. We’ll tell you when it is worth buying a shruti box.
Smaller batches than in person
A teacher cannot hear individual voices over a shared connection in a large group, so online batches are kept deliberately small.
A parent nearby, for younger children
For children under about eight, having an adult in the room for the first few weeks makes a real difference. After that, rarely.
The path
From your first Sa to your own manodharma.
Carnatic music has a published order, and it has had one for centuries. Here is exactly where a student begins, what comes next, and what each stage sounds like when it is done properly.
Sarali Varisai
सरळि वरिसैthe first exercisesSing the seven swaras in order, in three speeds, in tune.
Beginner~10 weeks
Janta Varisai
जण्ट वरिसैpaired notesHold two notes cleanly together and keep your place in the tala.
Beginner~8 weeks
Alankāram
अलंकारम्patterns across the seven talasSing the same phrase in seven rhythmic cycles without losing count.
Beginner~10 weeks
Gītam
गीतम्your first real songsSing a complete composition with words, from memory.
Beginner~8 weeks
Swarajati
स्वरजतिsongs with structureMove between swaras and lyrics inside one piece.
Intermediate~8 weeks
Varṇam
वर्णम्the athlete’s stageSing a varnam in two speeds. This is where a voice becomes a trained voice.
Intermediate~50 weeks
Kṛti
कृतिthe concert repertoireSing Tyagaraja, Dikshitar and Syama Sastri — the music a kutcheri is made of.
Advanced~40 weeks
Manodharma
मनोधर्मyour own imaginationImprovise. Alapana, kalpana swaram, niraval — the music becomes yours.
Advancedongoing
Stage order follows the Carnatic Vocal grade syllabus of the Tamil Nadu Dr. J Jayalalithaa Music and Fine Arts University. Durations are indicative and vary with practice.
Before you ask
Questions parents actually ask.
Five is a comfortable starting age — old enough to sit for half an hour and match a pitch. We have started children at four when they were ready, and we teach adults who are beginning for the first time in their fifties. There is no upper limit and no late.
No. Almost none of our beginners do. The first year is entirely swaras — Sa Ri Ga Ma — which are syllables, not a language. When compositions begin, we teach the meaning line by line before a single word is sung. Children who speak only English learn this music perfectly well.
No. Adults usually progress through the early exercises faster than children because they understand structure and can practise deliberately. What adults need is permission to sound like a beginner for a few months. We teach adult batches separately so nobody is sitting beside an eight-year-old.
Six at most. In Carnatic music every student has to sing alone in front of the teacher in every class, and that stops being possible beyond about six people. If a batch fills, we open another rather than stretch it.
Honestly: about two to three years of steady weekly practice. The first six to twelve months build the foundation — varisais, alankarams, first geethams. Varnams take the better part of a year on their own. Anyone promising a kriti in three months is skipping the part that makes the voice.
For one-to-one and small groups, very nearly. What works less well online is a large batch, because the teacher cannot hear individual voices over a shared connection. That is why online batches are kept smaller. Many of our students outside Hyderabad have never had another option, and they progress.
Yes — it is how we prefer to teach. Six interested families is usually enough to make a batch work. Beyond that it needs your residents’ association to approve the use of the clubhouse, which we are happy to speak to them about together. Message us with the name of your community and we will tell you what is already running nearby.
Fees depend on which of the three modes you choose and on the batch — a clubhouse batch, an institute batch and a one-to-one online class are all priced differently. Message us on WhatsApp and we will tell you straight away, with no obligation.
Not to begin. A free shruti app on a phone is genuinely fine for the first year, and that is what most of our students use. If the learning continues, an electronic shruti box is a modest and worthwhile purchase — we will tell you when it is time rather than at the start.
Tell us in advance and we will fit in a make-up where the timetable allows. Carnatic music is cumulative — each week builds directly on the last — so consistent attendance matters more here than in most things a child is enrolled in.
Prārambha · Begin the journey
Book a free trial class.
Tell us a little about who is learning and where, and we’ll call to arrange a time. Four questions, about thirty seconds.
We ask for your name and number, not your child’s. Nothing is shared with anyone, and you can ask us to delete your enquiry at any time — see our privacy notice.
नादब्रह्म — Sound is the divine.