The number of students appearing for Indian music exams has fallen considerably since last year.
There has been a dip in the number of students appearing for the Karnataka Music and Talavady exam. Hemantha Nayak, Assistant Director of the of the Music and Talavadya Department said that from 15,697 students who appeared for the exam in 2016-17, the number has fallen to 13,000 students in 2017-18.
The number of students appearing for the Karnataka Music and Talavadya exam has seen a change since 2015-2016 (11500 students) to 2016-2017 (15697). Hemalatha Nayak, said that the change is largely because of the months when the exam is conducted. ” Students feel comfortable appearing for the exam in May than in October. The number of students who appeared for the exam was high in 2016-17 because the exam was conducted in May and people have holidays in that month,” said Nayak.
Dr Girish Kumar, a musician and founder of Sri Veena Vani Music School, however, said that the number of students appearing for Carnatic Music and Hindustani Music has reduced severely due to the influence of the Western Music. “Western Music like Rap, Blues and Jazz have taken over the Indian music scene,” said Kumar.
Sushir Padmanabhan, a Carnatic music student,, said that the opportunities are more for those learning western music today in comparison to Carnatic music. “I have been training in music for five years now and I have also written the Senior Exam in Carnatic Music, but I have friends who have already finished their exam in London School Music and working in the music industry,” said Sushir Padmanaban.
Prashanth Martin Agera, a musician and the founder of Immanuel Academy of Performing Arts said, “The London School Music provides more opportunities for the students and the value of the certificate is also good, when compared to what the other music schools can offer. Western Musical has grown over the year compared to Indian classical.”
While many other international schools are offering music certificates, the struggle continues for the Music and Talavadya Department.
