Can music sharpen Math skills? Renowned vocalist TK Saroja researches

Renowned Carnatic vocalist TK Saroja and a team at Center for Exact Humanities (CEH), in the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH), are researching how music and arts can become a catalyst for improving mathematical prowess and imaginative skills. Saroja is looking into the use of classical ragas to sharpen focus, discipline, logic and mathematical ability.

TK Saroja is the older sibling of the renowned Carnatic vocalist duo TK Sisters. Her research interests are in the Indian classical music of South India. Mentored by the out-of-the-box thinking style of late Professor Navjyoti Singh, who believed that humanities as a knowledge system intersected closely with the sciences, his hand-picked team at CEH would explore the confluence of art, science and technology, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

“Raga and Rhythm is a course that I designed to introduce the basic principles of music, teach its finer aspects and help students understand the benefits of art as a system of knowledge. I believe that entertainment is an additional quality of art, which primarily is a hub of creative ideas that helps nurture powers of invention,” Saroja observes.

At the CEH, a day of research involves delving into different aspects of raga study, preparing students for concert practice and researching on music belonging to different genres. “Students are very comfortable with learning music and start enjoying themselves once they realise that beyond entertainment, it is easily relatable to life and emotions, and helps them break their inhibitions," the vocalist points out, as per TNIE.