Make Classical Cool with Shruti Kuruvilla

Shruti Kuruvilla: Thank you for having me.

Shruti Kuruvilla: So, I've always said this, I feel like music is something that the learning happens in the womb. And although I don't come from a family of musicians or trained musicians, we've always been exposed to music in the house. So from a very young age, we were exposed to different genres of music, be it the Beatles or be it Carnatic music. So, you know, I think that's helped me and my brother — I wanna talk about both of us when I speak about our early learning. 

It developed our interestin music, not to necessarily excel in it, but to kind of derive the stress buster orderive appreciation from it, which is what my objectiveis today, to bring to little children and adults; try to bring that element of what music can give you that pleasure and sort of tap into that.

Shruti Kuruvilla: So when I started Bach to Basics, or when I started teaching, I was very clear. I spoke to my teacher, and I said, “What I wanna do is I wanna build a community for the music appreciation group.” I kept it local, I kept it within Chennai. 

And while I did my exams as well, and I went through the rigmarole of it, I did feel like sometimes, at a certain point, it kind of killed the joy of just appreciating the music. It made you very mechanical. It made you very regimented. And while sometimes, it does work, that rigour; it is important to have — after all, it's an art — it's important to have that sort of grit, I do feel like you need to strike a balance in enjoyment. 

So most of my students, since they are all one-on-one classes, we do try to figure out where we can strike that balance. We have a recital, so it's more performance-driven. We are not restricted to classical music, we do look at pop, we look at anime, going back to Tamil and Bollywood music. 

In fact, the exam boards are also realising that they're gonna get more children to come and participate in their exams if they make it more relatable and likeable. Because while classical music has its benefits, there are so many other music genres that are coming up and popping up that you cannot completely diss and you can't be a puritan about it. In fact, the exam boards themselves are kind of exploring Pop and Disney. Some of the exam boards are even bringing in Indian music that you can play and perform. 

This is why I feel like you need to have it performance-driven. And find whatworks for you. And that's why I feel like a music school or music is for everyone.You don't have to be intrinsically talented in it. You will be if you're exposed to it from an early age, but it is for everyone.

Shruti Kuruvilla: So, music learning happens from very early on, and music is almost like a language. So, tapping into a new language early on, research has also found, like MIT in 2018, there was a study that says that language is best learned in the early years before the age of 10. So music is something that needs to be exposed to the child, not necessarily in a formal learning background, but just needs to be exposed. 

Now, not all of us are born with exposure to music, so there are a lot of young mums and dads who want to expose their children to music but don't know how to go about it. So these classes are basically keeping that in mind. It's more of a class for the mom and dad to bond with the child with music and go back with a few, you know, songs and a few tips on how they can do this. 

And to even kind of orient them, like they say, “Hey, I'm not listening to babymusic at home. What impact does that have on my child?”, I'm like, it has greatimpact. If you're even listening to eighties music or nineties music and not necessarily listening to classical music, there's a rhythmic tone. There are so many nuances that children pick up. So basically, themom and dad classes were designed for parents who are a little cluelessabout how to go about this, and to give them the reassurance that they don'tnecessarily have to be in a formal class. They can do it with little, little things at home as well.

Shruti Kuruvilla: When I do choose a team, I don't look at the credentials as far as the performances go, because not every great performer is a good teacher. So when we look at it, it's great to have that degree in music, but it's also very important to have a personable skill to enjoy. Primarily, most of our students are children, but we also have a couple of adults, but primarily have that element to understand what the student requires and how to tailor that class. 

Now, I can't say that everybody comes with that psychology. It’s because most of my teachers are just fresh out of college. They're young, experiences are new, so I don't wanna say that they come in with the right credentials — but what I do wanna say is I put in a lot of effort in mentoring them and giving them a lot of feedback, sitting in on classes. 

And it's an ongoing process at Bach to Basics where it's, it just doesn't stop at just giving them that first introduction. We are meeting once a month or every fortnight, if I'm requested to sit in on a class where, you know, the student may be a little bit difficult and not in the beaten track. We always sit and we listen and we figure out how to make this work, because like I said, music is for everyone. And with that said, it is a learning process. It's still a learning process for me as well. 

So that's, I think one of our biggest strengths is we don't come in here and we say, “Hey, we know it all.” We come in here saying we are open for feedback. We're open to learn, and we are constantly learning, constantly changing. 

I think that's one of our biggest strengths.

Shruti Kuruvilla: Yeah, so a classic example is, I'll go back to early learning, and we had these classes for early learners, and there was a parent who came to me who suspected the child of being mildly autistic, so much so that the child would not communicate or say anything. 

This is something I don't have any experience in; teaching special needs children, but as I just said, the mantra that music is for every child, let them just come in. The classes we curate, students don't necessarily have to be participating in every exercise. Even by just sitting there and observing- which is what I tell parents, which is what gets parents all worried about, like “Oh no, my child is not singing, my child is not participating.” But what is important to note is observation. Learning while observing is a very powerful tool. And if a child is able to sit still and observe, they can learn so much more and so much in a very different way. 

So the child came into class in the beginning and was just sitting and just observing. And the mother was also very open. And then by the end of about four sessions, at home, the child didn't speak, but sang for 

what he wanted. So he used music as his first way of expressing himself, and the child was not communicating, was not, you know, speaking his first words. 

But then, when he connected and used music, that's when I realised the power of music. And she realised too. And she came up to me, and she's, you know, even to this day, she thanks me for that. 

But it was something that Ilearned myself. I just said, you know, I'm just gonna go with the flow and see where this goes. And I really couldn't promise her that this is going to happen, but it did happen.

Shruti Kuruvilla: Early learners, I mean, when we first started off classes, they used to be out in my garden. We used to be one with the traffic, one with nature and things like that. Yes, it does make a big difference when you are out in the open. To be honest, the other classes are all in a studio and you know, it gets a bit more serious way of focus.

But the early learners we do explore a lot of nature. In fact, what gets them going is the buzzing of the bees or a lion's roar, or the croaking of a frog. It all that is incorporated in our music. So we will sing a song about it musically, and it's nice to see a bee buzzing around and a butterfly flitting around. 

So even the sounds that nature makes from a it is research has proven that even the buzzing of a bee or a chirping of a bird, it's all mathematical. It's all rhythmic. It's not a cacophony; there is some sort of logic, a scientific logic behind it that is not something that we can break down and present in a PhD format and tell our little children, but what happens is that it intrinsically forms rhythm ideas in their head. So when they do get to have a formal education and when they open to it, everything clicks because instinctively they figure the rhythm out. 

Walking in nature, especially, is so important. Like, you know, when you take awalk in the morning and you hear the birds chirping, inadvertently, you areinstilling a certain rhythm in your head that helps you appreciate, you know, formal learning and music later on in life.

Shruti Kuruvilla: That's actually a very good question and very relevant in this day and age, and it's something that's boggling all of us, and we don't know what the right answer is, but the point of the matter is AI is here to stay. 

There's no use in blocking it out and blocking it from your life. It's something that you need to sort of figure out how to use and how to get the right balance of using it. Especially since now everybody's become a music maker because you can just take lyrics from somewhere and get it produced into music. 

So it's shocking because everyone has become a composer. Everyone's become a music producer. With that said, all I wanna say is when you learn an instrument and you learn what goes behind it, I feel like when you do come to AI, and you do use extremely sophisticated software to manipulate your music, you do come with a better understanding when you are playing the instrument rather than manipulating it, and there is a certain feeling emotionally that's invoked when you learn to create something with your hands. 

So yes, I feel like there is a balance that we have to figure out. You can't be regimented in terms of not allowing AI to come in. In fact, during COVID, I'll be honest, I had one of my kids who was interested in Simply Piano, which is an automated app that teaches you, and I found it quite innovative and it was like self-correcting, and I let him play on it. 

What he got out of it enhanced his formal learning in music rather than replace it. Now, for instance, if I said “No Simply Piano at all,” I'm sure he would've figured out a way to do it, use Simply Piano, and if I had said no, I would probably not have realised the benefits of Simply Piano because they do have a good system going on the self-correcting system and things like that. They have a very nice, sophisticated software. 

I can't say that that wouldreplace a proper teacher to teach you, because bringing out emotions inmusic is something I don't feel AI has it right now to do that. Butit is a bit scary for the arts on the turn that AI is taking. So again, I will say I'm just learning how to manoeuvre and see where we could strike a balance.

Shruti Kuruvilla: So, more than learning instruments, what students are doing is they're trying ways, like I have a student who is very proficient at the piano. So what she does is she takes her software, she plays something on the piano, gets that recorded, then she's good at drums, and even if they don't know the drums, they'll find a loop online that has the drums. So she’s basically creating a jam, a one-woman band is what they're doing. So they're exploring all the programs that are available where they're allowed to do that.

Shruti Kuruvilla: I'm gonna lead this question with an example from one of my students who learned with me from a very young age, and now she's in college. 

She was one of my brightest students, but the one thing that she came back and told me and thanked me for — and it really touched my heart — is the fact that when you go out there into the big, bad world, be it college, be it adulthood, there are so many things that are coming at you. And she said the one thing that kept her grounded was her music. It helped her cope with stress. 

When you do involve music in your life, there is no set rule. I know my brother grew up listening to heavy metal music. Today, he can sing a beautiful tune, although he listened to only heavy metal music. So it doesn't matter. 

I have so many students who have formal training in Carnatic music, and that's something they enjoy. So I'm saying, be it any fold of music. Let music be there in your life, even if it means just listening to music, to calm down, listening to an instrument, learning to sing, even if you don't have the right voice, learning to sing, it's so fulfilling. 

It is a de-stressor. Research has proven that it does de-stress you. It does help you cope with very stressful situations. It helps you calm down, and when you are calm, you make better decisions. So most of our bad decisions in life are made when we are heated and we're stressed. So it's kind of like a meditation, but it's enjoyable as well, and it's instinctively enjoyable. 

I do feel like it is something that needs to be an integral part of our life, be it learning an instrument, learning to sing, just listening to music, or maybe even just dancing to it. So it is something that touches, is scientific, and it's spiritual. It has both, you know, it's close to God or a higher being. It does take you there. It does. It gives you a high in the purest of ways. 

So Iwould feel like you do, if you are on the fence about music and what youwanna do with it — and I think goingforward, you may have AI, you may have this — but you don't have anything to help you with stress, right? So music is something that you can derive that elevation from.