The Internet Guru: Online Pedagogy in Indian Classical Music Traditions

Abstract

The use of the Internet in oral music distance learning for Indian classical musicians is a recent phenomenon. With the overall purpose of exposing methods that fuse new and traditional pedagogies, this article investigates how technology maintains and configures orality in virtual music education “scapes.” I argue that while online lessons maintain quality learning, significant structural shifts in lessons challenge (pre- Internet) conceptions of what constitutes learning. This article concludes with reflections on the parts of learning that transcend these changes and further thoughts about the future of Indian music pedagogies in online contexts.

Technology-Mediated Hindustani Dhrupad Music Education: An Ethnographic Contribution to the 4E Cognition Perspective

“…In contrast to Western classical music, Hindustani music relies on the direct transmission of knowledge from the teacher to the disciple through demonstration, emulation, and repetition [15]. The so-called 'guru-shishya parampara' ('teacher-student tradition' in English) is often quoted as the ideal example of 'enculturation' [16], whereby the teacher (metaphorically, but also literally) embodies the tradition, which is slowly assimilated through a long and close relationship [17].…”

“…Over the past 15 years, Dhrupad teaching has integrated into global yoga retreats, offering workshops that blend yoga, meditation, and singing. The rise in popularity of so-called world music [43] and of online group music workshops, including Dhrupad singing, has brought about not only financial (Financial: from 'disciple'-whereby students do not pay for classes-to 'tuition'-whereby students pay an agreed sum for a fixed class arrangement [44]) and structural (Structural: from a communal experience of embodiment to an individual focused, analytic and directions-based pedagogy [15]) changes in terms of pedagogy, but also a necessary physical displacement; a student will inevitably be required to sit a bit further away from the teacher to leave space for others in class, as illustrated by a snapshot from a recent Dhrupad music workshop in Figure 2. This transition has the potential to influence how students engage with the teacher's physical movements (visually and otherwise), a topic that the present paper intends to examine.…”

“…Notably, there is a shortage of prior studies explicitly addressing concerns in contemporary practices of synchronous distance tutoring for oral music traditions, such as Hindustani [15]. This paper aims to bridge this research gap.…”

La tecnología digital en la educación musical: una revisión de la literatura científica

“…En ámbitos tan especializados como la formación instrumental, las tecnologías digitales han mostrado sorprendentes resultados al combinar metodologías convencionales con los nuevos modelos. Tal es el caso de lo reflejado por Roy (2016) en entornos tan, a priori, poco favorecedores como la transmisión oral de la música tradicional de la India. En estos ámbitos, las herramientas sincrónicas y asincrónicas ofrecen posibilidades que, hasta ahora, eran impensables, como, por ejemplo, componer música en grupo desde diferentes partes del mundo (Biasutti, 2015;Dobson y Littleton, 2016;Naughton, 2012), o la creación de foros virtuales de reflexión (Merga, 2014).…”

The piano pedagogy scenes in India and the Philippines: An introductory cross-cultural comparison

“…In his article, Roy (2016) outlined the experiences and challenges of studying Indian classical music over the internet using video conferencing software, highlighting the intersection of an ancient tradition and modern technology. In her narrative, Riley (2012) described her experience with six university students.…”