Veteran singer, Suresh Wadkar has recently launched an online music academy which will help students learn from any part of the world. In an interview with Radioandmusic.com’s Dhairya Ingle, Wadkar talks about how did the idea of an online academy come up, his music academy Ajivasan Academy and more.

Excerpts:

How will the online training help the singers?

They will save on travelling time, in case of outstation students, they can get their training sitting at home- directly, one-on-one, from their favourite Guru.

Will students have to pay to enroll on the online music teaching portal? If yes, how much?

Yes. It is just the way students would pay a university or a school or master of their choice. Nonetheless, we are still working on that.

How did the idea of online music teaching portal come up? 

You will be surprised by what I am going to tell you. Shruti Hassan was learning at Ajivasan for some time and her father Kamal Hassan, used to accompany her. Once he mentioned that we should start teaching online. This idea was unfamiliar to me and secondly, I had some apprehensions about one-way teaching, where you cannot interact with the learner. This is unimaginable for a music teacher.

Since online music teaching is a one way medium, how will queries of students be solved?

My close friend and member of Ajivasan's advisory board, Sanjay Chitale, introduced me to this new portal. Through this new concept, we can have interactions with every student in a group of 10 or teach one-on-one, like you could in a private session.

Your academy started in 1932 and you took charge in 1987, how do you keep up with the standards?

I have grown up in Guruji’s resident as a son of their family. The ideas and idealisms are engraved in my heart. We miss Guruji tremendously, but we are determined to take the torch further. We firmly believe in his principle and his standard of teaching. Ours is a Gurukul with firm commitment towards ‘guru-shishya parampara’, which can never become obsolete.

The Musiqui App has a facility to auto tune the voice. Do you personally endorse the concept of auto tuners?

One should try to avoid the use of that as far as possible. But if you are learning music as a hobby and would like to sing at a gathering, you should surely make the most of it. But for Karaoke, every singer would need a band to perform even in a small group for fun. Besides, many lack the time and effort required to reach perfection. Even in a recording, auto-tune could be used to avoid waste of time and extra expenses. Otherwise, you have to live with the slip of ‘swar' all your life. That, of course, is my opinion.

What are your views on the current scenario of the music industry, especially with the kind of music in Bollywood?

Every era undergoes certain changes due to the shrugged atlas. Influences from far and near are going to make an impact on you, without you being aware of it. Even classical music has undergone innumerable transformations since the conception of music.

Are you currently working on a single or collaboration?

Whatever comes my way and I am always open for it.

Being a veteran, what is your advice to upcoming singers?

We are all in the process of learning at all times. Nobody is perfect. This is a continuous process. Have patience and faith in your music director and try to give him your very best.