Top 6 Online Music Learning Platforms
The recent pandemic has changed many things in our lives. One of them was our learning habits both for kids and adults. Many of us have learnt to use online video platforms like zoom, googlemeet etc. Teachers and schools in all segments of education from formal to informal also were forced to move online during the lockdown period. Today with lockdown undone still a significant portion of music education is taught online.
Even before the pandemic few music teaching institutes and teachers used online video platforms to teach online. A significant portion of that used to be the NRI segment. This is because NRIs despite moving abroad wanted to keep in touch with their roots and also found it difficult to get music tutors teaching Indian classical music like Carnatic and Hindustani music. During the pandemic this got extended to other instruments and styles like Piano, Guitar, flute, vocals, drums etc.
It is also a challenge to find the right music tutor online. The online players selected music tutors based on their music background, skill levels, language etc. and made it easy for potential students to find the right tutor. Moreover, online platforms offer the following advantages over conventional physical classrooms.
● Students can get access to qualified tutors across any part of the country.
● Easy, convenient and no set-up time. Saves time in terms of travel and therefore cost effective.
● Convenience of scheduling, class cancellation with prior notice etc.
All the online players give a free trial class where the students can meet the potential teachers, discuss their aspirations and goals. Post the trial class if the students are comfortable then they can sign up for paid classes.
Shankar Mahadevan Academy
Shankar Mahadevan Academy was the first player to use online video platforms even before the pandemic. This institute has Shankar Mahadevan, one of India’s finest singers and music director (Shankar Eshan and Loy) as the chief instructor. Even though Shankar Mahadevan Academy teaches all instruments, they are more famous for Indian classical forms of music, both Hindustani and Carnatic style.
Their website claims that they have students from 81 countries and have clocked 1.75+ lac hours of online classes. The school has been music education for more than a decade and also has few physical schools in Bangalore and abroad. The company delivers classes predominantly in group classes (around 3–4 students/ class).
Whitehat Junior
Whitehat Junior today is part of byjus, a well known player in education. The company initially started as a coding platform for kids, but has now ventured into music education, math, arts, animation and video making platforms for kids. Whitehat junior has developed its own curriculum for music lessons and it has courses only in Guitar and keyboard.
Whitehat junior initially started classes only for kids, but with growing demand it started offering music classes for adults also.
Muzigal
Muzigal is Hyderabad based 3 year old company. The company is an online marketplace and has 400+ teachers who teach a wide variety of courses in all 3 styles — Hindustani, Carnatic and Western styles. It also teaches a wide variety of instrument and singing lessons — Flute, Guitar, keyboard, Violin, Sitar, Electric Guitar etc.
The platform claims that it has completed 40000+ hours of music so far and has onboarded 10000+ students. The company recently opened a physical school in Hyderabad and intends to take the franchise model for faster growth.
Musicmaster is Chennai based online marketplace for music education. The company has 75+ qualified teachers from Trinity and Rockschool, London teaching western style lessons in Guitar, keyboard, Piano, Violin, Drums and western vocals. The company also teaches singing and flute in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.
musicmaster has students from 14 countries, 60+ cities and has delivered 26000+ hours of live 1 to 1 classes. The company specializes in sending students to music grade exams conducted by Trinity College, London and Rockschool, London. Musicmater teaches students in all age groups.
Furtados School of Music (FSM)
FSM has been in music education and is one of the oldest music schools in our country. Initially the school ran music programs though its own school and with other schools in the K12 segment. They also started offering online programs and this increased during the pandemic. FSM also has an online portal for buying musical instruments.
FSM also specializes in music production courses and preparing students for Trinity College and Rock School, London grade exams.
Artium Academy
Atrium is one of the recent players in music education. The company has some incredible big names in the music business like Sonu Nigam, KS Chitra, Ananth Vaidyanathan, Louiz Banks, Gino Banks, Aruna Sairam, Anees Pradhan and Raju Singh.
Artium academy delivers 1 to 1 live classes and they specialize in Indian style of music — Hindustani and Carnatic genre. They also teach Piano. The academy’s courses are designed by the celebrity artists and teaches music for all age groups.
Final words
There are more online schools, but we have given here a glimpse of well known online music schools. Moreover, learning music increases creativity and reduces stress. This makes it ideal for all the busy adults to learn music. It doesn’t matter whether one wants to be a serious learner or for a hobby there is always a class and there is no more excuse to learn music.