In an earnest attempt to spread positivity amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown, a young music teacher of Wyra town has been conducting online vocal music classes for a small group of beginners.
Ch Navyasri, 25, a music teacher at the State-run residential school in Karepalli, has been making productive use of the lockdown period to impart the nuances of vocal music by conducting online classes from her home in Wyra.
Driven by passion for Indian classical music, Navyasri, who hails from an impoverished family, completed her BA (music vocal) from S.V. College of Music and Dance in Andhra Pradesh’s temple city of Tirupati and a certificate course in Carnatic music from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University.
She started online music classes over a week ago by enrolling interested learners through social media. She devised a 12-day schedule to organise the online vocal music sessions thrice a week through video-conferencing app and fixed a nominal fee of ₹1,500 per learner.
“I started the online music classes to familiarise learners, mainly children, with the basic concepts of Carnatic music and help them learn devotional as well as patriotic songs,” says Navyasri.
So far, 10 learners, including eight children and two women from various parts of Khammam district and elsewhere in the State, have joined the virtual sessions by making use of their smartphones.
“Music has the potential to develop cognitive skills among children and serve as a medium of self-expression,” she notes, adding that the classes help reduce stress and overcome boredom during the lockdown besides enabling one to learn vocal music from the confines of their homes.