Music Classes By Annurag

Music Classes By Annurag
T2-401, PARSVNATH ESTATE, Omega 1, Omega IV, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201315, India
https://www.instagram.com/music.by.annurag
Music Classes By Annurag is a vibrant, student-centered learning space tucked away in Jaipur’s Adarsh Nagar neighborhood. The studio occupies the entire ground-floor of a sun-washed corner bungalow whose ochre-yellow façade is instantly recognizable by the hand-painted treble clef that weaves along the verandah railing and the faint evening glow of pastel fairy–lights above the entrance. Stepping inside, visitors walk across a sand-hued kota-stone floor cooled by thick jaali screens, then through a short foyer containing a shoe rack fashioned from an up-cycled harmonium case. A subtle hush, broken only by muted tanpura drones, settles over the rooms—acoustic insulation panels disguised as miniature Rajasthani frescoes keep city traffic at bay.

Annurag himself—a Hindustani classical vocalist trained at ITC SRA Kolkata who later added Berklee-certified western theory to his toolkit—conducts every trial session personally. The cornerstone of his pedagogy is “listen before label.” Students spend the first fifteen minutes of any new lesson in a dim listening lounge, sipping lemon-clove sherbet while blindfolded; they must identify ragas, intervals or chord functions solely by ear. This grab-bag exercise loosens pre-conceived barriers between genres that Annurag cheerfully glides across: Khayal segues into Bossa Nova, and minor pentatonic rock licks wander into Desh taans—all before the pen officially meets paper.

The main class area, dubbed the Gaushala (a playful nod to his college nickname), resembles a miniature amphitheater. Tiered cedar risers surrounded by Bengali terracotta horses create snug clusters of three to five students; an overhead rail system allows recording mics to drop in overhead—handy for instant playback of improvisations. Each riser is equipped with a silent pedal board and a tablet loaded with Band-in-a-Box loops that morph key centers on command. A wall-length whiteboard is custom-painted with staves spaced wide enough to accommodate Annurag’s habit of mapping talas above chord names using erasable bangles; the sight looks like rhythmic jewelry when class ends.

For one-on-one vocal projection training, a smaller sound-booth—“The Cave”—is built inside an old grain silo. The curved brick creates natural reverb; students sit on an embroidered Charpai while Annurag trains them to make micro-bends audible against tanpura speakers laid flat on the floor. Ear-training exercises there culminate in an “exit sound”—a five-second clip they must conjure from memory a week later; smartphones and notation are forbidden.

Beyond technique, Annurag fosters community through quarterly Baithak Nights. Sofas are pushed aside, transform into floor cushions, and parents arrive with homemade kheer while students draft set-lists on color-coded chalk slips pulled from a Rajasthani potli. The evening always begins with a collaborative alaap, segues into student-curated playlists, and ends with an open jam tuned to a single drone—an audible testament to Annurag’s belief that curiosity and culture travel farther together than solos ever could.

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