ABSTRACT
For many centuries, the master-disciple relationship has been the traditional form of training of classical musicians in the Indian subcontinent. This apprentice system—which continues today—has ensured the primarily oral transmission of musical knowledge through many generations of teachers and students [see The Classical Master-Disciple Tradition]. However, since the end of the nineteenth century, various government institutions such as schools and universities have grappled with ways of adapting traditional teaching methods to institutional structures and systems. Oral processes of teaching and master-disciple relationships do not automatically lend themselves to classrooms, blackboards, and textbooks, but the adaptation of traditional teaching to the institutional setting has nevertheless become widespread.
