“Anyone can be an artiste. If you can appreciate a work of art or a piece of music and connect with the artiste at some level, you have musical acumen. If you can bring that out in a structured form and push for improvement, then I believe everyone will be doing something in some form of art,” says Monjyoti Bhattacharyya.
The solo performer, guitarist and songwriter has been working on a new musical initiative called ‘Musical Journey’ that aims to help people from all walks of life to associate with and contribute to music. A guitar teacher at Green Theory on Convent Road, Monjyoti believes in understanding music in a contemporary format, away from the traditional norms of learning an instrument.
Hailing from Guwahati, Assam, the 26-year-old is a computer science graduate who worked as a software developer for four years after which he started his own company on website design and development. “The company is operational but a bit automated now so it gives me free time to focus on music and arts.”
Monjyoti picked up the guitar in college. “I learnt the guitar on my own. Not in a step-by-step curriculum, but the way I wanted to. I did whatever it took to learn a song. That’s when I figured that if I could structure the way I learnt and share it, then it will help people and especially benefit those who want to learn guitar. As far as I know, the fun and speed element has been missing in guitar learning, in traditional training programmes.”
This is what gave birth to his musical initiative. “I focus on basic elements of song playing. Everyone wants to be able to play a song. They don’t want to be bombarded with theory and practice techniques. It doesn’t motivate much and they drop out due to lack of interest in a couple of months. I only teach what they need to know for a song of their choice. They may not know everything, but at least they will be masters of that song. Because of the momentum and confidence they gain, everything else falls into place.”
Monjyoti found this worked for everyone. “Even people who want to be casual musicians can use this technique. It can be incorporated with other forms of music and instruments as well.”
Monjyoti explains: “We pick a song that suits my student as a beginner that incorporates not more than three to four basic open chords. That completes the song. We practise with the aim to play it on stage. Since I am a solo performer, I get plenty of opportunities. I take my students along and we perform. I give them a goal of getting on stage, so it keeps them focussed and practising. This generates interest, keeps it fun and makes learning faster.”
On what he thinks about breaking away from traditional forms of learning music, he says: “The most important thing is to teach them to use it immediately. There is nothing wrong in scale notation but only if you are interested in advanced guitar learning. What I teach is the practical way of learning. If I had gone to a teacher I would have wanted my teacher to be like this. But since I did not find any, I try to be one.”
This project is only four months old, says Monjyoti. Looking ahead, he says: “I have a target of getting more people on stage and associate with artistes who will help me spread this approach better as well as associate people with music. We need more people to be contributors to the movement of music.”
His goal is to empower people with skills they are good at. He wants people to bring out their inner artiste with a system that is personalised for them. So to people who want to learn, he says: “Come and join me. I will help you breakthrough whatever is holding you back. I’ll take you to a place where you will be free to play what you like. Be happy. Don’t get stuck. Let’s do it one-step-at a time.”
For details visit >www.musicaljourney.in or call 9886725837.
