Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music (both liturgical and secular). It encompasses a broad period from roughly the 11th century to the present day.
The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.

Sudha Raghunathan is a Carnatic composer and vocalist from South India. Sudha Raghunathan received her initial training in Carnatic music from her mother V. Choodamani. From the age of three, she began to learn bhajans, Hindu devotional songs. Her tutelage continued under B. V. Lakshman. In 1977, she received an Indian government scholarship to study music under a doyenne of Carnatic music, Dr. M. L Vasantha Kumari, whose student she remained for thirteen years. The early years of her training under Dr. ML Vasanthakumari involved considerable amounts of listening to the teacher and other practitioners to absorb their style and oeuvre. Part of her duties involved the accompaniment on the tanpura of her teacher during concerts,and occasionally singing the higher registers.