Abstract

Music is of central importance in the daily life of peoples. It forms a part of the habit of people. Music may bring peace to mind, promote relaxation, and lower tension. It may be said that music considerably impacts human life. Although in India, music has made its journey from being an oral tradition in the form of guru-shishya parampara to institutional learning in modern classroom settings, students may not always choose to study music academically in an educational institute. Even individuals with keen interest, liking, and love for music are often seen opting to study non-musical subjects at the college level, though many of them study music non-academically, outside the college system of education. The present study was conducted among college students of Kolkata, who were studying non-musical subjects at the undergraduate level, to investigate the musical preferences, involvement level in music and appreciation towards music as a career, in relation to gender. A descriptive survey with the help of a structured questionnaire was carried out for the study. The obtained results were analyzed with suitable statistics. The findings were discussed, and conclusions were made regarding the outcome of the study.