Musiri Subramania Iyer's initial training in music was under S. Narayanaswamy Iyer for two years, before moving to Chennai for more serious studies with violinist Karur Chinnaswami Iyer. Due to a lack of time to devote to teaching, Chinnaswami sent him to become the of renowned vocal teacher T.S. Sabhesa Iyer who lived in Purasawalkam. Musiri Subramania Iyer trained with him for 9 years in the guru shishya parampara, learning his guru's particular way of performing neraval that Musiri Subramania Iyer would later become famous for.