Renowned for his high pitched voice and tonal purity (known in Carnatic music as sruti), Musiri Subramania Iyer was considered a great exponent of bhava, bringing out the full emotional content of each krithi that he sang. His patanthara of several krithis has his special stamp, which can be easily recognized when they are rendered by his disciples. He was a specialist in "neraval" singing and also vilamba sangitham, a slower tempo song designed to exude tranquility and bring out the full emotional content of the ragas and krithis that he rendered. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who was a contemporary of Musiri Subramania Iyer, said "Musiri Subramania Iyer brought "gauravam" (dignity) to our profession." He also heralded Musiri's dedication to bhava by saying "He used to be so lost in "bhava" that he never thought of evoking any response."