Jorhat, Sept. 11: A guitarist from Assam has managed to attract the attention of children from the US and France in learning the basics of the six strings online.

Amitabh Baruah, the lead guitarist and founder of popular rock band Brahmaputra Boys, has enrolled students from the US and France to his online music institute - iRock Academy of Music - the first of its kind in the state.

"iRock is the first institute in the state to start an online music school. I have students from the US and France who have been learning guitar online," Baruah, the Guwahati-based guitarist from Jorhat, told The Telegraph. He started the online course about three months back.

The idea to start an online music school struck Baruah when he was in Delhi to take part in the North East Festival last year.

"Emielyn Das, an NRI, had come to participate in the festival from the US. She was probably impressed with my guitar playing and gave me the idea to start an online music school. Her mother, who is from Guwahati, helped me launch the institute and enrol students from abroad," he said.

iRock currently has six students from the US and four from France. Baruah charges $15 to $20 from these students for an hourlong class. Most of these students are schoolchildren.

"One of the main reasons why these students are coming to me is the fee I charge, when compared to that in the US and France, is negligible. I charge only $20 for each class but the same course would cost them $70 to $80 in those countries," he said.

Baruah said it was not an easy job to start the online institute owing to poor Internet connectivity. "I had to opt for broadband with optical cable facility for better net connectivity," he said.

The guitarist, who is also a song writer and vocalist of Brahmaputra Boys, said there have been enquiries from students of several other countries but he has not been able to enrol more students because of the time factor. "We have 12-hour time difference with the US and about three and a half hour with France so I have to plan accordingly," he said.

He said, as most of the students in the US are schoolchildren, they prefer to take the class in the evening. "For me it is morning the next day here," he said.

Apart from the online music institute, Baruah also has a music institute for local students at Guwahati - G for Guitar - where he teaches guitar to about 50 students.

Brahmaputra Boys is a popular band in Upper Assam. The five-member band, which plays mostly rock music, is a regular feature at parties held by the tea and oil sectors. The band has been performing at various platforms in other northeastern states too.