[1] Krishnaswami's first mentor in Carnatic music was a family musician friend named Gopaalachaari.

After completing secondary education, she enrolled for the Sangeeta Siromani course in Kalakshetra at Adayar, Chennai.

At Kalakshetra she came under the influence of doyens like Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tiger Varadachariar and Papanasam Sivan.

They are: Mysore Vasudevachar, Budalur Krishnamurthy Saastry,[2][circular reference] Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tiger Varadaachaariar and Paapanaasam Sivan.

She rendered Desikar's Achuta Satakam in the ancient Prakrit language and set it to music.