Vidyadhar Vyas is the third generation of his family to be a professional singer. His grandfather, Paṇḍit Ganesh Vyas, was a temple singer, not a professional classical musician, though he was also an amateur sitar player. His father, Narayanrao Vyas, trained as a classical vocalist under Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, who came from a similar background and became a leading disciple of the Gwalior gharānā of khyāl. Vidyadhar Vyas was trained in khyāl by his father. Thus music is passed on from generation to generation, sometimes within the ranks of a particular family, sometimes within a network of musicians from different families. In either case, the music is learned and memorized largely without the aid of writing, and thus depends for its transmission on close personal relationships between teachers and disciples.

A gharānā, literally "household", is a lineage of musicians sharing a particular style and repertoire, often associated (in the past) with a particular court. Often the founding of a gharānā is attributed to a particular musician, whose unique musical compositions and/or style are preserved by successive generations of disciples. Usually the latter comprise, in the first instance, his sons, grandsons, nephews etc. As the gharānā grows in prestige, it attracts disciples from outside the family, who may in their turn transmit the knowledge they have learned to their own family members and disciples.