Chowdiah had his first public performance at the age of 17. He was asked to perform after the violinist intended failed to show up. A turning point in Chowdiah's career came in 1920 when he accompanied
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar at a concert in
Madras (now Chennai). Following this, he became a regular accompanist for many leading vocalists. Until 1926, he would practice for 14 to 16 hours a day, while also often accompanying Krishnappa in concerts. That year marked the beginning of his solo concert career. Chowdiah played the four-
stringed violin during his formative years. In 1927, when he was an accompanying violinist, he noted that the audience seated in the back rows during the performances were unable to clearly hear the recitals due to absence of
amplification devices during the time. He added three strings to overcome this and began playing with a seven-string violin. However, Chowdiah's seven-string violin was seen by many critics and performers as an attempt at self-promotion. Another violinist
G. N. Balasubramaniam mocked him calling him "Soundiah", implying that though the two reconciled later and performed together. C. S. Iyer, brother of physicist
C. V. Raman, was a performer and critic, who said in 1942 that the seven-stringed violin should be consigned to the depths of the
Bay of Bengal. An enraged Chowdiah got up and ran towards the dais brandishing his violin bow. He was restrained from bodily-harming Iyer. In 1947, Chowdiah came with a 12-stringed violin to play but he was prevailed upon by
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer who was that year's conference president not to go ahead with the demonstration. All major practitioners continue to use the traditional four-stringed violin only. However, V. Sethuramiah, Chowdiah's disciple, mostly used seven-stringed violin. In 1939, Chowdiah was appointed the
Asthana Vidwan (court musician) of the Mysore royal court by
Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV. with the help of K. Puttu Rao, a Mysore-based music enthusiast. ==Personal life==