Vinayakrao accepted teaching assignments at the various branches of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, including those in
Bombay,
Nagpur and
Lahore. Vinayakrao's high-pitched voice was popular with the masses, and specifically caught the attention of actor/singer
Bal Gandharva. On one occasion, the
Gwalior veteran Ramkrishna Buwa Vazhe offered a challenge to singers in
Pune. Vinayakrao accepted this challenge and proceeded to learn complex
ragas from Vazhe. In the late 1940s, when
Bhimsen Joshi was searching for a teacher, he met Vinayakrao in
Jalandhar. Vinayakrao advised him to learn from
Sawai Gandharva. Later, Patwardhan took up roles in
Marathi musicals. Heeding his teacher's admonition about singing for films, Vinayak went to Pune and established his own branch of the
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Despite his young age, he had decided to dedicate himself to teaching music and ignored the lure of drama and film. Vinayakrao trained disciples who became well known, including his guru's son,
D.V. Paluskar, and
Sunanda Patnaik.
Singer Vinayakrao Patwardhan's singing reflected the simple and straightforward approach to ragas, which is the characteristic of the Gwalior Gharana style. His favorite ragas included
Bahar,
Adana,
Multani,
Malhar,
Jaijaivanti,
Hameer and
Bhairav-bahar. He performed in most of the important music festivals. He was one of the few practicing musicians of the time who wrote textbooks on music. In his seven-part
Raaga Vigyan series, Vinayakrao described the important aspects of various ragas as well as their grammar. In his concerts and recordings, his fellow-student
Narayanrao Vyas accompanied Vinayakrao. == Recognition ==