Basavi Mukerji was born into a musically aware family residing in Kanpur and imbibed the rudiments of Hindustani music from a very early age. Starting more seriously at age twelve, she trained in classical vocal music under Pt. Bhagwan Dayal Srivastava (Gwalior Gharana), Pt. Kashinath Shankar Bodus (Gwalior Gharana in the direct lineage of Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar) and Pt. Ram Sewak Tiwari (Darbhanga Gharana), all in Kanpur. Thereafter she further trained in vocal music for a number of years with Pt. A. Kanan (Kirana Gharana) in Calcutta and then studied the higher subtleties of music with Padmabhushan Dr. Prabha Atrre (Kirana Gharana) in Mumbai, where she stayed for about six years. During this period she was deeply influenced by the prevalent Jaipur-Atrauli style of singing and incorporated it into her musical personality. Not one to sit on her laurels, Basavi continues her training in rare ragas of the Gwalior-Jaipur schools from Pt. Vikas Kashalkar of Poona as well as Dr. Prabha Atrre.