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We examine the friction between oral music transmission and formal curriculum structures inside three Central Asian conservatories — the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory (Almaty), the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan (Tashkent), and the Kyrgyz National Conservatory (Bishkek). The analytical lens is drawn from M. Polanyi’s tacit knowledge theory and I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi’s SECI model of knowledge conversion. We worked through publicly available syllabi, programme descriptions, accreditation reports, and institutional data from these three institutions. The core finding is what we call epistemic mismatch: a structural clash between the codified, modular, outcome-based knowledge that Bologna-style curricula demand and the tacit, embodied, relationally transmitted knowledge on which oral music traditions survive. A “two curricula” phenomenon emerged from the data — formal written documents describing traditional music programmes coexist with an entirely separate enacted curriculum that teachers actually follow in the studio. The Aga Khan Music Programme’s work in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, reaching over 7,000 students in 80 schools, is analysed as an attempted epistemic bridge. We propose a three-principle framework: protected pedagogical space for oral transmission within credit structures, competence-based assessment replacing written examination, and audio-visual documentation replacing notation.