It Started With a Toy Keyboard – Advay’s RSL Grade 3

Advay Praveen was three when his grandmother gave him a toy keyboard. That is where he dates the whole thing from. He is twelve now, has four graded music exams behind him, and in February he passed RSL Grade 3 in classical piano with a Merit, scoring 79% - his first exam under a new board.

What he likes about the instrument has not changed much since the toy one. He puts it in a single line: he can try any tune on his keyboard. That is the appeal - sitting down with something he has heard and finding out whether it will come out right. Away from the keys he cycles, reads, and writes a blog of his own.

Four grades, and a change of board

Advay has been learning with us for two years, and in that time he has worked steadily up a ladder: Trinity’s opening grade, then Grade 1, then Grade 2. For his fourth exam he changed boards, moving across to RSL and entering at Grade 3. It was his first time under the new syllabus, and he says he simply set out to give his best.

Switching boards partway through is more common than families expect. The boards do not require you to have taken their own lower grades first, so a student can move across and enter at the level that matches their playing - which is what Advay did. We have written about how the boards differ in our guide to music grade exams in Bangalore.

The three pieces

The programme mixed the modern with the classical. He opened with two character pieces, Witches And Wizards and Sniffing Around, and finished on the fourth movement of Haydn’s Sonata in G major, Hob. XVI:8 - the Allegro. The examiner’s report picked out his command of accented notation, his dynamics and expressive markings, and the rallentando at the close, and found a pleasing understanding of articulation and style in the Haydn.

Practising until the mistakes ran out

The hardest part, he says, was repetition: practising the same lessons over and over until there were minimal mistakes left in them. There is no shortcut hiding in that answer, and there is rarely one available. He also asked us to pass on his thanks to Peter Sir, for what he calls constant support and guidance - “he played a key role in my preparation”.

The result

A Merit at 79%, and a clean start on the new board. What he says he felt was happy - specifically, happy that he has now moved up to the next level.

What he wants next

Not another grade, as it turns out. What he says he wants is to give more stage performances - to take the playing off the practice stool and put it in front of people.

Congratulations, Advay.

Piano and keyboard lessons at Trill Route in Indiranagar, Bangalore run one-on-one and in duos, for complete beginners through to students preparing Trinity and RSL grade exams - you can see how they work on our piano and keyboard page.