Only Ever About the Songs - Maya’s Grade 1 Piano Merit
Maya Arun and her parents had different reasons for the same exam. Her parents thought that preparing for one would give her direction and a goal to work towards. Maya’s reason was simpler and entirely her own: “For me it’s just about learning and perfecting songs.” In June she passed RSL Grade 1 in classical piano with a Merit, at nine years old, at Trill Route in Indiranagar, Bangalore.
She has been learning here for two and a half years, all of it with the same teacher, and she is in Grade 4 at school. Away from the piano there is swimming, skating and art, and she plays for her parents, who she calls her biggest fans.
The three pieces
The three pieces she prepared came from three different traditions. Jupiter is Gustav Holst’s, from The Planets. Jasmine Flower Song is a Chinese folk melody. The Cuckoo is by the German composer August Eberhard Müller. Alongside the repertoire she played the grade’s technical work, which is assessed on its own.
Getting them perfect
Ask her what was hard and she does not say the notes. She learnt the songs pretty soon, she says; what took time was getting them perfect, and playing them in sequence without fumbling. That is the distance between knowing a piece and performing one, and it is what the practice was for.
What the examiner heard
The report came back with a Merit. The examiner described a confident performance with developing control of basic piano technique, said that her time and pulse were largely secure, and noted a clear engagement with the musical character of the pieces. Excellent on the whole at this level, they wrote.
Maya’s own verdict on the result was one word and three exclamation marks. “I loved showing it off to my class mates and teachers,” she said. The certificate is framed, and in the photograph above she is holding it with both hands.
The teacher who picks the songs
Her teacher is Sourav Guha Roy, who she calls Sourav sir and describes as an amazing teacher. What she says about him comes in two parts. He pushes her to be better and better, and he chooses the songs she learns - which she names as one of the things she loves about the lessons. The second part is broader. He has always inspired her to do her best and to love what she does. And he made her realise that with practice and hard work she can learn any song she wants, however hard it is. That last part she puts in his words: there is no substitute for hard work.
Grade 2 next
What she wants next is Grade 2, and past that, in her own words, to keep learning more and more songs. For a player who says the exam was only ever about the songs, that is a consistent place to be heading.
Congratulations, Maya.
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.
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