For the love of ebony or a certificate?

Every time I walk into a house that has a grand piano and run my fingers over its ebony keys, the sounds bring back memories.

Memories of learning the perfect notes under the watchful eyes of my music teacher, and of the joys of playing on my great grandmother’s piano in front of relatives on special occasions.

Since then, the popularity of the piano has only increased, and this is evident from the growing number of students learning the piano, one exam at a time. And this is where the discordant note lies.

The wrong keys
Dana D’Souza developed an interest in the piano when she was eight, and soon started taking lessons. Today, six years later, she is studying for her Grade 5 (Western classical music exams, practical and theory, are held in grades from 1-8) at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). The class IX student isn’t sure she wants to pursue music as a profession or even if she will find time to practise for her grades next year. But she continues to learn. “It is important to have co-curricular activities,” she says.

To have an “extra curricular activity” is the reason most learners across the country still take piano lessons. Children join piano classes and practise for hours just to get that certificate or grade that shows the world they are ‘good’ at the piano. After all, the certificate bears the seal of the UK-based ABRSM. The love of playing the piano, it appears, has taken a backseat to this all-important grade/certificate.

On a recent visit to the city, Soprano Patricia Rozario, who is also a pianist and teaches at the Royal College of Music, London, found herself doubting the value of the exams that she once cleared. “Children spend a whole year learning just for the exam. When it comes to the next level, they do not realise that playing the piano is so much more,” says Rozario.

The high (exam) note
Worldwide, the most popular exam for western classical music is the ABRSM — the institute has been conducting exams since 1889. Anthony Braganza, the ABRSM representative in Kolkata, stresses their necessity. “It tells people whether or not you are up to the mark. The certification is recognised world over. Otherwise, who is to say you are good?”

However, a veteran on the music scene, Rozario feels otherwise. “In my performing career I’ve never been asked ‘do you have a degree’. You are as good as you are at the time, then people take you on.”

This was what Merlin D’Souza, a composer and pianist, realised while playing at concerts in London. Having released her album Soul Yatra, D’Souza, who has a diploma in music from the Trinity College of Music, says giving the exams only helped her increase her repertoire in concertos, sonatas etc. “An exam is not necessary per se, but learning the basics is good,” she agrees.
 
Blame it on the teacher?
Shivam Khare has been teaching piano at the School of Symphony (SOS), a music school in New Delhi that trains students for the ABRSM, UK, and Western Rock Music Certifications from the Rock School of Music, UK. “It is an easy thing to teach for exams, most teachers are doing that. They [teachers] have passed their own exams by cramming and the cycle continues,” says Khare, adding that a balance between exams and a practical setup is needed.

Patricia D’Cunha, a Mumbai-based piano teacher, puts the popularity of the exams down to parental pressure. “Parents seem to want that certificate. They are so exam conscious. Personally, I believe that the child should be allowed to learn more,” she says.

Many teachers, if they realise a child is talented enough, advise their students to answer the exams. Brayan Gomez, the representative of the Trinity College of Music, London, in Kollam, Kerala, also runs a western classical music school, the Quilon School of Music. “It is up to teachers to choose whether to encourage the exam obsession or not. For the exams, we only send those students who are ready,” he says.