'Piano is my passion, I don't want to earn money from it'

When kids his age were busy playing with toys and video games, Abhay Goyle was busy taking piano classes from his grandfather. Having tasted limelight even before foraying into his teens, his talent truly sets him apart from the rest which he has been constantly honing since the age of six. He has also been recorded in the Limca Book of Records as Youngest Talent on Grand Piano in the year 2007, when he was just 12.

His grandfather Arun Kumar Goyle played his mentor, along with his teacher Jaideep Lakhtakia with support of Kumar Nanu on percussions and Tulsi Ram on tabla. Out of the many respected and reputed artistes he has shared space with on stage on various performances are Dr L Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurthy, Nitin Mukesh, Pankaj Udhas, Late Jagjit Singh, Amjad Ali Khan, Anup Jalota, Late Naushad Ali, Alka Yagnik and Sudesh Bhosle.

Abhay owns six pianos in all, out of which two are electric, and one of them portable, three grand pianos and one upright piano. However, his favourite remains the grand piano, “The sound quality of the grand piano is really good and they look very good too. I love playing old Hindi songs on it.” 

Having his tried his hands on guitar too, he says, piano is his first love, “I have taken few classes from my piano teacher on guitar, but left that soon. My first love and passion will always be a piano.” On asking whether, he would like to pursue it as a career, he shares, “I am pursuing BBA and want to help my father in his business. Playing piano is my passion and I would never like to earn money from it. Even if I am offered money, either I say no to it or it goes straightaway to a charitable trust.”

The child prodigy has topped the Trinity College of London, Grade 7 exam in North India through Theme Piano School, New Delhi  and further completed his Grade 8. Excelling in diverse themes, he plays devotional, patriotic, Hindi and English melodies. Responding to a query that there were fewer number of people pursuing piano, Abhay says, “Learning piano needs a lot of patience. Some of my friends tried learning piano, but left it in the middle because they found it really tough. I had the advantage of learning it from a very young age because of my grandfather.”

But, isn’t managing time an issue? “When I was in school it was, but now that I am in college, I get enough time to practise. In school I had to manage time between studies, friends, play time, television, self-studies, etc. But, it is easy now.”
Abhay with his other bouquet of instrumentals has also played a special Tamil Classical piece for President APJ Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in 2005 which the President really appreciated. Abhay’s debut album ‘Magical Journey’ – Hits of Kishore Kumar was also released in December 2011. 
Giving helpful tips to the young generation, the pianist says, “If you are interested in anything you should give your 100 per cent to pursue it – be it photography or painting. One should not spend too much time on phones and games, rather should spend time on useful things and chase one’s passion and dreams and make them into reality.”