Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925–1991) and only child of Sheila Eileen (née Harris; 1925–2017).[30][31][32] He was raised in a council house in Pinner by his maternal grandparents. His parents married in 1945,[33] when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house.[34][35][36] He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School, until he was 17, when he left just prior to his A-Level examinations to pursue a career in music.[37][38][39] When John began to consider a career in music seriously, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking.[40][37] John has said that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after a restrictive childhood.[39] Both his parents were musically inclined, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that played at military dances.[39] The Dwights were keen record buyers, exposing John to the popular singers and musicians of the day. John started playing his grandmother's piano as a young boy,[41] and within a year his mother heard him picking out Waldteufel's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear.[37][38] After performing at parties and family gatherings, at age seven he began formal piano lessons. He showed musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies, and gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions. At age 11, he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. According to one of his instructors, John promptly played back, like a "gramophone record", a four-page piece by George Frideric Handel after hearing it for the first time.