Well done, Andy. Take it easy: rushed progress will be short lived and provide plenty of frustrating moments. I guess progress is music is a bit like the hare and the tortoise story.
Thx RR. I was totally exhausted for a couple of days after the exam, presumably the after effect of several months of concentration, trying to learn a lot of new skills all at once - plus Grade 3 Theory, and the exam being way out of my comfort zone. Got my mojo back now, but have moved over mostly to the tenor sax to bring that up to my alto standard (which I still play every day), but it's a new learning curve as the embouchure and blowing is different. Fortunately, the keys are in the same relative places, but a bit further apart. Progress frustratingly slow, and two steps forward, one back, but my teacher is excellent - loads of patience and I completely let her set the pace and direction. She only puts pupils into exams when she knows they'll get a strong pass.
Becoming 'legitimate' (in that I've passed a music exam - beyond my wildest imagination a few years ago) has given me some confidence that I can do this, given enough time and diligence, and it's only anno domini and my natural limit of ability that will curtail how far I get.
And I really enjoy playing the sax.