Studying music in uk Options

[Arundodonuts]

I'm going to call a spade a spade here. If you are 19 and grade 5 on the violin then you have virtually no chance of getting into a conservatoire. Depending on your academic qualifications you may get onto a music degree at university but not for performance and certainly not at a sought after university.

That very much depends when you decide to audition and attempt to get in.

I do not have enough information to be that dismissive. Huddersfield had mature students who went on and did Post-grad qualifications at conservertoires, this included string players.

Indeed. I once jokingly mentioned to a prof at the RNCM that I would come for an audition once I reached the required standard. I was told, quite seriously, that providing I could pass the audition and, crucially, pay the fees, age would not be a bar. I may have left it just a little late though. I suspect once my pension comes through it won't cover the fees.

More seriously, I believe Manchester University has a decent music department.

[andante]

I'm going to call a spade a spade here. If you are 19 and grade 5 on the violin then you have virtually no chance of getting into a conservatoire. Depending on your academic qualifications you may get onto a music degree at university but not for performance and certainly not at a sought after university.

That very much depends when you decide to audition and attempt to get in.

I do not have enough information to be that dismissive. Huddersfield had mature students who went on and did Post-grad qualifications at conservertoires, this included string players.

Indeed. I once jokingly mentioned to a prof at the RNCM that I would come for an audition once I reached the required standard. I was told, quite seriously, that providing I could pass the audition and, crucially, pay the fees, age would not be a bar. I may have left it just a little late though. I suspect once my pension comes through it won't cover the fees.

More seriously, I believe Manchester University has a decent music department.

My mum left school with no qualifications at 15, in the days when it wasn't necessary for a girl going into office work. She studied in the evenings when she was a young married woman and got O levels in English, Geography and History. I think she got a D in maths. Then she did A level English lit when my sister did it, again at a night school class. Much later when we had left home she decided to look into a degree. She phoned up one of her local universities and said she was very mature, and didn't look good on paper, was there any way she could do a degree. They invited her along for a chat. She wrote out what she wanted from a degree and why she wanted to do it, and handed it in like an essay when she went to meet them. She was accepted onto a full time course in English language and literature, and graduated three years later, a month before she turned 60. She then taught A level English for a number of years at a local 6th form college.

It's never too late, and for mature students they are more flexible on entrance requirements.

[owainsutton]

More seriously, I believe Manchester University has a decent music department.

Indeed, and decent alumni, too (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

If you want to find out the importance placed on performance at different universities, take a look at how the course credits break down. Normally each year consists of 120 credits, so somewhere with 40 credits available for final-year performance is very different from somewhere offering 10!

Quite what options you'll have to take performance modules later in the course might depend on how well you achieve in the first two years, but can also depend on your qualifications on entry - for example, I think I'm right in saying that Leeds only takes people with Grade 8 distinction into its more performance-heavy course.

[Chris H]

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses. If you audition for conservatoire you need to be playing at grade 8 distinction level or above, but you do not need to have taken the exam, just prove that you can play at that level at audition. Some people play grade 8 pieces at audition, but most play pieces from the diploma syllabus.

[owainsutton]

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses

Not necessarily, not for university courses. I just look a look at three websites at random (Bristol, Sheffield and Glasgow) - one simply requires Grade 8 to have been passed, one requires a merit, and one doesn't say.

[Arundodonuts]

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses. If you audition for conservatoire you need to be playing at grade 8 distinction level or above, but you do not need to have taken the exam, just prove that you can play at that level at audition. Some people play grade 8 pieces at audition, but most play pieces from the diploma syllabus.

Yes I get the impression that the standard required by the conservatories is now well above Grade 8. The competiton is fierce especially since these days there is a worldwide pool of applicants many of who started playing before they could walk. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[Chris H]

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses. If you audition for conservatoire you need to be playing at grade 8 distinction level or above, but you do not need to have taken the exam, just prove that you can play at that level at audition. Some people play grade 8 pieces at audition, but most play pieces from the diploma syllabus.

Yes I get the impression that the standard required by the conservatories is now well above Grade 8. The competiton is fierce especially since these days there is a worldwide pool of applicants many of who started playing before they could walk. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Just spotted you've changed your name (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) My son has got into conservatoire and started playing when he was ten. I think it depends on the instrument!

[jod]

Leeds, Manchester, Huddersfield, York all have decent departments.

Competition is high at 19.

Departments view mature students differently.

MNW is your point of view based on experience or hearsay?

I'm reporting what I saw at college, and where people are now.

[Arundodonuts]

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses. If you audition for conservatoire you need to be playing at grade 8 distinction level or above, but you do not need to have taken the exam, just prove that you can play at that level at audition. Some people play grade 8 pieces at audition, but most play pieces from the diploma syllabus.

Yes I get the impression that the standard required by the conservatories is now well above Grade 8. The competiton is fierce especially since these days there is a worldwide pool of applicants many of who started playing before they could walk. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Just spotted you've changed your name (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Well if you can't beat 'em........ (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

My son has got into conservatoire and started playing when he was ten. I think it depends on the instrument!

Oh I'm sure you don't need to have been weaned on music, but I think entry standards are pretty high these days. If I remember rightly, RNCM took 6 oboists this year.

[Chris H]

Six is a lot! They usually take four saxophonists I think.

Rob Buckland says the standard of saxophonists at RNCM is "ridiculously high".

Usually grade 8 distinction is the level required for most music courses

Not necessarily, not for university courses. I just look a look at three websites at random (Bristol, Sheffield and Glasgow) - one simply requires Grade 8 to have been passed, one requires a merit, and one doesn't say.

I stand corrected. I'm more used to conservatoire requirements, we didn't really look at universities.

[MNW]

Jod, I did say that he would not be at the required level for conservatoire but said he may get onto an academic course at a university. I never criticised any university although 3 A's are required at some and even so the musical standard is often higher than grade 5.

As for experience, well for a while now I have been involved with members of staff at conservatoires and specialist schools and the standard for violin is beyond grade 8 and beyond diploma. That is not to say one has to have passed such an exam. Conservatoires attract the best from all over the world who have the experience, have gone beyond all these exams, won prestigious competitions and have been involved in music for years. Maybe things were different when you were at university or the standard required was much less. If the latter is the case then I'm pleased an establishment exists for late starters, or those who are not as talented or have not had every advantage afforded to them.

[owainsutton]

Jod, I did say that he would not be at the required level for conservatoire but said he may get onto an academic course at a university. I never criticised any university although 3 A's are required at some and even so the musical standard is often higher than grade 5.

It's worth noting that the a 3 A's requirement is all about supply and demand, and it indicates the popularity of the department and the university as a whole, which doesn't always correspond to the quality of teaching on offer. There's some popular universities where I wouldn't rate the music course as highly as the entrance requirements would suggest, and vice versa with some less fashionable destinations.

[Roseau]

Maybe things were different when you were at university or the standard required was much less. If the latter is the case then I'm pleased an establishment exists for late starters, or those who are not as talented or have not had every advantage afforded to them.

I think things have probably changed. One of my schoolfriends went to Huddersfield thirty years ago. She got a merit at her grade 8 on her main instrument when she was in the upper sixth.

[soccermom]

I think we can all agree one wouldn't get into a conservatoire to study violin with grade 5. However, Violingeek talked about applying in 2 or 3 years. None of us know how much progress will have been made in that time, but I think grade 8 or more should be perfectly manageable for someone who is dedicated enough to put in the necessary amount of practice. That still might not be enough for a conservatoire, of course, especially on the violin, but it's not an impossibility.

I have also heard good things about Manchester's music department and I imagine it would be a comparatively cheap place to live.

[Chris H]

Manchester is one of the top unis for music and you need AAA or AAB to get in.