Hi, Iam nearly 10. I play Violin heading for G5, Clarinet G3, heading for Singing G4, G2 Piano and I am taking Music Theory G3 in march.
I don't know whether to apply to one of the music schools. My dad does not want me to go, nor does mum but she wouldn't stand in my way either, thaats even if I got in.
How good do you have to be? my technique needs some work my vibrato is getting there though. My little finger vibrato is not that good. My mum can't help me practice any more because she can not follow the harder pieces. she is not musical.
I f Iam not good enough it would be a waste of time looking. I think I could be good though because you can practice and play in the afternoon in school time and not have to come home and play every night.
I practice Piano most mornings for half an hour, with 1 hour lesson with singing per week. Violin I have an hour lesson and play 2 hours at orchestra and do 1 hour a day most days, I sometimes have Friday off Violin and only half an hour on Monday because I go to Brownies. I have half an hour on Clarinet and half on Theory, i do a bit of theory on Saturday morning, I only practice Clarinet half hour sunday and play it an hour at Orchestra. Have been playing Violin for 3 years, Piano 2, Clarinet a year. I think I nearly do as much music as I would at music school. With a full day at school.
i f you go can you tell me what it is like. What pieces did you play to get in?
Daisy

I'm sure you are very good at music, but if you mean places like the Purcell School of Music, then I'm afraid it's probably pointless. They want music prodigies who are like beyond grade 8 at your age, and also, they want a crazily high work ethic; at these places, you have normal lessons until 4pm, say, but then there is nothing but music practise over and over, for at least 2 or 3 hours a night. I don't think that music schools provide as good an education as other schools either, and they will invariably be boarding schools.

You're in year 5, right? Remember, regular secondary schools provide perfect oppurtunities for doing music, and in loads of towns, there is a saturday morning music school, where lots of young musicians play in orchestras and bands and do theory classes and stuff like that.

Well, I hope I haven't put you off, and I'm not an expert on music schools, but if you want to try to audition, then go for it! You do sound very talented from your achievements, I wasn't anywhere near as good as you at the same age!

You sound very musical and enthusiastic about playing your instruments, which is definitely good!! I'm afraid I don't know much about music schools and more qualified forum members can give you more advice! I hope you continue to have fun with your instruments and wish you good luck with whatever decision you decide to make!

I'll not bother, I am not grade 8 yet and I'll be a Vet instead

Good choice!!

I know someone who was at the Purcell school studying flute. She went to the same (state) junior school as No 2 son, and she certainly wasn't Grade 8 before the age of 10. In fact, she passed Grade 5 with merit at the end of Year 5, and was working towards Grade 7 when she left in Year 6. She gained a Saturday place at the Royal Academy then, and transferred from her local secondary school to the Purcell school a year or so later.

I believe that some of the specialist music schools are looking for potential as much as achievement, and that the best way forward is to arrange an informal "pre-audition" where you will be given realistic advice about your chance of getting a place.

Pudding,
Generally they look for a minimum of grade 5 distinction level at 11 years old so you DO stand a good chance. But they also look at potential so that if for example, a kid takes 4 or 5 whole yrs to get to grade 5 playing level - that's no good at all - if you see what I mean unless you can argue that you had a crab teacher in the 1st year? They do accept such an argument! They look at your history to gauge your potential. I was in RAM JA today and the Director said something to the effect that you cannot compare one who takes up an instrument at 3 with one who does so much later.

So those of you folks out there who plan to start their kids at 3 or 4 in formal musical learning, be warned! Your kid will look like they are less "talented."

On the other hand it is also not just a place for those with a love/passion for music plus so-called talent but also a pretty pressured place such that it may not be a good idea to go WITHOUT parental support. Please tell your parents frankly how you feel and try to enlist their support! It's very hard to survive there without their moral support. My girl wants to go to Menuhin but we said no and we do have good reasons despite her extraordinary progress, passion and commitment!

Alternatively, you could go to Saturday schools in junior conservatoires! Similar standard. The Director of Junior Academy said choose 2 contrasting pieces you REALLY like so that you'll play them not only (technically) well but also with ENJOYMENT! At your level, you need 2 grade 5 pieces you can play very well!

Finally, taking 3 instruments is not something that is encouraged in music schools or junior conservatoires UNLESS you can do WELL on ALL 3 PLUS also VERY WELL on the 1st. The 1st one must not be jeorpardized I was told today. If it is affected in the sense that you are not progressing very well on the 1st as a result of thinning your practice or practice time, then you cannot take the 3rd.

Hope that helps!

Probably a wise choice when you consider the relative instability of a career in music.

Mind you, veterinary medicine is no easy ride in the training either. I expect you already know that you'll need A levels in chemistry, biology, maths and English, all at grade A. The studying is tougher than becoming a doctor - 7 years in training and all those surgical and theoretical exams to pass as well. Hope your parents are saving up their cash to pay for it all

Yeah, univ will cost you a bomb! I should know - I went to univ on a massive loan but my friend went to do postgraduate at RAM (harpsichord) and paid no fees at all!!! She's now a teacher cum ABRSM examiner. So, Pudding, music can be a lot cheaper!

Don't worry about it, Pudding because no matter WHAT your decision may be - music school or not, etc, as long as you are (1) single-minded, (2) work VERY hard indeed (assuming you have a great music teacher to assist you) and truly ENJOY what you do, you'll be absolutely fine.

You are clearly very enthusiastic about your music. Don't give up on the idea of studying music. I think it would be unwise to make such a firm decision at your age. You do not say what marks you have obtained in your exams. At the very least I would go to a school with a high standard of music making if you can. Even if you decide against music as a career later on, you will have benefited from the experience and pleasure of making music with others in a good music environment which will last you for your whole life. Music has given me infinite pleasure in my life - accompanying singers and instruments on the piano, playing violin in orchestras and singing solo and in choirs. So go for it. Good luck.

i didn't have music lessons at your age, so i never had that choice to make! music schools look very good but a bit elitist! i've spent the last 5 years at a state secondary school, and have had brilliant luck in having a music department of 3 fantastically inspiring and dedicated music teachers for the last 3/4 years. there's still loads of opportunities to do music in state schools, so it's not like you need to give up - we do loads of concerts and performances and have started doing competitions too - and it's really easy to fill up a week with rehersals - for a point last year i was going to 3 band rehearsals (for a show) and a choir rehearsal, which eventually escalated up to 2 dress rehearsals and 4 performances in the week of the show, which was amazing fun! we also have 2 choirs and gospel singing sessions, about 3/4 bands (like orchestra/wind bands not small rock band type things - they're formed separately by pupils!) and a collection of various other ensembles, visits to music lectures and workshops running every now and then and we've also had a choir tour and been to london to the west end to see a show and do workshops and shopping!
if you want to be a vet, state school is probably better - i have the feeling music schools probably don't focus on mainstream subjects as much, so you might not get good grades in the subjects you need to be a vet.
on the other hand, if you really love music and want to practise like mad, then i suppose it could be a good idea, but personally i'd prefer to go through state school and then go to a specialist music college at 18 if i wanted to go into performance or whatever
hope some of my mad rambling is of some use!
hoxie
x

Pudding, our daughter's violin teacher advised her - Never choose to be a musician UNLESS you can't bear the thought of doing anything else (other than a musician) for the rest of your life! Excellent advice.

A friend's daughter studies violin at Cheethams and I don't think that she had more than a grade 5 before being accepted.
As has already been said I think they will be looking for potential and commitment.

Pudding, if you tried a Junior Conservatoire on Saturday mornings, you would still be able to go to a normal school but also get really good music education and meet musical people like ourself. Then, if when you are about to go into 6th form or 5th form, you decide music is your thing, you will not be at a disadvantage to people who have been at specialist schools, and you could get into one.

If Saturday music conservatoires aren't such an option, youth music organisations can be good too (and are usually a lot more local). I know my learning curve has accelerated with one just because you have to keep up with the pace - there are lots of opportunities within mine, such as playing at the Royal Albert Hall (now coming up to my fifth time!) and if I wasn't busy with brass sectionals, I could also have done theory (I find they're also a goldmine of helpful teachers too, when my non-Horn teacher can't help and they also have a one-time LSO violinist around). I end up playing for a minimum of 3/4 hours a week (add a further 2 1/2 hours for the organisation's Thursday night band plus whatever I get hired in for as a fairly rare Horn player), so it's helpful.

The organisation I belong to isn't a "get in/don't get in" one either - the audition just determines which band or string group you go into (I started at the bottom and have worked my way up to the orchestras). There are also non-audition midweek groups for jazz and stuff. I also know two Horn players - one who's gone on to the Royal Academy and the other who's doing a junior conservatoire - so if you're serious these kind of things might prove a springboard without damaging any chances.

Good luck whatever you decide

I tend to agree with Bohemian.

Pudding, I have a little girl who loves music like you and like you, she wants to go to Menuhin or Purcell where she can play music much of the day. She thinks it'll be wonderful as she still sees us in the weekends. She has met kids from music specialist schools in the past who seem to be having a whale of a time there. However, we let her try for JG's STP or RAM's PA first on Saturdays and she can go to a normal state school at the same time. Like a half-way house/option/transition.

Then if she decides LATER that music is her thing, she will not be at a disadvantage to people who have been at specialist schools as she has been receiving and enjoying similar stuff at junior conservatory, and so she could THEN get into one.

Pudding, do you live within travelling distance of a junior conservatoire?

Tess

tESS, Mum says its at least a two hour drive to a saturday school. I realy like my teacher. We went to look at Leeds ages ago now at Yorkshire Young Musicians who do same thing on a sunday. which is only 1 hour 15. I didn't like it much. They play a lot of wierd indian instruements which I am not bothered with. It was only small too with about 4 other string players. I want to meet lots of people. They would not let me carry on seeing my own teacher. I wish I lived in London. My nearest is the Manchester Northern. Mum got me an extra hour lesson instead, so I have an hour Violin and an hour piano. they only do 1/2 hour second study at leeds. I play in the orchestra too.
Mum says she has spoken to you before.

Yes, your mum is right, Pudding, it can be a very long journey for some! That's why as I've said, it's a serious commitment so whatever decision you take, you need your parents' moral support behind you. I'm pleased that you still have one hour violin and one hour piano. At RAM's Primary Academy and RCM's Junior Dept, the kids get 45 mins for their 1st instrument and 30 mins for their 2nd although if you are very advanced, you can request for 1 hr for the 1st. As I've said you are not encouraged to take a 3rd unless you can do well in all 3.

So in a way, you are very lucky already, Pudding. Just keep being active and playing in orchestras plus know a bit of your theory. Perhaps you can consider doing what VN who is one yr younger than you is doing. She now takes 1 hr violin plus orchestral involvement in 2 orchestras plus looking at music theory books and when she gets to 12 and 15 years old, we'll ask her what she'd like to do THEN at each of these stages. At that age, it's easier for you and your parents to see where you are heading especially since some folks here on the forum have said they found their direction to be in music, in Year 9?

VN is slightly different to you in that she has a terrible - really terrible - music service/trust! The local east London borough music theory teacher was absent 75% of the time with neither apology nor notice! Replacement supply teacher was there only twice. So VN gets fed up turning up each time but no lesson! In addition, the choir was in shambles! As if this wasn't enough, VN also told me she cannot stand the boys being rude to her very nice orchestral conductor. It upset her. So we then moved her to another borough's music service far away where she is happy now even though she plays with kids a lot older than her and more interested in boys and make-up than she is but then they offer her no music theory on Sats plus journeywise, it is MUCH further and MUCH more inconvenient than JG or RAM in London. Consequently, it's a lot easier to move her to London. Junior Guildhall, for example, is only a 20 mins(!!!) train journey away from home (and home being within walking distance of our train station so she can even have musical sleepovers!) and both their fees and RAM's Primary Academy's are relatively cheap albeit only if we do not retain her current teacher. Much cheaper than RCM JD's! Unlike your case, Pudding, of a 2-hr drive!

Having said that if you were old enough to travel to Manchester, by yourself like say, aged 12+, my view is that 2 or 3 hours is still worth it if you LOVE music and is dead serious about it. There are lots of teenage kids we know in RCM who come THAT far and beyond, every Sat.

Hope you are happier now.

From the children I know who are at Chetham's in Manchester they were accepted for their potential rather than expecting them to be at a set level on entry. The children all seem to have a great time and are not allowed to neglect their academic studies.
Their web address is www.chethams.com if you want to look into it more. as someone has mentioned earlier you can always ring and ask for an advice audition which won't commit you to applying if you then feel it's not for you.