Musical Aptitude Tests for secondary school entry

I think my daughter would do OK at the audition round as she plays a less common instrument but she needs to pass the MAT or she'll never get the chance to play.

The first round is quite peculiar and I do think it's worth trying some prep as the tests I bought online weren't expensive (£15ish I think) and she went through them with her theory teacher so at least she has some idea what to expect. This is nothing compared to the months of extra tuition that students do for the 11+ To grammar schools! She's got mates that have been prepped since Year 4 to do the grammar school entry tests.

what is prep though? There is no such thing as pure aptitude without any sort of input. Musicality is developed through exposure to music. Last minute prep won't work but of course certain prep for the activities they do helps. Sports is different bc your daughter was probably training and competing anyway (which is prep!). Nobody would say there is natural sports aptitude that will shine through without ever doing sport. It's the same for music. It is highly unlikely that a completely untrained children without any exposure or musical training whatsoever will suddenly magically shine. It is always the same kids who have gone through a strings programme / junior conservatory / started lessons at age 5 etc.. I believe in aptitude but the notion that you can measure pure aptitude that is unrelated to training or practice is seriously misguided.

We didn't. My daughter did. Sports aptitude test and we did no prep or practice as I was fairly sure her natural ability would shine through whatever they got her to do - it did and she scored 10 percentage points over the score required. If they actually have aptitude you shouldn't need to prep.

@DivisionBelle Yup we are prepping for the test, I am sure the other scholarship candidates will be too!

TeenTimesTwo - what , you mean like the 11+ is an ability test and doesn't need any tutoring or prepping?

This seems ridiculous!

Surely the whole point of aptitude tests is to test some kind of innate ability? If people are prepping, doing courses and being tutored then either the aptitude bit is a scam or they are wasting their time & money.

What am I missing?

We're preparing for the tests this Autumn and found this video useful for the texture section:

Hi everyone, hope it's all right to post on here even though I'm not a parent. One of my student's mums told me to share this on mumsnet.

I'm a private music teacher in Bristol UK and loads of my students have been going through MAT tests recently as we have Bristol Cathedral School here – they do around thousand admissions a year using the musical aptitude test.

Over the last year I've put together some free tests and courses for students, parents and teachers to assist the preparation for this exam. There's loads of information and tips on how to practice, even if you've never studied music before.

I've put these free courses up on my website for everyone. Hope it helps

teaching.jackvaughan.co/musical-aptitude-test-course/

Hi, does anyone have any info on the music aptitude test at cardinal vaughan? Many thanks

My DD scored 96 for her Mill hill county music aptitude test which is far above the cut off point around 65.

We used the materials from this website
lorenzoroccomusic.co.uk

It covers the Ashmole Academy, Claremont high, Camden girls and Watford grammar school as well as far as I can tell. Hope it will help to prepare you child in your area.

My daughter is doing the Chancellor's test in September and we're having a bit of a panic over the Texture section. We've done the online tests and feel pretty confident with the other sections, but it's the one in this video that we find the hardest. Does anyone have any tips on how we can prepare for this section? Thanks!

We did the Ashmole Academy test and got through to Round 2 although were not selected at the second stage as the instrument offered was violin around Grade 3 level of playing. The MAT tests we found via this link were useful for getting a high mark at Stage 1: musicaptitudetest.wordpress.com/

Hi Jules, what do you want to know about the Ashmole audition?

Can anyone tell me anything useful about the music aptitude test for Ashmole Academy? Thanks.

There are some new MAT online resources including pitch, melody texture and rhythm exercises here www.musicaptitude.co.uk They have downloadable tests and CDs as well.

Is it just me or is this texture question really hard?

I'm glad I found the link with the sample music aptitude tests - the video with the sample questions is not what I was expecting at all, I was thinking it would be more like the exam aural tests. Just as well we can get some practice in before the test in Autumn!

Applications are due soon for 2013 scholarships. Here's some ideas on how to prepare for the scholarships. Very best of luck to all applying!

se22pianoschool.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/music-scholarship-checklist-use-summer-to-get-ready-for-the-impending-auditions/

Dukat - here's some info about Stage 2. Fingers crossed for Monday!
wp.me/p14DPs-rw

I'm 0.7 of a mile from Fortismere and not in catchment. I'm going to try DD for the music place next year so this thread has been very useful.

I think it's vital to prepare for the MAT as it's not that similar to the graded aural tests so there will be some unfamiliar subject matter for students that have only been preparing for ABRSM or Trinity graded exams.

Thanks for this information - it will be useful in preparation. Perhaps naively I just thought it would be OK to go into the test on her own musical merit, but if everyone is prepping even for the music tests then I guess you have to do the same.

I just had a look at the Admissions information for Fortismere (www.haringey.gov.uk/fortismere_-_determined_admission_arrangements_2010.pdf) and the MAT consists of a multiple choice test lasting up to 40 minutes. There will be 60 questions in total in four sections: pitch, rhythm, texture and melody.

This sounds like the standard 60-question MAT that is used for State Secondary School Admission, so I have included the information here.

I spend a lot of time with my students in the run-up to the MAT priming them to answer these kinds of questions, so do get their teacher to spend some time giving them sample questions as below. I hope this is of help to you:

The Musical Aptitude Test, played on a CD, is a multiple choice paper consisting of 60 questions which will be divided into 4 sections covering the following areas:-

Pitch: For these questions candidates listen to 2 sounds and have to indicate whether the second sound is the same as the first, or whether it is higher or lower. There are 20 of these questions and some of the pitches are less than a semitone apart.

Melody: For these questions candidates listen to 2 tunes consisting of 5 notes. Candidates have to decide whether the second tune is the same as the first or if one of the notes has been altered. If there is a change, candidates will be expected to identify which note has been altered by giving the note number. There are 10 questions.

Texture: For these questions candidates listen to a number of notes played together at the same time. Candidates need to decide whether or not each chord has 2, 3 or 4 notes. There are 20 questions.

Rhythm: For these questions candidates listen to 2 patterns of notes and have to decide whether the second pattern is the same as or different to the first. Each rhythm will be 4 beats in length. There are 10 questions.