Music / singing for 11 plus

[mesha123]

Hi,

My daughter is very interested in learning to sing. She is 8 years old and have good voice and good rhythm as well.

I am not sure whether she should learn western classical or pop music. I wonder which one is valid for the 11 plus.

She has been learning since couple of months with an opera singer. The teacher is great but she is more inclined towards her learning opera type singing or western classical singing which my dd doesn't find very interesting.

Which type of singing is acceptable for the 11 plus music category?

Are both Trinity and abrsm board accepted for 11 plus?

Thanks

What schools are you looking at? I'm assuming you are aiming at private schools, as there is no music element to the state grammar school 11+. If you are looking at the specialist state schools such as Tring performing arts, it's best to check their individual requirements.

Some state schools will have a music aptitude test for Yr 7, but that usually doesn't require a certain level of pre-attainment as the point is aptitude. You would need to look at each admissions policy for guidance on how they assess, as it will differ by school.

Private schools will differ in terms of what they look for from music scholars, but it would normally be 2 instruments, one of which could be voice. Again, look at their website for guidance.

If you can share the specific schools, someone here might have relevant experience.

If your DD is keen to achieve music scholarship, I highly recommend to start learning one instrument along with voice.
Personally I won’t encourage children to learn something they are not interested in. If your DD loves pop music, she should learn it! However, as a parent of music scholars, just learning pop music may be weak to achieve music scholarship because schools always look for instrumentalists for school orchestra. Playing a minor instrument would be great but if she is a good singer, probably learning piano is a lovely idea, too.
But you should keep it in your mind that getting music scholarship is not always cost efficient because it is usually just 5 to 20% fee reductions and you have to pay for expensive music tuition fees for years to achieve and keep the scholarship.
If you have specific idea which schools you are interested in, probably you can get more practical answers.

I am looking at the state schools.

Claremont school in kenton has 10 percent allocation for music.

And others are the watford consortium.

Either type of singing should be acceptable. Bear in mind there's more to these tests than just the performance, she'll need a decent level of theory and there's likely to be an aptitude test consisting of listening to sounds/excerpts and answering questions on them.

OK, in which case you need to make sure you look at the specific admissions requirements for those schools. As Phos says, they will require a written assessment first covering pitch, rhythm, texture and melody, and then if she gets the qualifying mark an audition, where there is a free choice of instrument and piece, including vocals.

Any type of singing would be fine, tbh at this point it's most important that she enjoys it and engages with the lessons. The state schools won't ask for a certain level of attainment in terms of grades, so the board doesn't really matter. They are looking for aptitude, not current achievements.

Thanks everyone for replying. It really helped me.

If your DD is keen on getting music scholarships, then I'd also recommend voice + one instrument - most of the 11+ schools my DD applied to required at least grade 5 ABRSM distinction level to be eligible to apply for music scholarship. DD started piano at 4 and violin at 5 and got music scholarship from Godolphin and Latymer, Channing and NLCS. All of which offered very generous amount of either discount on school fees or music lessons allowance (Channing offered 50% off school fees for 5 years, whereas Godolphin 30% - which makes the independent school all a lot more affordable for us).

DD got a performing arts scholarship with singing being musical theatre both legit and contemporary styles. A good MT teacher will have to teach pretty much every style as legit takes a lot from classical singing and contemporary is very close to Pop. LAMDA do MT singing grades which are well regarded.

Hi @gabisunicorn , I just saw this thread. My DD has music auditions at NLCS and SHHS. I wondered whether you could provide any insight/tips to the process. Sounds like your DD did extremely well. Hope she has settled nicely into her school this year. Thx

DD was offered 7 music scholarships back when we did them in 2019.

She has no exam grades as we've never done them, but at the time was about G6/7 level for singing and G2/3 for piano.

She sang mainly musical theatre and pop. Has never done any classical singing.

Some schools are very focus on their orchestras and ensembles, some are more broadminded.

A couple wanted to know if DD would "perhaps take up the oboe" - answer was a hard no - and they weren't a good fit for her and vice versa.

All of them were totally fine with having no exams or grades, and all of them were fine with non-classical.

She's on a singing scholarship now and has added a few more instruments (none orchestral) and still works only as a soloist, school have been beyond supportive and encouraging and never tried to make her go in directions that would suit them more.

The MAT doesn't require serious theory, or indeed any prior knowledge beyond the absolute basis terms like 'pitch' - it's an aptitude test not a knowledge test.

Check carefully what is expected of music scholars and I would actively avoid any school that seeks to mould them in a direction that is only of benefit to the school.

Thanks @OhCrumbsWhereNow for the insight. Your DD did amazingly well! DD is G5 equiv on cello and piano, no exams taken. We were not expecting any auditions so was pleasantly surprised when they came through.

You should be fine with one orchestral and one non-orchestral instrument.

Don't worry at all about lack of exams! None of the schools (state or private) cared at all about that, and some were actively pro no exams.

We started doing exams in one instrument and have stopped as it was so detrimental to progress - massive improvement now we have stopped and DD actually likes playing again. When we started the new ones, I was very firm with the teachers that exams were not happening, I want her to play well, not have a sheaf of certificates.

She's now looking at music for degree level and beyond, so hasn't done her any harm at all.

Worth finding some of the MAT practice stuff online, just for an idea of what might come up. Also make sure aural tests are rock solid - every school had it's own set of tests, but they were part of every scholarship we sat.

Good luck!