We are fast approaching our busiest time of the academic year for Music Aptitude Test preparation as we receive many enquiries each week for help with the upcoming scholarship tests. We currently have lots of space available for 1-to-1 tutoring and we have special packages available for discounted tutoring to use between the month of January to June 2024.
After we return to school after the long Summer break, our time is extremely limited for tutoring as we have our own roster of music students to teach after school. We add spaces to our Eventbrite page for 1-to-1 tutoring on Zoom but we do encourage you to book earlier rather than leaving it till Autumn to prepare.
Many parents are surprised to find that there are only a handful of spaces available each week for these lessons and constantly ask if we have any other times available. If it is not listed, then there is nothing else available but it’s worth following our Organiser profile as this way you will be informed of any new spaces as they arise. Do note that we are primarily teaching at the SE22 Piano School which has over 100 students attending each week for piano, guitar, singing and theory lessons (as well as Music Aptitude Test preparation to our local schools Kingsdale, Haberdashers, Prendergast and Norwood). We fit in our specialist MAT tutoring around our weekly students so you will notice that we have a lot of spaces for lessons in the school holidays when we are not teaching but when it is term time, we do not have that much available although we do reserve Sundays for online tutoring as the piano school is not open on this day. However we do also have family and other work commitments plus the need for time off so we cannot be available all the time, thus we urge you to plan ahead and not panic email us in September if you can avoid this!
We are unable to respond to emails asking if any other spaces are available. I’m sure you can appreciate we get many, many emails a day asking all sorts of questions about the Music Aptitude Test. We do not have the resources or the time to give any free advice by email but if you have any queries you may book a lesson and we will answer all questions about the test in the lesson.
We keep our web site updated with the frequently asked questions so do check that out as the most common questions is “Can you tutor us for X school” – yes, we tailor the session to the exact needs of your school.
When Should I Prepare for the Music Aptitude Test?
We have been preparing some of our students since January for the tests that take place in Sept/Oct. If you were sitting the 11+ entrance exams to grammar or private schools, it’s highly likely that you would engage a tutor several months if not a year or two in advance of these tests. However the Music Aptitude Tests seem to be viewed very differently by parents as we get the majority of our enquiries just a month or less before the children sit the test. We do advise not leaving it this late but suggest instead allowing ample time in Year 5 to try one consultation lesson. After this we can advise you how to prepare over the next few months for the test. If needed you can book additional lessons over the Summer holidays when we have lots of availability to tutor you as we are not teaching any other students. This allows you to prepare in a relaxed way for the tests instead of a pressured last minute dash. If you are currently a Year 5 student then do consider booking in for a lesson with Mirna or Lorraine in the Winter or Spring term and this will give you plenty of time to choose your audition pieces and also gain familiarity with the style of tests you will hear on the day. We offer online tutoring only. This allows us to tutor children from all over the UK and means that you do not need to travel to our location in South London.
My child is a beginner or Grade 1 pianist. Should I sit the test?
Realistically, this is not a level of performance that is likely to be awarded a music scholarship. However we all understand the pressure of trying to bypass the catchment area requirements. Do bear in mind that one lesson a couple of weeks before the entrance test is unlikely to yield a favourable result. If you come across this blog post and you have time to spare before the test then we do urge you to book sooner rather than later.
