Blog – Page 20 – SE22 Piano School ~ East Dulwich

Looking for a piano tuner to recommend to my students in the South-East London area.

Update: We have found a lovely new piano tuner, do please get in touch with him for all your tuning needs: https://www.greenwichpianotuner.co.uk/

August is my busiest time of year for enquiries from new students before the school year starts in September. So imagine my horror when someone tried to tamper with my Google business listing and the whole listing got suspended. Here is where the tale starts….

I do not have a phone number listed on Google as it’s impossible to answer the phone when teaching and most people that would call are just asking for vacancies and fees, all of which are listed on our web site. The school auto-reply provides all the frequently asked questions and as we do not have an administrator, email is the most efficient way for people to contact us.

So one morning I log on to my Gmail and am informed that someone has added a phone number to my Google listing for the SE22 Piano School in East Dulwich. It is a mobile number so I look it up and lo and behold it belongs to a piano tuner that I used to recommend to all of my students. This does seem rather odd but maybe not surprising that he’s been enterprising enough to see that I don’t have a phone number listed and has decided to funnel all the piano teaching enquiries his way to upsell them piano tuning. Seems a bit unlikely but you never know. Anyway I try to remove the number and replace it with 000 000 0000 but of course this causes Google to melt down and suspend my whole business listing. I then have to submit a request for this suspension to be reviewed which takes up a lot of time as I have to provide screengrabs of evidence etc etc. I fire off an email to the piano tuner whose assistant denies all knowledge of it and says she’ll look into it, but of course I hear nothing back. I’ll say nothing more other than it all seems rather fishy on their part.

Six weeks pass and I’m completely invisible on the search page for ‘piano lessons east dulwich’ and other common searches. After some back and forth with Google I get my listing back up and running. I am sure plenty of piano enquiries have been lost by not having an active listing and all my Google ads suspended for a ridiculously long amount of time.

And we have a mobile phone number listed reluctantly on Google. I’ve already had late night phone calls asking for advice from random strangers on purchasing a piano (give me strength!). It’s now set to go straight to voicemail and I have a pre-recorded message directing people to the information regarding piano lessons.

So this all leads me to be in the market for a new piano tuner. If you know someone you would recommend do get in touch. The pianos at our school in East Dulwich definitely need a tune!

The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College: Music Aptitude Test

Applicants to the school wishing to apply for a place under the 5% music allocation of criterion 7 will need to take a Music Aptitude Test.

The test will consist of 60 multiple choice questions, 15 on each of the following areas of musical awareness:

 pitch
 rhythm
 melody
 texture

Applicants will listen to the questions on a CD, the running time of which is approx. 35 minutes. Parents are, however, advised to allow an hour overall for the test’s completion.

Whilst no previous musical experience is required in order to take the test, it is expected that applicants wishing to apply under this criterion have an interest in music, and would wish to participate fully in the musical life of the school should they gain a place.

Please note: The Bishop’s Stortford High School, The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and The Leventhorpe School are arranging music aptitude tests in common. You may be applying to both The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and The Leventhorpe School under the music aptitude criterion but you will only sit one test which will be arranged at one of the three schools irrespective of the school(s) to which you are applying.

If you would like any assistance preparing for the test see our resources below plus details of 1-to-1 online lessons.

How we can help you with the Music Aptitude Test

Music Aptitude Tests & 1-to-1 Training

Can you really be awarded a Music Scholarship place at Secondary School without any Musical Experience or Knowledge?

Music Scholarship Preparation at the SE22 Piano School

Whilst browsing the Admissions Criteria for several popular UK state secondary schools each year, I see time after time the statement that children do not need any prior musical experience to sit the Music Scholarship entrance test.

Here is the criteria that one school uses for their Music Aptitude Test which presumes that you have passed the Round 1 Multiple Choice listening test.

The highest scoring students will be invited to come into school for Round 2 assessment. They will be given a series of aural tests during which time they will be required to clap or play back various rhythms and pitches using classroom instruments. They will also listen to some recordings and identify the instruments being used. This will take approximately 20 minutes.

This sounds very much like a test that would require some prior musical preparation in order to succeed with a bias for students that already understand pitch-based instruments.

Many parents are booking 1-to-1 lessons for students with little to no experience of any instrument and whilst certain schools do not ask you to perform at Round 2, the vast majority will expect you to play two pieces for the audition.

If you have time to prepare then we do recommend booking one or two sessions in Year 4 or 5 so that you know what to expect from the test. Then keep working towards these goals with your teacher in your music lessons. By the end of Year 5 you will be in a good position to sit the test and hopefully at a level on your instrument that will enable you to succeed at Round 2.

For assistance with any aspect of the Music Aptitude Test please book a 1-to-1 lesson where we will answer all of your questions: