Music degree?

Hey,
i’ve applied for a music degree this year, what a levels have you chosen and do you have any extra curricular activities within music? eg choir, orchestra, band??

I would maybe suggest looking at a foundation year, this will give you a really good start at ensuring your knowledge and skills are up to scratch and that your will succeed in the degree.

I would also suggest to start Grade 5 music theory, a lot of unis will expect this to be your minimum knowledge of theory and it may help your chances at getting offers. if you need any more help or advice just let me know!

Reply 3

A lot of Unis take theory instead of A level. What unis are you looking at? I going for traditional music degree you could possibly take a gap year to secure your grade 8 (not necessarily by exam). You could also do a one year music course at college.
Extracurriculars would be OK if you didn't do GCSE look for online choirs , summers schools , youth music associations etc if you have not already

Reply 4

lifestartsnow.x

OP

13

Original post by ljshaw_

Hey,
i’ve applied for a music degree this year, what a levels have you chosen and do you have any extra curricular activities within music? eg choir, orchestra, band??

I would maybe suggest looking at a foundation year, this will give you a really good start at ensuring your knowledge and skills are up to scratch and that your will succeed in the degree.

I would also suggest to start Grade 5 music theory, a lot of unis will expect this to be your minimum knowledge of theory and it may help your chances at getting offers. if you need any more help or advice just let me know!

I have participated in my school's annual summer musical since year 9 and I've done the school choir ever since the start of year 10. I've chosen psychology, geography and English Lit and the only reason I didn't choose music was because I didn't do it for gcse so my school didn't allow me to do it.

How would I go about starting grade 5 music theory?

Thank you!! :smile:

Reply 5

lifestartsnow.x

OP

13

Original post by sequinorange

A lot of Unis take theory instead of A level. What unis are you looking at? I going for traditional music degree you could possibly take a gap year to secure your grade 8 (not necessarily by exam). You could also do a one year music course at college.
Extracurriculars would be OK if you didn't do GCSE look for online choirs , summers schools , youth music associations etc if you have not already

Yeah I've done school choir and musicals for multiple years now. I'm mostly looking at the Uni of Liverpool which has requirements of ABB, and grade 8 distinction in singing/instruments leads to BBB offer. There are no specific subjects that I have to have an A Level in.

Reply 6

It seems to say the would accept Grade 8 theory instead of A Level Mus...if you are dead set on going to Liverpool my advice is email them ...if you can find out the name and email of tutor responsible for admissions ..even better!

Reply 7

Sorry ...looks like the requirement for A level Mus or Grade 8 theory is for Access students. Give them an email! Best of luck

Reply 8

ljshaw_

Original post by natalieclare

I have participated in my school's annual summer musical since year 9 and I've done the school choir ever since the start of year 10. I've chosen psychology, geography and English Lit and the only reason I didn't choose music was because I didn't do it for gcse so my school didn't allow me to do it.

How would I go about starting grade 5 music theory?

Thank you!! :smile:

hey love,
so the fact that your in choir will be good, shows you can work in an ensemble and with other people. What is your main instrument? do you play or sing? i would ask your music department if you could start theory classes or you can get lessons outside of school for theory however these can sometimes be expensive.

Honestly, email your music teacher; just explain that your want look into doing music at uni and hopefully they will be able to get you involved with as many music extra curricular as they can and maybe help on the theory side!

I would say that a foundation year would be best for you, most foundation years need around 72-90 ucas points. i’ve applied for one at the University of Salford for Musical Arts and the course seems quite good but obviously have a look around and see what looks appealing for you!

Ooo i would make also consider doing an EPQ on something regarding music, you could tie this in with your other subjects e.g. the psychology of music or music of the world and how that has affected migration, maybe look into migration into urban areas within the harlem renaissance and you can talk about the development of jazz music!

Hope this helps!
if you need any more advice i’m more than happy to give u my socials x

Reply 9

musicalrose

15

Original post by natalieclare

I'm in year 12 and I want to do a music degree at uni but I didn't do any arts/theatre subjects at gcse, nor did I choose it for A Level, but I am doing singing exams at grade 5 and I'm expected to do grade 6 or 7 by the end of next year. Does this lower my chances of getting an offer? What can I do to increase my chances? Thanks!

Why have you decided you want to do music now? It seems a little bizzare to me sorry- you have only done grade 5 singing and haven't done any kind of academic music before, so what makes you think that you would enjoy it? Most people do grade 5 theory when they are around 11, so doing grade 5 theory now would really put you at a disadvantage. Maybe, if you get your singing up to grade 8 standard (and soon!) you could apply for conservatoire instead? That might suit you better?

Reply 10

Original post by musicalrose

Why have you decided you want to do music now? It seems a little bizzare to me sorry- you have only done grade 5 singing and haven't done any kind of academic music before, so what makes you think that you would enjoy it? Most people do grade 5 theory when they are around 11, so doing grade 5 theory now would really put you at a disadvantage. Maybe, if you get your singing up to grade 8 standard (and soon!) you could apply for conservatoire instead? That might suit you better?

Some (not most) only do grade 5 theory at the age of 11 if their parents can afford lessons and/or they are doing ABRSM actually. Not everyone has access to music lessons from a young age, naturally some come later to it. Voice as instrument at grade 8 is fine for an academic music course. We don't know what the other A levels are but if they are humanities/essay based that will help her on the musicological elements of course too.

Reply 11

EddieTheOboist

Singing is a bit weird in that technique changes with ageing and definitely is harder to get grades on for teens. However, I would suggest looking at audition set pieces and own choices (especially if you have a teacher) for conservatoires (if you're applying) and getting a head start on that. From what I know, if you want to pursue singing, conservatoire is a better choice (whether that be opera, musical theatre, folk, etc) but if you just want to do music as a whole and go freely between performance, composition, musicology, ethno, etc., then universities would be a better choice. Of course some conservatoires like RCM is strong in research, and some unis like KCL or Manchester is strong in performance as well.

Reply 12

EddieTheOboist