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- Published: 16th September 2026
- Word count: 575 words
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Personal statement example
My interest in music education grew out of noticing how differently people learn the same tune. In my final year I wrote a dissertation on aural learning in beginner ensembles, comparing how two community groups picked up new material: one used simplified notation, the other learned by call and response from a leader. I recorded rehearsals with permission, transcribed short sections and looked at how long each group took to hold their parts independently. The findings were modest and mixed, as I expected from two small groups, but the process taught me to be careful about claims. What stayed with me was how much confidence the by-ear players showed in improvising around their part, and how quickly the reading group could revisit material after a fortnight's gap. Both were real advantages, and neither was obviously better.
Alongside my degree I began teaching beginner guitar and ukulele, and I now have six pupils ranging from eight years old to a retired man learning his first instrument. Preparing for such different learners has pushed me to plan properly rather than simply passing on the way I was taught. With my youngest pupil I abandoned a book that moved too fast and instead built lessons around songs she already knew, introducing chord shapes as they became necessary. She now plays confidently in front of her family, which she would not do a year ago. This is a small achievement, but it changed how I think about sequencing: motivation and repertoire are not decoration around the technical work, they are what makes the technical work bearable.
For the past two years I have also accompanied a community choir of about thirty singers, most of whom do not read music. The musical director and I worked together on a set of Christmas arrangements, dividing the task so that she rewrote the vocal lines for a group with very few low voices while I simplified the piano parts and recorded practice tracks for each section. Learning to hand over a task and trust someone else's judgement was useful preparation for school settings, where teaching is rarely solitary. Rehearsing with adults who are nervous about singing has also made me attentive to how corrections land. I have learned to name what is going well before asking for a change, and to give people something concrete to do rather than a general instruction.
My part-time work in a music shop is not directly related, but it has shown me how uneven access to instruments and lessons is. Parents often ask what the cheapest realistic starting point is, and I have become good at honest answers. That has sharpened my interest in whole-class instrumental teaching and in the practical questions of how schools sustain music provision when budgets and staffing are tight.
I want to study music education formally because my current understanding comes largely from my own practice and a small piece of undergraduate research. I would like to read more widely in curriculum design, assessment in performance and inclusive practice, and to test my assumptions against evidence rather than instinct. I am particularly keen to look further at the relationship between notation and aural learning at primary level, building on my dissertation with better methods. In the longer term I intend to teach music in a secondary school, and I expect to keep working with community groups, where I have found the most stubborn and interesting teaching problems.
Why this example works — strengths and ways to improve
This is a thoughtful, well-evidenced draft. It is grounded in a modest dissertation, sustained teaching and choir work, and the reflection draws real lessons rather than listing skills. The main gaps are named reading or ideas that would show readiness for advanced study, a clearer link between your primary-level research interest and your secondary teaching aim, and a sharper final paragraph.
Subject motivation
My interest in music education grew out of noticing how differently people learn the same tune.
This is a precise, unforced opening. Your motivation comes from an actual observation, not a love-of-music cliché, and the rest of the draft keeps returning to it. Make sure the closing paragraph keeps that sharpness. It currently leans on broad areas like curriculum design and inclusive practice without saying what puzzles you about them.
Academic preparation
In my final year I wrote a dissertation on aural learning in beginner ensembles
The dissertation is credible preparation. You describe consent, transcription and a measurable outcome, which shows you understand basic methods. What is missing is any sign of the scholarship you engaged with. Naming one debate or approach you read about would show readiness for advanced reading, not only fieldwork.
Evidence and reflection
motivation and repertoire are not decoration around the technical work
This is genuine reflection. A concrete decision, abandoning the book and building lessons from familiar songs, leads to a changed principle about sequencing. Your balanced reading of the dissertation findings shows the same habit. Both avoid generic skill claims and show you thinking like a teacher who questions inherited methods.
Relevant experience
I have learned to name what is going well before asking for a change
The choir paragraph turns ordinary accompanying work into specific teaching practice: collaborating on arrangements, making practice tracks and handling feedback with nervous adults. The music shop paragraph is weaker. Its link to whole-class instrumental teaching is plausible but asserted rather than shown. One sentence on what parents' questions revealed would strengthen it.
Credibility and voice
The findings were modest and mixed, as I expected from two small groups
Your voice is measured and believable. You admit the limits of your small study and call your pupil's progress a small achievement, and that restraint makes the claims trustworthy. The claims are plausible for a recent graduate who teaches part-time. One tension stands out: you want to research primary-level learning but aim to teach secondary, so briefly explain how these connect.
Structure and format
She now plays confidently in front of her family, which she would not do a year ago
The paragraphs move logically from research to teaching to community work to aims. This sentence needs 'would not have done a year ago'. The conclusion lists several reading areas at once. It also does not make clear whether you are seeking a taught course, a research route or teacher training. Clarify this when tailoring to a real programme.
What you’ve done well
- Your dissertation account shows methodological caution, with honest reporting of mixed findings and balanced observations about both learning approaches.
- The guitar pupil example turns a small, concrete teaching decision into a clear principle about sequencing and motivation.
How this draft could improve
- Add one or two specific ideas, debates or readings that have shaped your thinking, so the statement shows academic engagement beyond your own practice.
- Explain how your interest in notation and aural learning at primary level connects to your goal of secondary teaching, or adjust the focus.
- Either deepen the music shop paragraph with a concrete observation or shorten it, and narrow the final paragraph to fewer, sharper aims.