Academic Placement Exams

Immediately prior to beginning their first semester of graduate study, all MM and MSM students are required to take Academic Placement Exams in music history and music theory. These exams are designed to test for knowledge and proficiency commensurate with the award of the degrees of Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Arts in music. Students whose exams demonstrate a deficiency in music history and/or music theory will be required to take review courses in these areas.

History Placement Exam

The History Placement Exam will test your knowledge of all aspects of the history of Western music in the classical tradition that are typically covered in an undergraduate survey course (medieval through the present day; jazz and popular musics are not covered). To prepare for this exam, we recommend that you review A History of Western Music by Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca, and Peter J. Burkholder (7th ed., W. W. Norton, 2005), the accompanying Norton Anthology of Western Music scores (2 vols.), and the companion CD set, Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music (12 discs). The exam includes the following types of questions.

Please contact Dr. Kevin Karnes or Dr. Lynn Bertrand if you have any questions about this exam.

I. General Terms and Concepts

In one or two sentences, define the following terms.

sample terms: isorhythm, madrigal, basso continuo, Sturm und Drang, song cycle, minimalism

II. Composers

In three or four sentences, discuss significant contributions made by these composers, making reference to specific compositions in order to illustrate your points.

sample composers: Palestrina, J. S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, Mahler, Stravinsky, Cage

III. Analysis

In this section, you will be given short excerpts from four scores. For each, you will be asked to suggest a likely composer and probable dates of composition. You will also be asked to discuss, in two or three sentences, significant structural and/or stylistic features of the excerpt.

IV. Listening

In this section, we will play short excerpts from six works. For each, you will be asked to suggest a likely composer and probable dates of composition. You will also be asked to discuss, in two or three sentences, significant structural and/or stylistic features of the passage.

V. Essay

In this section, you will be given twenty minutes in which to discuss a topic of historical interest, making reference to specific events, works, and artists in order to illustrate your points. You will be provided with a list of four topics, from which you will chose only one on which to write.

sample topics: the eighteenth-century symphony, music in Soviet Russia, women in American musical life, Cage’s work and influence, Italian opera: the seventeenth century

Grading Criteria for the History Exam:

A grade of 80% (B-) or higher for all sections is required in order to pass the placement exam. Those who place below 80% will be required to take MUS 503: Graduate History Review. If a student demonstrates a thorough understanding of a significant number of topics but requires further work in some areas, he or she may be required to take only a portion of MUS 503. In all cases, assignment to this course will be decided by the history faculty in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Theory Placement Exam

The Theory Placement Exam will cover the following topics.

Please contact Dr. Yayoi Everett or Dr. Kristin Wendland if you have any questions about this exam.

I. Analysis and Score Identification

A. A tonal piece, such as a Schubert or Schumann song, with questions pertaining to form, harmony, linear structure, historical context, and stylistic comprehension (dating and naming the composer).

Recommended sources: Charles Burkhart, Anthology for Musical Analysis (5th edition); Robert Gauldin, Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice; Cadwallader & Gagné, Analysis of Tonal Music (for introduction to Schenkerian analysis); Jane Piper Clendinning and Elizabeth West Marvin, Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis (2005: textbook, workbook, and musical anthology; this is the text used for the Music Department’s undergraduate theory sequence).

B. A representative post-tonal work, such as a short piece (solo piano, string quartet, or other chamber work) by Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Bartók, or Debussy, with questions pertaining to pitch organization, rhythmic structure, form, and stylistic traits (including dating and naming the composer).

Recommended sources: Charles Burkhart, Anthology for Musical Analysis (5th edition); Joseph Straus, Introduction to Post-tonal Analysis (2nd ed.).

II. Part-writing

Realize a fairly chromatic figured bass, including applied chords, the Neapolitan-sixth chord, an augmented-sixth chord, embellishing diminished-seventh chord, etc., and analyze with roman numerals.

Recommended sources: Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony & Voiceleading (vols. I & II) and accompanying workbooks; Clendinning and Marvin, Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis.

III. Counterpoint

A. A fifth species example, so as to demonstrate proficiency and understanding of all the species.

B. Write a Fugue exposition.

Recommended sources: Salzer & Schachter, Counterpoint in Composition; Robert Gauldin, Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint; Knud Jeppeson, Counterpoint: the Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century; Alfred Mann, Study of Counterpoint from Gradus ad Parnassum; J. Hancock, Organ Improvisation.

IV. Aural skills

Examples to include tonal melodic and harmonic dictation as well as a sight singing example of a tonal melody.

Recommended sources: Berkowitz, Frontier, and Kraft, A New Approach to Sightsinging; Joel Phillips, Jane Piper Clendinning, and Elizabeth West Marvin, Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills, vol. 2.

V. Keyboard Skills

Play scales, intervals, and simple harmonic progressions upon request.

Recommended sources: the Appendix to Aldwell & Schachter, Harmony and Voiceleading contains keyboard progressions for practice; keyboard progressions in Phillips, Clendinning, and Marvin, Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills, vol. 2.

VI. Score Reading

Read a string quartet score, or perhaps a vocal score in parts including one or more of the C clefs.

Recommended sources: Robert Melcher, Music for Score Reading; Berkowitz, Frontier, and Kraft, A New Approach to Sightsinging

Grading Criteria for the Theory Exam:

An average grade of 80% (B-) or higher for categories IA, II, III, IV, V, and VI is required in order to pass the placement exam. Those who place below 80% must enroll in MUS 502: Graduate Theory Review. While your grade for IB (post-tonal analysis) does not factor into the entrance exemption, we strongly urge you to study for this exam in preparation for MUS 505: Analytical Techniques.

For further information, please see our Programs of Study page.

Additional information is available at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences site.