in Music History and Music Theory
Each entering graduate student takes an assessment that documents their knowledge of undergraduate-level music theory and musicology. This assessment, taken shortly before the start of the Autumn semester, helps the student and advisor select appropriate courses.
Music Theory
The graduate Theory assessment has seven parts:
- General concepts
- Grand staff score analysis
- Chamber score analysis
- Orchestral score analysis
- Sonata exposition cadences
- Listening for harmony
- Listening for formal types
Suggested review topics
Sound
- Loudness
- Frequency
- Timbre
Rhythm and meter
- Hypermeter
- Clave rhythm
- Syncopation
- Hemiola
Tonal harmony
- Roman numerals and figured bass
- Embellishing tones
- Blues progression
- Diatonic harmony
- Applied chords (secondary dominants)
- Modal mixture
- Augmented sixth chords
- Neapolitan chords
- Closely-related keys
Scales
- Major and minor scales
- Church modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian)
- Key signatures for tonal scales and church modes
- Pentatonic scales
- Octatonic and whole tone scales
Form
- AABA song form
- Verse/chorus
- Strophic
- Rondo (5-part, 7-part)
- Binary
- Ternary
- Sonata
- Binary
Suggested study resource
Robert Hutchinson, Music Theory for the Twenty-First Century Classroom
This resource includes some practice exercises with an answer key.
Musicology
The Musicology assessment has the following parts:
- General knowledge of terms and concepts used in musicology (multiple choice)
- Repertory knowledge of Western music history from the Middle Ages through the present (multiple-choice questions, mostly listening)
- Repertory knowledge of global and American musics (multiple-choice questions, mostly listening). This part is required for students in musicology, optional for all others
- Short essay on a historical topic (about 12 sentences; you will be given a choice of topics)
- Short answers on library skills and information access (about 6 sentences)