Music Theory Placement Test: Graduate
New Deadline
For the 2010-11 school year and following, all admission materials for School of Fine Arts graduate programs, including application, graduate audition and any program-specific requirements, should be submitted by the following dates prior to the start of the intended semester of enrollment:
- For fall enrollment: April 1
- For spring enrollment: October 15
- The Music Theory Placement Test is required of all incoming graduate music majors.
- The test is comprehensive and challenging; plan a substantial block of time to take it.
- Four sections, corresponding with the four semesters of undergraduate music theory, comprise the test.
- Each section is approximately 30 multiple-choice questions.
- The test includes some topics that we will begin incorporating into our undergraduate theory courses. Students taking the test in 2009 and 2010 may not be familiar with some of these topics; this will be taken into account when looking at test scores for the next two years.
- Graduate students who do not pass the Theory Placement Test will be required to take Theory Review. Please note that Theory Review is now MT 499 (instead of MT 601); this is a 2-credit undergraduate course, not available for graduate credit.
- The test may be taken only once; it may not be retaken.
- Please direct any questions about the test to Dr. Dan Forrest.
Test Sections
Section 1
(Music theory fundamentals are presumed.) Triads, Seventh Chords, Inversions, Figured Bass, Chordal Doubling and Spacing, Part-Writing and Voice-Leading, Harmonic Analysis, Basic First and Second Species Counterpoint, Tonic and Dominant Functions.
Section 2
Pre-Dominant Function, Non-Chord Tones, 6/4 Chords, the “Phrase Model,” Submediant and Mediant Chords, Phrase-Level Form (Period, Sentence, etc.), Secondary Dominants.
Section 3
Tonicization and Modulation, Binary (“Two-Reprise”) Form and Variation Form, Modal Mixture (“Borrowing”), Neapolitan 6 Chords, Augmented Sixth Chords.
Section 4
Form Topics: Ternary, Rondo and Sonata Forms.
Post-Tonal Topics: Modes and other Pitch Collections/Scales, “conservative” post-tonal harmony (pandiatonicism, extended tertian chords, etc.), basic free atonal set theory analysis, basic serial atonal analysis, identification of representative works of major composers/stylistic trends.
Recommended Textbooks
Tonality Review
- Laitz, The Complete Musician. The textbook for BJU undergraduate theory, and the primary source on which all tonal topics for the test are based.
- Piper/Clendinning, The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis. A similar textbook, with outstanding presentation and similar terms/concepts.
- Gauldin’s Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music and Kostka/Payne’s Tonal Harmony are also excellent references.
Post-tonality review:
- Roig-Francoli, Understanding Post-Tonal Music. Outstanding text on post-tonal music.
- Kostka, Materials and Techniques of 20th Century Music. Excellent reference for basic terms and trends of post-tonal music. Not recommended for set theory, however.
- Joseph Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. The first couple of chapters are an outstanding introduction to set theory.
- Piper/Clendinning’s Musician’s Guide textbook also includes a unit on post-tonality, including quite possibly the very best (and easiest to understand) introduction to set theory currently available.
