THE MUSIC HISTORY PLACEMENT EXAM
A Music History Placement
exam is given each fall during orientation week (see Orientation Schedule for
details). The exam tests knowledge of
music history and repertory and serves to place masters
students into graduate music history courses.
In addition undergraduates who have taken music history courses at
another institution may take the placement exam to demonstrate their knowledge
in lieu of taking Music 202, 203, 204 (see below). The placement exam may be taken only once;
neither masters students nor undergraduates may repeat
it.
For masters
students he exam has two sections: the
first covers music between 1700 and 1900; the second covers music of the 20th
and 21st centuries. Knowledge of music
before 1700 is a great thing, but you do not need it to pass this exam.
Students who score poorly on the first section of the exam should take MHL 602
(Topics in Music History,18th and 19th centuries) in
their first year of study at the Conservatory.
Students who score poorly on the second section should take MHL 603
(Topics, 20th and 21st centuries) in their first year. Students who do poorly on both sections of
the exam will need to take both “Topics” courses.
Each section has two
parts. The first tests general knowledge
of music history. It consists of short
answer, true-false, and multiple choice questions based on
Burkholder-Grout-Palisca, A History of
Western Music (7th edition). The second section consists of score
identifications. Students will be given
about fifteen xeroxed excerpts drawn from the Norton Anthology of Western Music (5th edition) and asked to
identify the genre of music, the composer, and the approximate date of
composition. For some examples students
will hear a recording as well as seeing the score.
For undergraduates the exam
has a third section that tests knowledge of music before 1700 (the repertory
covered in MHL 202). This section has
two parts as above, the first testing general knowledge of music history from
c. 900 AD to 1700, the second with score examples from this repertory.
The best way to study for
the first part of the exam is to use the Norton website:
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/grout7/home.htm. The “flash cards” section is particularly
useful. Students can review the material by clicking on “Chapter outlines,” or
by reading A History of Western Music. Masters students don’t need to study anything
before Chapter 18.
To study for the second half
of the exam, go to the Score ID Practice Page.
There you will find a PDF file with about 50 score excerpts from the
Norton Anthology. Look at each example
and try to hear the music in your mind’s ear.
Also look for visible clues, such as number of parts, instrumentation,
text, etc. Make your best guess about
composer, genre and date, then rotate the page to see
the answers. On the placement exam the
scores will be drawn from all the scores in the Norton Anthology, not just the
scores on the Practice Page. Undergraduates should supplement this online
practice by reviewing scores in volume I of the Norton Anthology.
Students are not expected to
know the answers to every question on the Norton website or to be able to
identify and date all the scores in the Anthology. But the more you review on the websites and
the more you practice answering questions like these, the better you will do on
the exam. The majority of masters students pass
one or both sections every year.