Information for Prospective Graduate Students

Auditions

Applicants for graduate performance degrees in the School of Music are required to perform an audition. Auditions are normally held in late January to early March. If you are unable to audition on the normal audition dates, you should contact the faculty in charge of your area. To register for an audition, please use the online audition form. Specific requirements for certain performance areas are listed on the Audition Information page.

The Graduate Entrance Exams

Introduction

Applicants for all graduate programs in music are required to take entrance exams in the areas of music theory (aural and written) and music history. The purpose of these exams is to discern the applicant's readiness to pursue graduate work in music. Applicants must demonstrate a minimum level of skills and knowledge on the entrance exams in order to be accepted into the program. For students who are accepted, the exams indicate whether they need review classes in specific areas before entering into graduate-level course work. Admission of students who need review classes will be provisional until these requirements have been completed, which should be before the student has accumulated 12 graduate credit hours. Applicants in some areas of specialization (indicated below) are also required to take an additional exam in the proposed area. All applicants should take the exams seriously and attempt to do their best work. Because the exams are also a factor in admissions decisions, applicants should not consider the intention of taking review classes as an alternative for satisfactory performance on the exam.

Regular Entrance Examinations are scheduled on 4 dates per year at the School of Music. Additional dates may be scheduled to accommodate various programs. The dates usually fall in these months (but may vary year to year):

November
January/February
February/March
June

See the Important Dates page for current exam dates.

Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the exam in order to be settled and ready to begin on time. Location (usually in the Fine Arts Building or Fine Arts Library) will be provided in a confirmation email a day or two before the exam.

Students wishing to be considered for Fellowships are advised to take the exam in November, but may be eligible for consideration if they complete it before the end of January. Students wishing to be considered for TA must take it no later than March. Students may audition the same day if they take the exam in February or March.

Students should request an exam date on the audition request form, even if not required to take an audition (just add a note to that effect). For questions or problems, contact Dr. Joanne Filkins at joanne.filkins@uky.edu.  Dr. Filkins will confirm the date and place by email a day or two prior to the exam.

Arrangements may be made for a private proctoring of the exams on alternate dates, convenient to both the applicant and the proctor. There is a cost of $50-75.00 for the applicant. Please contact Melinda Lio at melinda.lio@uky.edu if you would like to arrange for a private proctor .

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Music Theory Exam

The theory test is a 90-minute exam designed to test knowledge and/or skill in the following areas:

Concepts and Terminology

Understanding of concepts such as scales, modulations procedures, devices and techniques of homophonic and polyphonic styles, phrases, and forms.

Aural Perception

Identification of intervals and chord sonorities, error detection, melodic dictation, and harmonic dictation.

Written Analysis

Spelling of intervals and chords, writing and analyzing diatonic and chromatic chords, describing and analyzing formal structures.

Suggested sources for review:

• Description of Written Theory Entrance Exam
• Aural Theory Entrance Exam Sample
• Written Theory Exam Sample
• Any texts for freshman and sophomore college theory courses.
  • Benjamin; Techniques and Materials of Tonal Music (Houghton-Mifflin)
  • Green; Form in Tonal Music (Holt, Rinehart, Winston)
  • Turek; Elements of Music: Concepts and Applications, vol. 1-2
  • Benward; Music in Theory and Practice, vol. 1-2

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Music History and Literature Exam

This exam tests knowledge of music literature, historical periods, styles, composers, and pieces through aural and written test questions. For the aural test, a number of brief excerpts are played, and you are asked to provide information on each excerpt, such as its historical period, a possible composer, the type of piece it is (e.g., symphony, sonata, opera, etc.), and an approximation of when the piece might have been written. The written exam asks for knowledge of important pieces in music literature, important composers, music terminology, and important stylistic and historic periods and genres.

Suggested sources for review:

• Grout and Palisca; A History of Western Music (W.W. Norton)
• Stolba; The Development of Western Music: A History (W.C. Brown)
• Pen; Introduction to Music (McGraw-Hill)

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Area Examinations

Music Education, applicants for the M.M. degree

This is a one-hour exam in the area of specialization, either Choral/General or Instrumental. Each exam will consist of discussions of methodology, materials, terminology, and influential persons in the area of specialization.

Music Education, applicants for the Ph.D. degree

This exam consists of discussions of methodology, materials, history of music education practices, influential persons, and resource materials of research significance.

Musicology, applicants for the Ph.D. degree

In this exam, students are given a musical element and/or genre and asked to trace it through several epochs of the history of music. Students will also be asked to discuss one or more specialized topics in areas including music research and bibliography, music in vernacular and cultivated traditions, music and culture, and Western idioms and styles.

Vocal Performance, applicants for the M.M. degree

This is a one-hour exam covering important composers and works in the history of art song, pedagogy, diction, performers, and poets. Please see additional information about graduate voice exams and auditions, including the pre-audition DVD requirement.

Vocal Performance, applicants for the D.M.A. degree

This exam covers significant composers, literary figures, and performers in the history of opera and art song. Students will be asked to discuss several aspects of vocal pedagogy, and to transcribe texts into the International Phonetic Alphabet. Please see additional information about graduate voice exams and auditions including the pre-audition DVD requirement.

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