Professional Documents
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MUSIC DIVISION
August 31-
September 2, 2015
Placement Assessments will be administered on August 31, September 1 and September 2 to new
students in all programs in Music. All new students MUST take these assessments. The assessments
are intended to reveal your accomplishments and potential in the various facets of study so that
you will be placed in the proper classes. Some undergraduate students may receive advanced
standing credit; graduate students may be required to take undergraduate classes to remedy
deficiencies.
NOTE: No transfer credit is given for music classes. Credit is by placement assessment only.
Students who require disability-related testing accommodations must contact the Office
of Academic Support and Disability Services at (212) 799-5000, ext. 213 or via email at
oass@juilliard.edu at least 4 weeks before Orientation to make arrangements.
*Students in the Artist Diploma programs are not required to take placement assessments.
However, if you wish to take classes in History, Theory, Ear Training or Piano, you must take those
assessments.
WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO PREPARE AND REVIEW SO THAT YOU MAY DEMONSTRATE THE
FULL EXTENT OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE.
To assist in your preparation, please read the following information carefully.
EAR TRAINING
To be taken by all Music majors
Sing triads and dominant 7th chords in all inversions up and down from a given note
Identify chord progressions using triads, dominant 7ths, Italian and Neapolitan 6ths
Intone and conduct rhythms with rapid changes of meter and subdivision
From open score of Bach chorales using soprano, alto and tenor clefs: voice and orchestral
instruments sing one line and play on the piano a second line; keyboard instruments sing one
line and play 2 other lines
Basic two-voice melodic dictations in soprano, alto, and tenor clefs
Acquire proficiency in fixed "do" solfege
For voice majors: continuation of Ear Training II materials with concentration on rhythm, atonal
singing, and basic harmonic and melodic dictations with modulation
UNDERGRADUATE MUSIC HISTORY
To be taken by all graduate Music students (except those in the Jazz Program) and optional for
transfer undergraduates who have studied Music History at the college level and wish to receive
transfer credit.
This diagnostic assessment covers the history of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present
day. Included are questions dealing with musical styles, forms and genres, terminology, and
historical issues relating to music. The assessment is in multiple-choice format. The accompanying
syllabus for the graduate-review music history survey course is included as a guide for study.
Suggested Text for Study (this textbook will be used for the course next year):
Hanning, Barbara Russano. Concise History of Western Music. 5th edition. (This is based on the 9th
edition of A History of Western Music by J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Grout, and Claude Palisca.)
SECONDARY PIANO
If you have had no formal training in piano, you will be asked some basic reading questions.
If you have had some formal piano training, please prepare two short works in contrasting
styles of your own choosing. Memorization is not necessary. You will also be asked to
demonstrate your proficiency in the following areas:
KEYBOARD SKILLS
Thorough knowledge of all major and minor scales and key signatures;
Major, minor, diminished and augmented triads and inversions;
All seventh chords and inversions.
Practical knowledge of soprano, alto and tenor clefs
Sight-reading a string quartet by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven
Reduction at the piano of a symphonic score by either Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert or
Schumann
Realization at the piano of a continuo part (figured bass)
Transposition of a Lied up and down by minor and major seconds and thirds
Students will be asked to sight-read piano music from a wide variety of styles, including
Baroque contrapuntal works, Classical sonatas, 19th Century works, and non-tonal music.
THEORY RUDIMENTS (Note: all students are expected to be fluent with theory rudiments
in order to place into the regular theory track. See below for information about how to
learn this material independently over the summer. Students who do not pass the
rudiments portion of the placement test will be assigned to a remedial theory course.)
TONAL HARMONY
Diatonic Harmony and Voice Leading (including four-part writing and figured bass realization)
Cadences (PAC, IAC, HC, Deceptive, Plagal)
Modulation and Tonicization (secondary dominants and leading-tone chords)
Chromatic Harmony (including Neapolitan and augmented-sixths)
Sonata Form (analysis of a movement by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven)
COUNTERPOINT
Theory Rudiments:
Upon matriculating at Juilliard, students are expected to possess fluent knowledge of theory rudiments
(key signatures, scales, intervals, chord qualities, etc.). If you do not have background in these topics,
you are strongly encouraged to learn them over the summer with eTheory, an online course available
through Eastman School of Music that will prepare you for the fall placement test and for your college-
level theory studies.
To register for eTheory, click here and enter your name and email address. The course proceeds at
your own pace and requires approximately 4–6 weeks to complete. Have questions about eTheory?
Email ecourse@esm.rochester.edu or visit the eTheory FAQ site.
We also recommend the free website MusicTheory.net for extra practice with theory fundamentals.
Tonal Harmony:
Counterpoint:
Jeppesen, Knud. Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the 16th Century (includes species
counterpoint)
Kennan, Kent. Counterpoint (covers invention and fugue in 18th century style)
Salzer, Felix and Carl Schachter. Counterpoint in Composition (includes species counterpoint)
GRADUATE THEORY
DICTION
Transfer undergraduates may take the assessments if they have previously studied
diction.
Students are tested on their proficiency in the International Phonetic Alphabets and will be
expected to sing in English, French, German and Italian.
JAZZ STUDIES
Undergraduate Jazz majors will take the Ear Training, Music Theory, and Music History
assessments as previously listed and the Piano exam described below. Master of Music Jazz
majors will take the Ear Training exam described above and the Piano and Composition and
Arranging assessments listed below.
Elements of Music
Includes the following:
Scales, Intervals, Chords; Figured Bass; Harmonic Analysis; Score Analysis; Theoretical Discussion