Department of Music

Graduate Placement Exams in Music History and Literature

The Graduate Placement Examination in Music History and Literature contains questions from each historical period. The examination is comparable in difficulty to those given undergraduate music students in Music 350-351, Music History I-II. To pass the examination, the student must score 70% or higher. Students scoring below 70% must enroll in and successfully complete Music 602, Review of Music History and Literature (2 hours), before enrolling in any other graduate course in Music History and Literature. Music 602 does not count toward degree requirements.

The examination is divided into seven sections:

1. Multiple Choice: General music history and literature
   (60 questions, 1 point each)

2. Matching: Composers and works
   (20 questions, 1 point each)

3. Matching: Identification of forms, devices, etc, by period
   (20 questions, 1 point each)

4. Matching: Identification of composers by period
   (20 questions, 1 point each)

5. Listening: of one-page excerpts by period, approximate date, probable composer, and genre
   (10 excerpts, 4 points each)

6. Score Analysis: Identification of one-page excerpts by period, approximate date, probable composer, and genre
   (5 excerpts, 4 points each)

7. Essay Question: Write an essay from a choice of five given topics
   (1 essay, 20 points)

The following books are recommended for review:

1. David Poultney. Studying Music History. (Prentice-Hall).
2. Milo Wold and Edmund Cykler. An Outline History of Music. (W.C. Brown).
3. Hugh Miller. History of Music. (Barnes and Noble).

These books are on reserve in the Music Department Listening Library
(Fine Arts Building, Room 305).