Good luck in preparation for your auditions and placement tests. On this page you will find a collection of notes, links, and input from other students and professors, regarding the materials to be examined for placement tests, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These tests are required (with rising levels of difficulty, naturally) in order that it may be determined whether the student needs remedial work in the subject areas.

Graduate school can be difficult, and one wonders, sometimes, if the time taken to complete the degree(s) is worth the sacrifice in practice time. Doctoral work, in particular, is very stressful; lots of the best players stop at the M.M. in performance. However, if you want to teach in a university, a doctorate is increasingly more of a requirement, I think it's safe to say. Being called "Dr." the rest of your life is not a small thing, either, for some people. It was once mentioned to me that most university courses are only "introductory" in nature, which is sobering thought, but accurate, I believe. I would also recommend Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. by Robert Peters. It's not musical, but it's a very useful book.

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Music books on Kindle Outliers: The Story of Success Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else Mastery of Music Mozart in the Jungle Mastering the Art of Performance: A Primer for Musicians Psychology for Musicians: Understanding and Acquiring the Skills The End of Early Music: A Period Performer's History of Music for the 21st Century Inside Early Music: Conversations with Performers Musicophilia This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession The Music Lesson On Conducting Virgil Thomson: A Reader: Selected Writings, 1924-1984 The Private Music Instruction Manual Kindling the Spark: Recognizing and Developing Musical Talent Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life The Rest Is Noise Playing the Violin: An Illustrated Guide The Violin: A Research and Information Guide Bartok's Viola Concerto: The Remarkable Story of His Swansong The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet Piano Notes Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music Textbooks Music Dictionaries | Research Tools | Ear Training | Notation Performance Practice | Score Reading/Conducting Music Dictionaries Elson's Pocket Dictionary New Harvard Dictionary of Music Essential Dictionary of Orchestration Digital Grove Dictionary Dictionary of Percussion Terms Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians Oxford Dictionary of Music The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: 29 volumes with index RESEARCH TOOLS Good beginning books for self-study: Essentials of Music Theory: Complete Self-Study Course Alfred's Essentials of Jazz Theory Standard texts: Burkhart, Charles: Anthology for Musical Analysis Dallin, Leon: Techniques Of Twentieth-Century Composition Grout, Donald: A History of Western Music Berlioz, Hector and Richard Strauss. Treatise on Instrumentation Berry, Wallace. Form in Music, Second Edition Burkhart, Charles. Anthology for Musical Analysis Burney, Charles: The following works are out of print though accessible via established music libraries or interlibrary loan (with fees attached, in some cases). But to get titles and ISPN numbers, Amazon.com offers the following: Music, men, and manners in France and Italy, 1770 : being the journal written by Charles Burney during a tour through those countries undertaken to collect material for a general history of music Memoirs of Dr Charles Burney, 1726-1769 The Letters of Dr. Charles Burney: 1751-1784 Dr. Charles Burney's Continental Travels, 1770-1772 An eighteenth-century musical tour in Central Europe and the Netherlands: being Dr. Charles Burney's account of his musical experiences An eighteenth-century musical tour in Central Europe and the Netherlands : being Dr. Charles Burney's account of his musical experiences Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Abate Metastasio, Including Translations of His Principal Letters.: Including Translations of His Principal Letters (Da Capo Press Music Reprint Series) A General History of Music, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1789) The great Dr. Burney; his life, his travels, his works, his family, and his friends by Percy Alfred Scholes Dr. Burney As Critic and Historian of Music by Kerry S. Grant The only book I could locate about Burney which is not out of print: Dr. Charles Burney: A Literary Biography by Roger H. Lonsdale Donington, Robert. Baroque Music, Style and Performance: A Handbook Fux, Joseph. Study of Counterpoint Grout, Donald and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music, Sixth Edition. Newest ed. of the Grout, 8th ed., Burkholder Jeppesen, Knud. Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Style of the Sixteenth Century Kennedy, Michael. The Oxford Dictionary of Music Machlis, Joseph. Introduction to Contemporary Music Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach Perle, George. Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern Pincherle, Marc. Vivaldi: Genius of the Baroque Piston, Walter. Harmony Plantinga, Leon. Romantic Music: A History of Musical Style in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Norton Introduction to Music History) Rameau, Jean Philippe. Treatise on Harmony Randel, Don Michael. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music Rosen, Charles. Sonata Forms Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven Slonimsky, Nicolas. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians Turek, Ralph. The Elements of Music Ear Training Texts: Stefan Kostka: Tonal Harmony, With an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music Student Workbook and CD for use with Tonal Harmony Audio CDs for use with Tonal Harmony Ralph Turek: The Elements of Music, Vol. 1 Workbook for the Elements of Music, Vol. 1 The Elements of Music, Vol. 2 Workbook for the Elements of Music, Vol. 2, not listed: email vendor to make sure you're getting the correct book. Elements Music Vol 1&2 2e Cd Notation Texts: Adler, Samuel. Study of Orchestration, Third Edition Fux, John. Study of Counterpoint Gerou, Tom and Lusk, Linda. Essential Dictionary of Music Notation: The Most Practical and Concise Source for Music Notation Kennan, Kent and Grantham, Donald. The Technique of Orchestration and CD Recording Package Read, Gardner. Music Notation Persichetti,Vincent. Twentieth-Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice Piston, Walter. Orchestration Piston, Walter. Counterpoint Piston, Walter. Harmony: 5th ed. Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay. Principles of Orchestration Stone, Kurt. Music Notation in the Twentieth Century: A Practical Guidebook Strange, Allen. The Contemporary Violin: ExtENDed Performance Techniques (The New Instrumentation) Performance Practice: MUST HAVE: Judy Tarling's Baroque String Playing for Ingenious Learners, available in the US through Boulder Early Music Shop Also see: Baroque Resources Texts: Apel, Willi. Italian Violin Music of the Seventeenth Century Boyden, David. The History of Violin Playing from Its Origins to 1761 and Its Relationship to the Violin and Violin Music Carter, Stewart. A Performer's Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music Donington, Robert. Baroque Music: Style and Performance Donington, Robert. The Interpretation of Early Music Donington, Robert. String Playing in Baroque Music Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach Stowell, Robin. Performing Beethoven Stowell, Robin. Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries Score Reading/Conducting: Samuel Adler. Study of Orchestration, Third Edition Hector Berlioz. Treatise on Instrumentation Dave Black. Essential Dictionary of Orchestration George Burt. The Art of Film Music Deryck Cooke. The Language of Music David Daniels. Orchestral Music Robert W. Demaree. The Complete Conductor Harold Farberman, Thom Proctor. The Art of Conducting Technique: A New Perspective Cecil Forsyth. Orchestration Norman Del Mar. Anatomy of the Orchestra Conducting Beethoven: Overtures, Concertos, Missas Solemnis Conducting Beethoven: The Symphonies Conducting Berlioz Conducting Brahms Conducting Elgar Michael Dickreiter, Reinhard G. Pauly. Score Reading: A Key to the Music Experience Knud Jeppesen. Counterpoint: The Polyphonic Vocal Styles of the Sixteenth Century Norman Lebrecht. The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power Alfred Mann. The Study of Fugue Brock McElheran. Conducting Technique for Beginners and Professionals Reginald O. Morris, Howard Ferguson. Preparatory Exercises in Score Reading Walter Piston. Orchestration Jean Rameau. Treatise on Harmony Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Principles of Orchestration Jeff Rona. The Reel World: Scoring for Pictures Max Rudolf. The Grammar of Conducting: A Comprehensive Guide to Baton Technique and Interpretation Felix Salzer. Structural Hearing Tonal Coherence in Music (Two Volumes Bound As One) [Schenkerian analysis: read Piston and Fux first.] Hermann Scherchen. Handbook of Conducting Arnold Schoenberg. Structural Functions of Harmony Gunther Schuller. The Compleat Conductor Ernst Toch. The Shaping Forces in Music: An Inquiry into the Nature of Harmony, Melody, Counterpoint, Form (The Dover Series of Study Editions, Chamber Music, Orchestral Works, Operas in Full Score) Musicology Note that human life does not lend itself well to restricted categories and both the dates and the styles are subject to change and debate among scholars. Historical Era Approximate dates Representative Composers (Small sample) Medieval ca. 500-1450 Hildegard von Bingen, Machaut, Landini, Léonin, Pérotin. See: Wikipedia List Renaissance 1450-1600 Josquin, Dufay, Palestrina. See: Wikipedia List Baroque Also see: 1725-1770 Roccoco (and/or Galant) 1600-1750 Bach, Vivaldi, Tartini, Geminiani, Handel. See: Wikipedia List Classical 1750-1820 Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.** See: Wikipedia List Romantic Also see: Nationalism - Grieg, Sibelius 1820-1910 Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Paganini, Brahms. See: Wikipedia List Contemporary, also referred to as 20th Century or Modern. Includes subcategories such as: Impressionism: Debussy, Ravel Expressionism: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern Americana: Copland Neo Classicism: Stravinsky, Copland Neo Romanticism: Piston, Barber, Hanson Experimentalism: Brown, Cage Minimalism: Glass, Reich Also see: Further Discussion: Contemporary Musicology 1910-present Bartók, Bernstein, Cage, Babbit, Gershwin, Varese, Messiean, Stockhausen, Takemitsu. See: Wikipedia List ** From A History of Western Music: "Through external circumstances and the force of his own genius he transformed this heritage and became the source of much that was characteristic of the Romantic period. But he himself is neither Classic nor Romantic; he is Beethoven, and his figure towers like a colossus astride the two centuries." [Donald Jay Grout. (3rd Edition with Claude V. Palisca.) W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. New York. 1973. p. 521. Newest ed. of the Grout, 7th ed., Burkholder Musicology Texts: Studying Music History, 2nd ed., David Poultney A History of Western Music, Sixth Edition, Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca. Newest ed. of the Grout, 7th ed., Burkholder Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music: Ancient to Baroque (6-CD set), Donald J. Grout. Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music : Classic to Modern (6-CD set), Donald J. Grout. Study and Listening Guide for Concise History of Western Music and Norton Anthology of Western Music, J. Peter Burkholder. Musicology Links: Outlines of Grout History of Western Music, David Papandrew Music History, Theory and Composition Links COMPOSERS' DATES Josquin circa 1450-1521 Vivaldi 1678-1741 J.S. Bach: Arnstadt 1703-1707 Mühlhausen 1707-1708 Weimer 1708-1717 Cöthen 1717-1723 St. Thomas' School, Leipzig 1723-1750 Handel 1685-1759 Haydn 1732-1809 (d. 77) Mozart 1756-1791 (d. 35) Beethoven 1770-1827 (d. 57) Bartók 1881-1945 (d. 64) THEORY Ear Training MP3's, please see: Sound Files. Includes: Scales, Modes, Chords, Consonance/Dissonance, Meter, Articulations and Timbre. The "circle of fifths" is really a spiral of fifths, never really meeting itself, since pairs such as F#/Gb are absolutely not the same note as one another. They're a comma apart (almost 1/4 of a semitone) in pitch. I Tonic ii Supertonic iii Mediant IV Subdominant V Dominant vi Submediant or superdominant viiº Leading Tone Inversions: Triads: 6 6/4 7th chords: 7 6/5 4/3 4/2 Cadences: V-I, V-i Authentic IV-I, iv-i Plagel x-V, Half V-(VI), V-(vi) Deceptive iv(6) - V Phrygian: in minor, modal. Mixolydian: rock and roll. C: I-VII-I Modes: (Modal degrees are 3 and 6. Church: 5 whole steps and 2 1/2 steps. "Dr. Phil and Molly") Ionian 3-4, 7-8 Dorian 2-3, 6-7 Phrygian 1-2, 5-6 Lydian 4-5, 7-8 Mixolydian 3-4, 6-7 Aeolian 2-3, 5-6 Locrian 1-2, 4-5 Modes: D Dorian E Phrygian F Lydian G Mixolydian A Aeolian C Ionian Augmented 6th Chords: Contain interval of dd3th or Aug6, most often found inverted. Origin of names unknown. When reduced to root position, they can be seen to function as altered subdominant or supertonie chords. May be spelled enharmonically and used for modulation. [See: Augmented 6th Chords, UT Austin and Chord types, Indiana University.] Italian - German - French - Neapolitan - Major triad on flat sueprtonic, 1st inversion. Non-chordal tones: P.T. - passing tones: fill 3rds or 4ths, or 2nds (chrom) N.T. - neighboring tones: (auxiliary or embellishing tones) one step or half-step above or below, accented or unaccented Anticipation Suspension Decorated resolution of suspension Changing note (nota cambiata: up a 3rd, down stepwise Double neighboring tone: of four notes, 1st and last are the same Unprepared NT: by leap Retardation: suspensions that resolve upward E.T. - escape tone (echappee): rhythmically weak dissonance approached by step and resolved by leap Pedal Dominant 9th: Major triad, m 7th, M or m 9th. 7 and 9 resovle down by step. 5th omitted. Modulation: diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic. Transient key cells. N6: 6 refers to inversion. A6: 6 refers to interval. 7th chords: Dom: M3 P5 m7 M: M3 P5 M7 m: m3 P5 m7 small: m3 P5 M7 dd (freely): m3 d5 d7 large: M3 A5 M7 A6: m3 d5 m7 Harmonic series: 8, 5, 4, 3, m3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2 Blue note: flat 3rd or 7th C c g c' (middle C) e' g' b6' c" d" e" f" g" middle C=261.63 d=293.66 e=329.63 f=349.23 g=392.00 a=440 b=493.88 c=523.25 1/2-steps: M: 3-4, 7-8 natural m: 2-3, 5-6 harmonic m: 2-3, 5-6, 6-7 (step and 1/2), 7-8 melodic m: ascending form: 2-3, 7-8: descending form: 6-5, 3-2 (like natural m.) Newer remarks (Bradley Lehman): Lindley's article "Temperaments" in New Grove is indeed an excellent place to start, and indispensable reading. So is his "well-tempered clavier" article there, but be aware that there are two important numerical errors there in the charts he gives for Neidhardt's systems for organs. I have the corrections noted here, for those printed errors in New Grove: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl/larips/errata.html. Additional theory/history resources about tuning are in the "Further resources" section of my newest paper, "Bach's art of temperament": That also has more detail about the different tuning strategies, beyond your short and incomplete list of "Tuning: Pythagorean, just, meantone, equal tempered." A rather large collection of comparative temperaments is part of my article "Bach's extraordinary temperament: our Rosetta Stone" (free download). That article also has a lot to say about the "1/6 comma meantone, an 18th century standard" system as someone else has remarked. You might want to say more about "Hertz: c.p.s." to clarify it. Something like: "A measurement of the vibrations per second, or cycles per second (CPS), in pitch. Developed in the 19th century." Also enlarge "Overtone: pitches generated above fundamental" as that's too vague. The point there is that it's not just any old pitches above the fundamental, willy-nilly, but exact multiples. The frequency is 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, etc the fundamental vibration rate, and forms the harmonic series. Remarks: In your "Tuning" list at the bottom, the most important category is *not* listed: "irregular" temperaments. Read, especially, Lindley's article "Temperaments" in New Grove. In your little "Cents" table, 698 is not an equal-tempered fifth; 700 is. 698 is 1/6 comma meantone, an 18th century standard; see especially Bruce Haynes' article in 1991 Early Music about that. Similarly, your other measurements of 400 and 300 (and that other table of frequencies, 261.63 etc) make sense only in context of equal temperament, which really has little to do with the 18th century situation. (They knew about equal temperament but discarded it, both because it sounds bad and because it's difficult to set accurately.) Pure major thirds are much lower than 400 cents (i.e. about 386). 1/6 comma major thirds are about 393. In your overtone series [C c g c' (middle C) e' g' b6' c" d" e" f" g"] laid out just above that: the penultimate note should be closer to f# than f. Above that, throw away the layout of "8, 5, 4, 3, m3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2" and instead go look at an orchestration book about the natural notes available on horns and trumpets...that will give you a much clearer sense of the way the intervals are laid out, instead of counting any number of steps or half-steps. I think that it is interesting that no treatises or *critical* histories of music are included on the list. I would have totally revised the link and included such things as Rameau's Treatise on Harmony, the works of Walther, Werckmeister, Praetorius, Mattheson, and other theoriticians, and such performance works as Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Versuch ueber das wahre Art des Klavier zu spielen, the Berlioz/Strauss Treatise on Instrumentation, Leopold Mozart's Treatise on Violin Playing, etc. I also would have used (instead of the Grout work. Newest ed. of the Grout, 7th ed., Burkholder ) Paul Henry Lang's Music in Western Civilization. I also would have used such works as Friedrich Blume's Protestant Church Music, biographical and autobiographical works, etc. Grout is good as a very basic intro, but is too general and often inaccurate. [ED NOTE: Please see Violinists' Library for more books on string pedagogy.] Forms: Binary Ternary Strophic Theme and Variations Rondo Bar Form: AAB Sonata Allegro Form: not a form but a procedure of key conflict and configuration. Key and chord are different concepts. Actually only applies to a small number of works. See Charles Rosen, Sonata Forms. Exposition: Theme I in Tonic, Theme II in Dominant. Relatable keys; Development: Development of themes (may bring in new themes). Tonal fluctation; Recapitulation: Themes I and II, both in Tonic Phrase group: phrase, phrase, phrase. Period: phrase HC, phrase FC. Single phrase period: phrase. Simple binary: A cadence B (no return to A) Ternary: A B A (or C) Rounded binary: A B,A Cents: 1/2 step = 100 cents 1 step = 200 cents 1 octave = 1200 cents P5 = 700 cents, 698 equal temperament M3 = 400 cents m3 = 300 cents 342 (171 x 2) = Blue Note c. 1600-1875: any chord altered to become M or Mm7 will automatically assume dominant function. In a M7th, the m refers to the 7th, not the top 3rd. Tonic Harmony: I i vi6 iii Dominant Harmony: V V7 viiº viiº7 Subdominant Harmony: IV ii (ii 6/5) iv iiº vi N6 A6 TERMINOLOGY Schenker (1869-1935): German theorist. "Chord of nature": Overtone series, 5th partial, tonal center of a work. Klang. Bachground: Ursatz: from foreground, mdidleground, elimianting details. Chord grammar, prolongation, chord significance. Seeing large scale connections. [See: A Guide to Schenker Analysis.] Anhemitonic: pentatonic scale with no half-steps. Appogiatura: "to lean": non-harmonic tones; Appoggiaturas are not necessarily approached by leap. And they're sub-components of lots of other types of ornaments. Compound interval: P/P, M/m, m/M, dd/A, A/dd. Clef Signs: Treble, bass, tenor, alto, sophrano, baritone, mezzo soph. Gregorian notation: Liber Usualis Harpsichord: plucked. Clavichord: struck. Hertz: c.p.s. Hemiola: Homophonic: one melodic line with accompaniment. Isorhythm: Mensual Music: Basis of modern system. 13th-16th Century, contrast to plainsong. Polyphonic, each note has a determined value. Notation established 1250. Metric Modulation: Eliot Carter Monophonic: one melodic line without accompaniment. Neoclassicism: the use of classical forms without the tonal structures on which they are based. Overtone: pitches generated above fundamental. Partial: all pitches of the harmonic series. Polyphonic (contrapuntal): two or more melodic lines. Real answer: exact intervallic transportion. Sonatina: sonata without development section. Tablature: Tendency tones: fa--mi, ti--do. Timbre: Tonal answer: certain intervals adjusted to accommodate tonality. Tuning: Pythagorean, just, meantone, equal tempered. Search BestStudentViolins.com Site search Web search Add me to the Teachers Directory • Add me to Violinists/Violists on the Web Copyright 2010 © SunMusic Strings Home | FAQ | Sheetmusic | Bookstore | Table of Contents | About