Undergraduate Ear-training

Written Placement Examination

This placement exam assesses aural skills (dictation). Typically, a melody or interval is played and students are asked to write down, to the best of their ability, what is heard. Peabody’s ear training and sight singing program is designed to develop those skills.

The test is designed to assist instructors in knowing where to begin with each student. At the conclusion of this first part of the test, students who wish to advance place in the program will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to write chords in addition to melodic voices. A third part will involve more complex harmonic structures. (Most students take only the first part of the examination.)

Graduate Ear-training

Written Placement Examination

(for all M.M. and D.M.A. students)

This examination is for those students who auditioned by tape or for those who did not take the examination at their spring audition. Students who wish to retake the examination are also welcome if they believe they might improve their performance.

The examination is intended to assess the graduate student’s skills in taking one and two voice dictation as well as the ability to notate chords which are heard. Those who pass the written skills will need to take the Clef Reading/Sight-singing exam.

Clef-reading Sight-singing

(for designated graduate students only)

Only for those graduate students whose letter of admission designated that they should take this examination, it is designed to assess fluency in reading music. Students can expect to be asked to read treble, alto, and bass clefs.