Audition and Musicianship Test
Audition Requirements
Live auditions
Applicants should prepare 3 pieces demonstrating their skill on the instrument they wish to study. The pieces should be of contrasting styles and periods, and the audition program should be no longer than 20 minutes. Works should be chosen from the classical repertoire (except for electric guitar and electric bass). A sample program might include works from the Baroque, Romantic and Twentieth Century repertoires. Applicants may also be asked to demonstrate some technical work. Auditions will run for approximately 15 minutes. The audition panel will not hear all of the program and will make its own selection from the works prepared.
Repertoire presented at AMEB Grade 7 standard for instrumentalists and Grade 5 for singers, generally makes for a competitive audition. These standards are given as an indication only, to guide your choice of audition repertoire. AMEB examinations are not a pre-requisite requirement for entry to the BMus.
Recorded auditions
International, interstate and regional Victorian applicants may submit a recorded audition. (Regional Victoria is defined, for the purpose of recorded auditions, as any area further than 100kms from metro Melbourne.) Musical requirements as for live auditions. Recordings should be made in one take, must be unedited and should be submitted in CD-Audio format. Recordings will not be returned and are the property of the Faculty of Music.
Musicianship Test
All students applying for entry into the Faculty of Music are required to sit the Musicianship Test. The test takes place in late November / early December and in Orientation Week (late February) of each year.
International or interstate students who are successful in obtaining a place in the Faculty are required to sit the test in Orientation Week prior to the commencement of classes.
The test takes one hour and thirty minutes, including ten minutes reading time and comprises theory and aural questions. The candidate will need a pencil and eraser.
Aural
The questions are designed to evaluate the applicant's level of aural ability in regard to:
Intervals - Candidates will be required to aurally recognise a Major/Minor second; Major/Minor third; Perfect fourth; Tritone; Perfect fifth; Major/Minor sixth and Major/Minor seventh when played at a keyboard. Compound intervals will also be tested.
Chords - Candidates will be required to aurally recognise Major and Minor triads in all inversions, Augmented and Diminished triads in root position, Major, Minor and Dominant sevenths in root position. Candidates will also be required to aural identify the chord progression used in a brief musical excerpt.
Rhythmic dictation - Candidates will be required to notate two rhythms - each will be played five times.
Melodic dictation - Candidates will be required to notate a brief melody above a given bass-line.
Listening Excerpt - Candidates will be required to write about a short musical excerpt with regard to orchestration, structure, texture, style, harmony, rhythm and melody.
Theory
The questions are designed to evaluate the applicant's level of theoretical knowledge, beginning with clefs and progressing in difficulty to 2 and 4 part harmonisation.
Clefs - Candidates will be required to read and write in treble, alto, tenor and bass clefs.
Keys and Scales - Candidates will be required to recognise and write all major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales and key signatures.
Intervals - to recognise and write all diatonic and chromatic intervals and their inversions.
Transposition - Candidates will be required to transpose a passage to or from any of the major or minor keys; to understand how to write for the following transposing instruments - Clarinet in Bb, Alto Saxophone in E flat, Trumpet in B flat and Horn in F.
Triads, Chords and Cadences - Candidates will be required to recognise and write all Major and Minor triads and their inversions; Diminished and Augmented chords in root position; major, minor and dominant seventh chords in root position; Perfect, Imperfect; Interrupted and Plagal cadences in any Major or Minor key.
Harmonisation - Candidates will be required to add soprano, alto and tenor parts to a given bass-line and to write a counterpoint to a given melody.