Final Contents

“The art of music is so deep and profound that...one must approach it with a serious rigor and, at
the same time, with a great, affectionate joy.” -Nadia Boulanger

Individual Examination (in 12 minute appointments)

Monday, April 29 – Saturday, May 4
Lack of preparation or lateness means that you will not complete your exam in the allotted time,
and any unfinished portions will be graded as zero. Refer to the grading guidelines included with
the course syllabus for detailed discussion of expectations for individual performances.

1. Progression – arpeggiate the following progression on the functional system used in

your section, modulating as shown. You may play the bassline as you sing, your
instructor can play it, or you can sing unaccompanied.

2. Sing and Play – realize “My Romance” (Rodgers/Hart) in 3 voices (always root-3rd-7th or
root-7th-3rd), and sing the melody on a neutral syllable. Lead sheet provided.
3. Rhythm – vocally perform the rhythm of Carter “Canaries” (anthology p. 254-255, and
clean copy also provided on Blackboard) while conducting. An energetic and musical
performance is required, and all metric modulations must be carefully understood and
executed.
4. Sight Rhythm – may include multiple meter changes, similar in difficulty to single line
rhythms found in Hall chapter 29. Extra practice examples provided.
5. Sight Melody - Melodies may include multiple tonicizations and modulations, and will be
similar in difficulty to those found in R. Schumann Dichterliebe (provided in ultra-low voice
edition for practice).
Sight rhythm and melody together comprise 25% of individual grade; items 1, 2, and 3
are each weighted at 25%.

Written Examination – Thursday, May 2 during regular class hours

1. Intervals with Triadic Cover – strings of melodic intervals will be played in the left hand
of the piano underneath right hand triads, with each endpoint reused as the starting pitch
for the next interval. Identify size and quality.
2. Recognizing Triads and Seventh Chords – short progressions will be played, block
chords on the piano plus arpeggiation played on a contrasting instrument. Identify the
quality and inversion of each triad or seventh chord from a list, now including all qualities
and inversions. Fully diminished 7th chords need only be identified by quality.
3. Melodic Dictation – 2-3 short fragments similar in difficulty to recent in-class examples
by Faure and Debussy (but only melody – no basslines). Transcribe the melody.
4. Contrapuntal Dictation (based on prepared repertoire) – an example with multiple
modulations, based on the progressions and underlying harmonic plan of the literature
dictation completed in class during week 13, for which a score will be posted after week
13. (This exercise is similar to the contrapuntal dictation in class based on Faure Violin
Sonata No. 2, which will be posted with a key after week 12 for practice). Transcribe
soprano and bass, and provide a reasonable RN analysis.