[anthonyvthc]

Hey guys, I've got my music history placement exam on Monday. It's been a little while since I've taken history. What do you guys think are the important things to remember/brush-up on?
Any input would be helful.
Thanks.

[splatq]

Originally posted by anthonyvthc:
Hey guys, I've got my music history placement exam on Monday. It's been a little while since I've taken history. What do you guys think are the important things to remember/brush-up on?
Any input would be helful.
Thanks.

Music History? Ugh.

Beethoven, Chopin, Amadeus, Donizetti, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by splatq:
Music History? Ugh.

Beethoven, Chopin, Amadeus, Donizetti, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner

OK, so I must be in good shape. I've heard of all those people!

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by splatq:
Music History? Ugh.

Beethoven, Chopin, Amadeus, Donizetti, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner

Hmmm...

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Hmmm...

Yeah, I noticed that too. I think he was suggesting I study the movie as well as the composer.

[anthonyvthc]

Oh, and just for clarification, the title of this thread was to attract people who listen to classical music to it, not a call for a list of classical musicians. Make sense?

[splatq]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Hmmm...

Heh, my mistake to list him twice... I'm a little sleepy at the moment.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by splatq:
Music History? Ugh.

Beethoven, Chopin, Amadeus, Donizetti, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner

Uhm, is that an idiot's test ?

Ludwig, Amadeus, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Frederic...

-t

[wdlove]

Just remember that the full name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Good luck on the exam.

[Stradlater]

Originally posted by wdlove:
Just remember that the full name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Good luck on the exam.

And his nickname was "Wolfie"

[shmerek]

Know your periods as well and who belongs to what. Mozart: classical, Beethoven: romantic (the birth of) etc. Also look at the forms ie. sonata, symphonic their parts and when they came about. Who influenced who; What did Verdi take from Donizetti? What did Debussy take from Wagner etc? For specific composers I would look at Monteverdi, Hadyn, Mozart, Bach, Haendel, Beethoven, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Debussy, Mahler, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Chopin, Lizst... that ought to keep you busy enough

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by anthonyvthc:
Hey guys, I've got my music history placement exam on Monday. It's been a little while since I've taken history. What do you guys think are the important things to remember/brush-up on?
Any input would be helful.
Thanks.

The music history courses I took started as early on as the Middle Ages. Guillaume Machaut, John Dunstable, Philippe de Vitry, and all those guys. They went all the way to the 20th century - Babbitt, Carter, Xenakis, etc. I do not think that just knowing about Mozart and Beethoven is going to work too well in a music history placement test.

If you haven't learned the material that these tests are covering at some point, I'm not sure how well you can do in a placement exam...

Best thing is to ask people that have actually taken the test at the school you're at. The rest of us can just guess.

[shmerek]

If it is a survey course it will hit on all the major points in the exam it won't go into precise detail.

[spatterson]

Mozart's Requiem K626... His last peice... It wasn't even finished by Mozart. He died before he could finish it. I think it is his most beautiful works.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by shmerek:
If it is a survey course it will hit on all the major points in the exam it won't go into precise detail.

Yeah, but you would have to know some things about the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the 20th century, right? I can't imagine they'd completely skip over those.

[shmerek]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Yeah, but you would have to know some things about the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the 20th century, right? I can't imagine they'd completely skip over those.

I agree they won't skip them completely but the really early stuff was more about the development of notation, polyphonic music and crap like that more than it was about individual "composers", I can't remember any names before Peri,that part of my survey class was pure hell it was so boring. As for the 20th century, I already mentioned a few of the composers but forgot a biggy in Schoenberg (can't find the umlaut)

[Briareus]

I'll go with shmerek's earlier post- basic knowledge of the compositional styles/periods sequentially and representative composers should get you through.

Medieval/Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, etc.

Perotin, Machaut, Monteverdi, Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Mahler, Ravel, Debussy, Sch�nberg, Stravinsky, etc.

Symphony, Opera, Chamber, Concerto, Sonata, Oratorio, etc.

Good luck and please post some of the stranger questions if you remember them

(edit:doh.. I rattled all that off without realizing most of them were posted above. Well, good advice reiterated is still good advice)

[anthonyvthc]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll let you know how I do next week.

[PER3]

You obviously know nothing about music history, and unless you are going to sit an entrance test for a very low-levelled course, you are going to fail.

Just bring along a couple of Ben Franklins and deal with the situation rationally.

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by PER3:
You obviously know nothing about music history, and unless you are going to sit an entrance test for a very low-levelled course, you are going to fail.

Just bring along a couple of Ben Franklins and deal with the situation rationally.

And what would make you think that? I asked for some suggestions as to what people think might be on the test. I have studied music history quite a bit, however, it has been awhile and I was looking for some refreshers. For the record, I am entering a masters program in composition/theory.

You shouldn't make assumptions when you have absolutely no idea about the situation.

[anthonyvthc]

OK, so the test was ridiculously difficult. Rather than asking about the important developments in western music, they asked about obscure composers and specific, lesser-known pieces by famous composers. Nothing about form. Nothing about stylistic development. Ugh.
The good news:
Apparently this "placement" test has no actual impact. For example, if one scored a zero on the test they would still be eligible for the program and not have to take any remedial courses. WTF? Why did I waste two hours taking it? Anyway, I think I did OK. I was one of the last to leave (out of 30), which means I probably answered more questions than most.

So tomorrow is the Theory test, which does have significance. However, I feel pretty confident in my theory skills. Still, I'll put out the call for any tips you guys might suggest. The only aspect of theory that I have trouble with are the augmented six chords (can never keep them straight). What else might I be forgetting?

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by anthonyvthc:
OK, so the test was ridiculously difficult. Rather than asking about the important developments in western music, they asked about obscure composers and specific, lesser-known pieces by famous composers. Nothing about form. Nothing about stylistic development. Ugh.
The good news:
Apparently this "placement" test has no actual impact. For example, if one scored a zero on the test they would still be eligible for the program and not have to take any remedial courses. WTF? Why did I waste two hours taking it? Anyway, I think I did OK. I was one of the last to leave (out of 30), which means I probably answered more questions than most.

So tomorrow is the Theory test, which does have significance. However, I feel pretty confident in my theory skills. Still, I'll put out the call for any tips you guys might suggest. The only aspect of theory that I have trouble with are the augmented six chords (can never keep them straight). What else might I be forgetting?

Augmented sixth chords: Italian, French, and German.

The German sixth sounds just like a dominant seventh chord, but it is spelled differently, with the top note being a sharp note instead of a flat note. The French sixth looks similar to the German, but the fifth is lowered a half step so that it is a fourth instead. Chopin likes this one. The Italian is like the German except that the fifth is left out entirely.

So, they look like this:

German: C, E, G, A#
French: C, E, F#, A#
Italian: C, E, A#

The top note in the augmented sixth chord resolves up (which is what makes it different from a dominant seventh, in which the seventh scale degree would always resolve downward). The bottom note resolves downward to the same note that the top note resolves up to, so you end up with an octave.

The neat thing about the German sixth is that, because it sounds like a dominant seventh, you can fake the listener out by putting it in a spot where they will be expecting a dominant seventh, but instead, aha! It's an augmented sixth and it goes up instead of down. Beethoven likes to do this. So do lots of composers after Beethoven, such as Chopin. If you are having problems with parallel fifths (pretty easy to do if you are going to, say, B major), then use the French or Italian instead to avoid it.

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Augmented sixth chords: Italian, French, and German.

The German sixth sounds just like a dominant seventh chord, but it is spelled differently, with the top note being a sharp note instead of a flat note. The French sixth looks similar to the German, but the fifth is lowered a half step so that it is a fourth instead. Chopin likes this one. The Italian is like the German except that the fifth is left out entirely.

So, they look like this:

German: C, E, G, A#
French: C, E, F#, A#
Italian: C, E, A#

The top note in the augmented sixth chord resolves up (which is what makes it different from a dominant seventh, in which the seventh scale degree would always resolve downward). The bottom note resolves downward to the same note that the top note resolves up to, so you end up with an octave.

The neat thing about the German sixth is that, because it sounds like a dominant seventh, you can fake the listener out by putting it in a spot where they will be expecting a dominant seventh, but instead, aha! It's an augmented sixth and it goes up instead of down. Beethoven likes to do this. So do lots of composers after Beethoven, such as Chopin. If you are having problems with parallel fifths (pretty easy to do if you are going to, say, B major), then use the French or Italian instead to avoid it.

Possibly the best response I've ever gotten in a forum. Thanks a bunch; you just saved me hours of digging through my old notes!