nellshawcohen

Hey everyone,

I'm auditioning for undergraduate composition study at Peabody this month. Thought I'd post on the off chance that anyone here might be able to offer tips on the following.

- The SACRE theory exam: they have a sample test online at Peabody Institute - Music Theory: Music Theory Placement Tests but I wonder if this is representative of the real test? Is the real one longer? The site says it covers meter, although I don't see anything like that here.

- Composition faculty interview: if anyone here has interviewed at Peabody or somewhere similar, what questions have you found they tend to ask? I assume they ask about influences, methods and goals; are there any particular questions I might should expect? What's most important for them to know?

Thanks!

violadad

There's a fairly recent thread here Ear Training at auditions regarding theory/aural tests at Peabody.

The poster alf3rd who initiated that thread is auditioning (may already have) at Peabody for composition, although I believe it's at the grad rather than undergrad level. You may want to send a private message (by clicking on his user name) and following the drop down menu that appears.

Good luck.

nellshawcohen

Thanks for the tip. I saw that thread on the aural test, I was hoping someone might have thoughts specifically on the theory exam and interview.

thzxcyl

About SACRE sample: it pretty much accurately represented the real test. I don't know if it is different for composition majors, but for other performance majors, it does not matter even if you did not take the theory placement test since you will have a chance to make it up at orientation. Of course, it is better to take it during audition week to gauge how far you will be placed in theory/ear training, but it not the end of the world if you did not do well in the audition week one.