Audition Guidelines
AUDITION GUIDELINES
All incoming UW Oshkosh students who wish to become music majors/minors MUST AUDITION for acceptance to the department. The audition will consist of an applied audition and a brief music reading exam.
Applied Audition
The student is responsible for choosing music that would satisfy the requirements of the appropriate area or studio. It is strongly recommended that the student seek the advice of his/her school music director and/or private instructor regarding this choice of music. Please contact the UW Oshkosh Department of Music for further assistance if needed. See below for guidelines. .
Music Theory and Aural Skills Diagnostic Exam
This exam is required of all auditioning students and will cover the topics and skills listed below.
Music Theory Section
1. Notate indicated pitches in treble and bass clefs.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of duration symbols.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of time signatures.
4. Identify major and minor key signatures.
5. Notate major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales.
6. Label intervals.
7. Notate triads in root position, first inversion, and second inversion.
8. Analyze a short chorale with Roman numerals.
Aural Skills Section
1. Vocally match a pitch played on the piano.
2. Distinguish between higher and lower pitches in a pair.
3. Sing a familiar melody.
4. Sight read a short rhythm in simple meter (4/4 or 3/4) including rests, dots, and ties.
5. Sing short melodies in major and minor keys at sight.
A satisfactory score on the first two components of the music theory section and the first four components of the aural skills section is a prerequisite to registration in MUS 107 (Music Theory I) and MUS 173 (Aural Skills 1).
Additionally, the results of all components of the assessment will be used for placement purposes.
Any student who is registered in an Advanced Placement (AP) theory course, or who is preparing for the AP music theory exam, will be asked to self-identify for the purposes of proper placement within the theory core.
Click here to view a sample Music Theory exam.
Keyboard Placement
Applicants will be requested to fill out a keyboard questionnaire prior to their audition. Applicants without a keyboard background will be placed into beginning class piano. Applicants with previous keyboard experience will be placed into the appropriate course according to the results of the questionnaire. A placement exam may be required for those with significant keyboard experience. This placement exam will be given at the beginning of the semester and will include sight-reading and an assessment of fundamental keyboard skills.
In preparation for our music reading test, we recommend the following on-line sites:
