For the theory exam you may be asked to:
Analyze harmonic progressions that include secondary dominant
seventh and diminished seventh chords, modal mixture
(borrowed chords), and pivot chord modulations.
Write such progressions with good voice leading.
Identify non-chord tones (as distinct from tones
that might reasonably be interpreted as part of a known chord) such as passing
tones and neighbor tones (accented and unaccented, diatonic and chromatic),
suspensions, and appoggiaturas.
Develop the same sorts of analysis from a single melody, by discerning the
underlying harmony from which it was most logically derived.
Identify jazz chord types with appropriate
symbols.
Explain some of the main features and varieties of binary form and sonata form.
Identify chord sequences that employ the tonic-(variable)-predominant-dominant-tonic paradigm
of harmonic progression (versus sequences
that do not).
Apply your knowledge of the harmonic series.
For the musicianship test, you will likely be asked to sing:
- One of the scale, chord, or interval drills assigned in class,
which you were asked to practice constantly throughout the quarter. Those
include: up-down drills in major and minor scales, thirds in the major scale, I-IV-V7-I progressions in major and
harmonic minor keys, and lower-chromatic neighbor tones in major
keys.
- A previously-unseen melody that includes some leaps and chromatic alterations, but which has
a fairly evident underlying harmony. You should use your understanding of the
harmonic basis of the melody to help you sing the correct pitches.
- A rhythm that includes some of the particular time divisions we have discussed in class, including: timepoints in beat divisions of three and four, different ways of interpreting sextuple divisions, all beat divisions up to eight, duple and quadruple divisions within compound time, and polyrhythms up to five.