The Music Graduate Diagnostic Examination (MGDE) in Theory is a 2-hour placement examination for incoming graduate students that is offered in May, August and January. Email Traci Hair or call 803-777-4208 in the graduate music office to find out when this exam is offered.
What the exam covers
The exam has two sections: aural analysis and tonal analysis and form. The aural analysis part of the exam includes four tasks: match a heard melody and a notated melody, match a heard chord progression to the Roman numeral analysis, match a heard bassline to the most likely Roman numeral analysis, and complete the notation of a heard melody. The tonal analysis and form section requires an understanding of diatonic and chromatic harmony, Roman numeral analysis, and classical form.