Finals FAQs

If you have a question or concern about the final exam or final audit, please ask your professor or TA. Here are some of the questions students have been asking this week.

Sight Singing Final

• What should I bring to my Sight Singing Final? Just yourself! We will supply all materials, including a clean copy of the prepared example.
• How many examples of each element will I have to sing? Please expect to sing around four intervals, 2-3 triads, and 2-3 seventh chords.
• What will the sightreading be like? The sightreading will be diatonic, and will likely conform to Classical sentence or period structure. You can expect any of the clefs we have studied this semester (treble, alto, tenor, bass), and any simple or compound time signature. As always, you should use your moments of preparation to rehearse conducting, rhythm, solfege, and pitch.
• Help! I’m so nervous! You are not alone! It is normal to experience feelings of nervousness in an exam or other high-pressure performance situation. Your professors have been there too, and they empathize with what you’re going through. You are assured of being treated with respect and understanding during your Sight Singing Final.

Ear Training Final Exam

• What questions should I expect in the exam? There will be around 4 melodic intervals, 4 harmonic intervals, 4 triads, 4 seventh chords, 2 scales, a one-line rhythmic dictation, a melodic dictation that conforms to “textbook” Classical period or sentence structure, and a 6-chord harmonic progression.

• How long with the exam take? We have the room booking for two hours. The exam is likely to take a little over an hour. After that, you are welcome to stay in the room to check your answers. If you would like to leave, please do so quietly.

• Any tips for success? Remember the step-by-step procedures for error detection and elimination that we have studied all semester. When it comes to identifying elements such as intervals and chords, have a memorized flow chart at the ready. You should start with the interval (or chord) that you unmistakably identify correctly every time, and take it from there until you’ve eliminated all the wrong answers. Then – very importantly – check that your notation is consistent with your analysis. A common mistake in Aural Skills exams is to write a correct ID but make a careless error in notation.

In other words… detect, eliminate, notate, check!

Good luck!