CMA Students

CMA Placement

There are two Placement Exams required for all entering CMA Students:

1. The Aural Skills Placement Exam: 8:00pm - 9:00pm (ET), Monday, August 3 (on Zoom, sent via email)

2. Individual Meetings: Tuesday, August  4 (on Zoom, sent via email along with schedule)

How to Sign Up:

1. There is no sign-up for the Aural Skills Placement Exam. Rather, you will join the exam on exam-day via the zoom link which will be provided in the section below.

2. For individual meetings, we will ask that you fill out a survey so that we may schedule your individual meeting at a convenient time. A schedule of individual meeting times will be provided via NEC email.

Information About The CMA Aural Skills Placement Test

Every applicant will be given a written test with nine sections, all drawing from  the pedagogy we use in our program including both aural and written skills. We will send you a template for the test that you are encouraged to print out in advance. We will expect you to email your completed test back to us as soon as you complete it. Our undergraduate levels are listed below. Graduate students will also be assigned to specific CMA Aural Skills classes based on your test results.

First semester undergrad level begins with:

Section 1: Dictation involving melodic intervals where we give you the first pitch and ask you to identify the name of the interval and the second pitch. The intervals we play might be major or minor (2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths), perfect (4th, 5th, octave), or augmented (4th) or diminished (5th).

Section 2: Dictation involving harmonic intervals where we give you the top pitch and ask you to identify the name of the interval and the lower pitch. The intervals we play might be major or minor (2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths), perfect (4th, 5th, octave), or augmented (4th) or diminished (5th).

Section 3: Melodic and Rhythmic Dictation. We’ll play a fairly simple four-bar melody and tell you the starting pitch. We’ll expect you to write the correct melody and rhythm.

Section 3a: Write a four-bar response to the given melody. This exercise is tantamount to “trading fours” vocally or on your instrument only, in this case, it tests your ability to do it in written form. It’s very much like a question-answer format, so be certain to keep the melody in the first four bars in mind when you write your answer!

Second semester undergrad level introduces:

Section 4: Five-chord harmonic dictation using “conventional” chords up to 7ths, in treble and bass clef with the top pitch given. We’ll ask you to write out the chords in the correct voicing and write the correct chord symbol above it.

Third semester undergrad level introduces:

Section 5: Five -chord harmonic dictation in treble and bass clef using less more advanced chords (up to 13ts). The top pitch is given.

Section 6: Chord voicing notation. We will ask you to notate some favorite voicings of chord when given a chord symbol.

Section 7: We will ask you to identify the intervallic root motion of triads in treble clef. The first triad will be given. We’ll also ask you to identify the second triad.

Section 8: We will ask you to try to identify the root progression of a song’s A section.

Semester 4 undergrad level (possibly testing you out of some previous semesters):

Section 9: We will give a dictation using less conventional chords that should be entirely notated (not based on chord symbols).

Important, on the day of your meeting:

1. Please log into zoom early, go to “audio” under “settings” and select “live performance audio” or “original sound for musicians - high fidelity music mode.”

2. You may then join the waiting room a few minutes early and be ready to play your main instrument as well as a keyboard, if you have access to one.