Copyright ? 2005 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
THE PRAXIS SERIES is a trademark of Educational Testing Service.
1
Music: Content Knowledge (0113)
About This Test
The Music: Content Knowledge test is intended primarily for persons who plan to become teachers of music in kindergarten
through grade 12. It is designed to measure understanding of the basic content of undergraduate music and music education
courses.
The material covered in this test is broad in scope to account for variations in preparation, and an attempt is made to
emphasize the core of knowledge that is common to the training of all music education students. Major emphasis is placed on
the comprehension and application of concepts, principles, and practices. The importance of listening skills in the study and
teaching of music is refl ected by the inclusion of 40 questions based on recorded musical excerpts. A compact disc, on which
the musical excerpts are recorded, accompanies the test.
The 135 multiple-choice questions are divided into two sections. The fi rst section takes approximately 45 minutes; it
consists of 40 multiple-choice questions, each of which is based on a recorded excerpt. Each question is spoken on the CD
and written in the test book; the answer choices appear only in the test book. The questions in this section focus on various
Test at a Glance
Test Name Music: Content Knowledge
Test Code 0113
Time 2 hours, divided into a 45-minute listening section and a 75-minute non-
listening section
Number of Questions 135
Pacing and The fi rst 40 questions on the test are paced by a compact disc, on which
Special Tips the musical excerpts for Questions 1–40 are recorded. The recording is
approximately 45 minutes long. You must complete Questions 1–40 while
the recording is playing. You will then have approximately 75 minutes to
answer the remaining 95 questions.
Format Multiple-choice questions; 40 of the 135 questions are based on recorded
musical excerpts
Approximate Approximate
Content Categories Number of Percentage of
Questions Examination
I. Music History and Literature 28 21%
II. Music Theory 28 21%
III. Performance 28 21%
IV. Music Learning, K–12 43 31%
V. Professional Practices 8 6%
About half of these questions are based on recorded excerpts.
IV
II
I
V
III
Copyright ? 2005 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
THE PRAXIS SERIES is a trademark of Educational Testing Service.
2
Music: Content Knowledge (0113)
II. Music Theory
● Compositional organization,
such as pitch, including scale
types and harmony; rhythm;
texture; form; expressive
elements, such as dynamics,
articulation, tempo, and timbre
● Basic aural skills: intervals,
chords, scales, rhythms, melodies
Approximately half of the music
theory questions are based on
recorded musical excerpts
III. Performance
● Musical instruments, sound
production, instrumentation
of standard ensembles
● The singing voice, vocal
production, voicing of
standard ensembles
● Electronic media, such as
computers and synthesizers
● Conducting
● Score reading
● Improvisational techniques
● Acoustical considerations
involving rehearsal and
performance rooms
● Critical listening and
performance error recognition
Approximately half of the
performance questions are based
on recorded musical excerpts
IV. Music Learning, K–12
● Course offerings, music program
objectives, curriculum planning
and development
● Course content: psychomotor,
cognitive, and affective
behaviors, conceptual elements
of music, learning sequences,
performance skills appropriate
to grade level, evaluation of
students, pedagogical
approaches, selection of
appropriate vocal and
instrumental materials,
classroom management
skills, technology for the
music classroom
Several of the music learning
questions may be based on
recorded excerpts.
V. Professional Practices
● Philosophy of music education
● Professional literature: journals,
reference works, other
source materials
● Professional practices and ethics
● Professional organizations
aspects of the musical excerpts,
including style, period, compositional
techniques, harmonic progressions,
instrumentation, forms, rhythmic and
melodic patterns, mode, meter, and
texture. The content categories
represented in this section are music
history and literature, music theory,
and performance.
The second section of the test is
allotted 75 minutes and consists of
95 nonlistening multiple-choice
questions, some of which refer to
printed musical excerpts or diagrams.
Topics Covered
Representative descriptions of
topics covered in each category
are provided below.
I. Music History and Literature
● Stylistic characteristics (such as
melody, rhythm, harmony,
texture, and dynamics)
associated with music of the
major historical periods and with
jazz, other American popular
music, and world musics
● Composers
● Genres
● Music literature
Approximately half of the music
history questions are based on
recorded musical excerpts
3
Music: Content Knowledge (0113)
Copyright ? 2005 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
THE PRAXIS SERIES is a trademark of Educational Testing Service.
Sample Test Questions
The sample questions that follow represent a number of the types
of questions and topics that appear on the test. They are not,
however, representative of the entire scope of the test in either
content or diffi culty. Answers with explanations follow
the questions.
Directions: In this section of the test, you will be asked
questions about recorded musical excerpts that will be played
for you. You will hear each question spoken on the CD. Each
question, followed by four answer choices, is also printed in
the test book. In each case, listen to the excerpt, choose the
best answer, and then fi ll in the corresponding space on
your answer sheet. Base your answer only on the particular
excerpt you will hear, unless the question specifi cally asks
about the larger work from which the excerpt has been
taken. Each excerpt will be played only once, unless
otherwise indicated.
(Heard on CD: excerpt from Ravel’s
“Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes”
from Ma mère l’Oye)
1. What is the predominant scale or mode?
(A) Major
(B) Minor
(C) Pentatonic
(D) Chromatic
(Heard on CD: excerpt from the gamelan music
“Bubaran Hudan Mas”)
2. What are the instrumentation and country
of origin?
(A) Sitar and tabla; India
(B) Gamelan; Indonesia
(C) Panpipes; Peru
(D) Koto ensemble; Japan
(Heard on CD: excerpt from Elisabeth-Claude
Jacquet de la Guerre’s “Courante” from Pièces de
Clavecin: Suite in D minor)
3. In which measure is the rhythm played
incorrectly?
(A) Measure 2
(B) Measure 3
(C) Measure 5
(D) Measure 6
4
Music: Content Knowledge (0113)
Copyright ? 2005 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
THE PRAXIS SERIES is a trademark of Educational Testing Service.
Directions: Each of the questions or statements below is
followed by four answer choices. In each case, select the best
answer and fi ll in the corresponding space on your answer
sheet.
4. Which of the following lists the musical genres
in the correct chronological order of their
development?
(A) Motet, string quartet, opera, symphonic poem
(B) Motet, opera, string quartet, symphonic poem
(C) Opera, motet, string quartet, symphonic poem
(D) Opera, symphonic poem, motet, string quartet
5. The excerpt above is taken from a lied in A major by
Alma Mahler. Which of the following best represents
the bracketed harmony labeled X?
(A) ii
7
(B) vii
O6
5
(C) Aug. 6
(D) V
7
/V
6. Which of the following is the most likely cause of
faulty intonation by singers in a high school choir?
(A) Inadequate rehearsal time
(B) Unsupported tone
(C) Singing in a foreign language
(D) Lack of an instrumental accompaniment
7. Prior to learning about meter, elementary
students should be able to demonstrate their
understanding of
(A) weak and strong beats
(B) syncopation
(C) subdivision of the beat
(D) tempo markings
8. Which of the following is an example of a critical
thinking skill?
(A) Students label the parts of a chord.
(B) Students notate rhythmic patterns in all of
the common meters.
(C) Students compare two different recordings of
the same work.
(D) Students transpose a trumpet part from written
pitch to concert pitch.
9. Creating an ostinato on barred instruments to
accompany a folk song is most closely associated
with which of the following approaches?
(A) Orff
(B) Kodály
(C) Dalcroze
(D) Gordon
10. Under current United States copyright law, guidelines
for educational uses (“fair use”) of music permit all of
the following EXCEPT
(A) emergency copying to replace a purchased
copy that is lost and is not available for an
imminent performance
(B) making a single copy of recordings of
performances for evaluation or rehearsal purposes
(C) making an arrangement of a copyrighted work for
a school ensemble to perform
(D) copying for the purpose of scholarly research
X
5
Music: Content Knowledge (0113)
Copyright ? 2005 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.
THE PRAXIS SERIES is a trademark of Educational Testing Service.
Answers
1. In the excerpt heard on the CD, the main melody is
based on the pentatonic scale C
smallsharp
, D
smallsharp
, F
smallsharp
, G
smallsharp
, A
smallsharp
. The correct
answer, therefore, is C.
2. The excerpt heard on the CD features music by a
characteristic Indonesian gamelan ensemble composed
primarily of hanging gongs, gong-chimes, and drums. The
correct answer is B.
3. The excerpt heard on the CD contains one error in
rhythm: in measure 5, the eighth-sixteenth-sixteenth fi gure
in the bass is performed as sixteenth-sixteenth-eighth. The
correct answer is C.
4. The motet developed in the thirteenth century; opera,
in the seventeenth century; the string quartet, in the
eighteenth century; the symphonic poem, in the nineteenth
century. The correct answer is B.
5. The bracketed chord consists of pitches B - D
smallsharp
- A (the
fi fth of the chord, F
smallsharp
, is missing). This chord is the dominant
seventh in the key of E major, and E is V in the key of A
major. Thus, the bracketed chord can best be labeled V
7
/V.
The best answer is D.
6. Unsupported tone is a frequent cause of faulty
intonation by high school singers. Inadequate rehearsal time
and singing in a foreign language can contribute to a variety
of performance problems but in themselves are not primary
causes of faulty intonation. The lack of an instrumental
accompaniment is, at fi rst glance, an attractive choice
because adding an instrumental accompaniment or doubling
the parts of an a cappella piece on the piano, for example,
can often help maintain correct intonation. However, the
lack of an accompaniment is not in itself a cause of faulty
intonation. The best answer is B.
7. Meter, the grouping of beats into repeated sets of two,
three, or more beats, depends on the differentiation between
weak and strong beats; thus, students must understand this
differentiation before they learn about meter. Syncopation,
a momentary contradiction of the prevailing meter, can only
be understood after a student has grasped the concept of
meter. Subdivision of the beat and tempo markings are
not directly related to meter and thus are not essential
to understand before learning about meter. The correct
answer is A.
8. In the cognitive domain, evaluation represents a high-
level critical thinking skill. When students compare two
different recordings of the same work, they must use the skill
of evaluation. Labeling parts of a chord, notating rhythmic
patterns, and transposing a trumpet part demand knowledge
and application of knowledge, but not evaluation. The
correct answer is C.
9. The singing of folk songs accompanied by improvised
ostinatos on barred instruments is an important component
in the curricular approach developed by Carl Orff. None of
the other approaches listed—of Kodály, Dalcroze, or
Gordon—include improvisation on barred instruments
as a vital part of the music learning experience. The correct
answer is A.
10. According to the Music Industry Conference Guide for
Music Educators, all of the choices constitute permissible
educational uses of copyrighted material under current
copyright law except making an arrangement of a
copyrighted work for a school ensemble to perform.
The correct answer is C.
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