We are delighted that you are considering the Southern Miss School of Music, and we
want to make your transition to our University is as smooth as possible. Therefore,
we have assembled this guide to provide you with important and helpful information
before you even get here. Please read everything carefully and thoroughly.
Mississippi Public Universities Articulation Agreement
An agreement between two academic institutions that a course offered at one institution
will be accepted for transfer credit at the partnering institution. Articulation agreements
help students take appropriate courses at the community/junior college that will transfer
for credit toward a bachelor's degree at the university of their choice.
Fall 2020: Due to Covid-19, Music Theory Placement Tests for 2020 will be waived for
transfer students. Piano Competency Exams will take place virtually via Zoom.
Dates
Exams
Format
On-going
Piano Competency Exams and Class Piano Placements
Due to Covid-19, we are currently offering the piano competency exam and class piano
placements via Zoom. More information is provided further below.
Interested students must contact Dr.%20Ellen%20Elder, Associate Professor of Piano and USM Class Piano Coordinator.
Piano Competency Exams and Class Piano Placements and Music Theory Placement Test
T.B.A.
August 2021
Music Theory Placement Test
T.B.A.
Placement Exams
Each year, we offer you the opportunity to be placed properly in the right aural skills
and theory courses (if needed) as well as piano class. Information for each follows:
Music Theory and Ear Training
The theory department gives you the opportunity to take a validation test based on
the transferrable credit that you have earned at another institution of higher learning.
Since curricula vary from university to university, we want to insure that what you
have studied elsewhere has prepared you for classes at Southern Miss.
These are not “CLEP” tests to exempt you from taking classes, but the tests are for
students who have earned transferrable credit from another institution of higher education.
You can only take this test once; we recommend that you take it in the spring, since
you may be more familiar with the material.
Please contact Dr.%20Danny%20Beard if you intend to take the tests in the spring and/or if you have any questions about
the tests. Students who are unsuccessful in the spring will not be allowed to retake
the tests in the fall.
Piano
You are required to study piano and pass a “Piano Competency Exam” as a music major
at Southern Miss.
This test is administered to you, usually near the end of the final semester of
piano class (MED 202), in a course entitled Piano Competency (MED 302).
As a transfer student, you will have the opportunity to either attempt the entire
exam, or attempt part of the exam and be placed in the appropriate piano class.
(USM students must take the complete exam unless they have had four semesters of class
piano at which point they may opt to take part of the exam, if needed).
Due to Covid-19, we are currently offering the piano competency exam and class piano
placements via Zoom. If you have questions, please contact Dr.%20Ellen%20Elder, Associate Professor of Piano and USM Class Piano Coordinator. If you are considering
majoring in piano, please instead contact keyboardfacultyFREEMississippi.
If you have already passed a piano competency exam at the college or university from
which you are transferring, that exam must be comparable to USM's Piano Competency
Exam Requirements found above.
If you have indeed passed such a competency exam, please provide the name and email
address of the professor who administered the exam. We will contact that professor
for:
A description of the items on the exam (details regarding the specific things you
performed)
The grade that you earned, if applicable. Please send the name and email address of
the professor at your previous institution to Dr.%20Ellen%20Price%20Elder, Associate Professor of Piano and USM Class Piano Coordinator.
Summer Preview
Southern Miss holds a series of dates over the summer called “Preview.” Transfer
students are required to register for one of these dates.
At Preview, you will:
Meet with your academic adviser and create your class schedule
Pre-order your textbooks
Get your student ID made
Have your questions answered during small-group sessions
Find out more about student organizations and opportunities to get involved on campus
Perhaps the most important thing to do during Preview is to register for your first
semester of classes. You will be brought to the School of Music for this. It is extremely
helpful if you bring a copy of your transcript; otherwise, registration may take longer
and/or result in faulty advising.
If you do not attend Preview, you will have to wait until the beginning of the semester
to register, and class availability will be extremely low; therefore, we see it as
a must to register for one of the Previews above and attend it.
We also recommend that you attend one of the earlier Previews, so that you can be
more assured of getting into the classes that you want – the later you register, the
harder it gets.
New transfer students sometimes find that their transferred courses were not entered
correctly into their Southern Miss degree progress report or are even missing. This
may occur for several reasons: final semester at your previous school has not yet
been processed or even sent over to us, a glitch in the computer system, human error,
etc. Therefore, during your first semester at Southern Miss you should be sure that
everything looks correct. If not, please see the Undergraduate Coordinator as soon
as possible to fix the problem.
Sophomore Proficiency Exam
Every student pursuing a bachelor of music degree at Southern Miss must perform an
end-of-semester jury. You are probably familiar with these. However, every student
in this category must also pass what is called a Sophomore Proficiency Exam (originally
called Barrier Jury).
This examination is longer than the typical jury, and it tests the student’s ability
to play at the upper-divisional level (200-level = freshmen and sophomores, or lower
divisional; 400 = juniors or seniors, or upper divisional). All music students in
this category must pass this.
Students who begin their music degrees at Southern Miss typically take the Sophomore
Proficiency Exam at the end of their sophomore year.
Transfer students are required to take it as soon as possible (usually at the end
of a given semester, but permissible at auditions). Transfer students can lose quite
a bit of time at Southern Miss if they are not already on track to take this jury
before they arrive.
We strongly recommend that transfer students study the following requirements for
their major instrument and are familiar with all or part of them before arriving to
Southern Miss
Music Performance Majors:
Student must sign up for a double time-slot for the jury (20 minutes instead of 10
minutes);
All major and minor scales, as defined by the studio professor on that instrument;
Supplementary technical material, as determined by the studio professor;
Oral exam encompassing knowledge of literature, pedagogy, recordings, and performers,
specific to the instrument;
Solo work(s) representing major repertoire accompanied by piano, as chosen by the
studio professor;
Etude(s) as chosen by the studio professor.
Music Education Majors:
Student must sign up for a double time-slot for the jury (20 minutes instead of 10
minutes);
All major and minor scales, as defined by the studio professor on that instrument;
Supplementary technical material, as determined by the studio professor;
Oral exam encompassing knowledge of literature, pedagogy, recordings, and performers
specific to the instrument;
Etude(s) and/or Solo work(s) representing major repertoire accompanied by piano, as
chosen by the studio professor.
Please click here and scroll down to the Trumpet area..
Tenor Trombone Sophomore Proficiency
Major Scales/All forms of Minor Scales (2 Octaves)
#16 from Borgdogni/Mulcahy Complete Vocalises for Trombone
#6 from Bleger 31 Studies
Bass Trombone Sophomore Proficiency
Major Scales/All forms of Minor Scales (2 Octaves)
#6 from Tyrell 40 Advanced Studies for Bb Bass
#16 (8vb) from Borgdogni/Mulcahy Complete Vocalises for Trombone
Performance Majors (Additional Requirement)
Tenors
Mozart Tuba Mirum
Berlioz Hungarian March
Wagner Ride of the Valkyrie
Basses
Schumann Symphony No. 3 (The Rhenish)
Berlioz Hungarian March
Wagner Ride of the Valkyrie
Note: Deficient Proficiencies must be completed before the end of a student’s first
semester for the student to remain as a music major. All but two proficiencies must
be completed before a student can register for MUP 456. All proficiencies must be
completed in order to receive a passing grade for MUP 456.
Music Ed, BA degrees
Snare Level 1 and 2
Mallets Level 1 - 4
Set Level 1 - 3
Timpani Level 1 and 2
Latin Lab
Performance degree
Snare Level 1 and 2
Mallets Level 1 - 5
Set Level 1 - 4
Timpani Level 1 and 2
Latin Lab
Jazz Studies degree
Snare Level 1 and 2
Mallets Level 1 - 5
Set Level 2 - 6
Timpani Level 1
Latin Lab
A selection, chosen by the jury, of memorized scales (G - D-flat for violin), in major
and minor, with 4, 6 and 8 notes slurred per bow, and the related series of arpeggios,
memorization not required.
Three works from among the required jury categories, one of which must be memorized.
Be able to perform any of the complete 120 Studies for the Right Hand by Mauro Giuliani.
Be able to perform any of the complete diatonic major and minor scales as fingered
by Andres Segovia with free- and rest-stroke as well as with all of the following
right-hand alternation patterns: im, mi, ma, am, ia, ai, p, pi, ip, pm, mp, pa, ap.
Perform one etude by Carcassi, Sor, Coste, or Villa-Lobos.
Perform one movement of a work by J.S. Bach (preferably from an unaccompanied suite).
Please check your repertoire choices with any member of the piano faculty before proceeding.
BA - Three pieces, with one being memorized.
BME - Three pieces (or movements) of contrasting style periods, with at least two
memorized, from the standard piano repertoire.
BM - Three pieces (or movements) of contrasting style periods, with all three memorized,
from the standard piano repertoire.
BME Choral/Vocal, BM Voice Performance, and BA with Voice Emphasis
For the Barrier Audition/Jury, each voice major will prepare and present six (6) contrasting
pieces that must include the following four languages: English, Italian, German, and
French. A total of three pieces will be sung, with the student selecting the first
piece and the voice faculty selecting the subsequent two pieces. In order to pass
the Barrier, the student must receive a majority vote of Pass by the voice faculty.
BM Voice Performance only:
In order to continue in the degree track, the student must also secure a majority
Pass of the Performer’s Certificate. It is possible to pass the barrier and be denied
the Performer’s Certificate.