Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination is normally taken at the beginning of the fourth semester for students in Composition. For students in Musicology, the Qualifying Examination is divided into two parts, with Part 1 taken at the end of semester four and Part 2 at the beginning of semester five. For students in Ethnomusicology, the mini-portfolio is submitted at the end of the first year of study. You must pass the qualifying examination in order to continue study in the doctoral program.

Before taking the Qualifying Examination, the student must have passed the Foreign Language Examination(s) as well as have cleared any Incompletes. The Qualifying Examination is ordinarily administered by a committee of three members of the Graduate Faculty appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies.

The purpose of the Qualifying Exam in Composition is to test the depth and breadth of your knowledge in a variety of repertories from different historical periods. Sample examinations are available via email request from the DGSA. The exam takes place at the beginning of semester 4 (Year 2, spring semester).

Qualifying Exam Categories

The Qualifying Exam in Composition has three repertory categories and a portfolio of compositions that will be examined in written essays as well as in an oral exam:

  • Category A: Make yourself an expert on one composer of your choice from any historical period or cultural background. By "expert," we mean that you will be:
    • familiar with the majority of the composer's catalog, and have a detailed knowledge of at least five representative compositions;
    • familiar with the most important writings about this composer (e.g., six to ten articles/books and biographical materials which include theoretical and cultural/historical approaches to the subject);
    • knowledgeable about other artists whose work informs the work of this composer. You will be asked to give a presentation on your research during an oral examination (see below).
  • Category B: Select three other composers to study in considerable detail, though not as extensively as the composer in Category A. For each composer in this category, we will expect you to have studied at least three scholarly articles and at least two representative works. Your work on these three composers may grow out of your research on your Category A composer, but this is not strictly necessary.
  • Category C: Propose six other composers from contrasting historical periods and familiarize yourself with their principal compositions. Students taking the exam should collaborate on a list of shared composers and compositions. You should be familiar with one or two important scholarly writings about each of these composers. The Qualifying Exam Committee will modify or add other compositions to this list.
  • Portfolio of Compositions you have written while at Duke consisting of scores and any recordings of performances of these works. In addition, you should prepare a written statement addressing specific pieces you have composed at Duke. Discuss how you hope your work will evolve in your remaining time at Duke (e.g., future projects; musical, technical, or conceptual issues you’d like to address, etc.). A separate portfolio should be prepared for each member of the Exam Committee.

In Categories A, B, and C, a "composer" may be defined flexibly. You may choose to study a musical repertory which does not rely on notation, or in which the border between composer and performer is not strictly defined (e.g., vernacular genres, improvisation, non-western musical traditions, etc.)

Portfolio of Compositions

The portfolio consists of scores and recordings (if possible) of compositions for chamber ensembles, solo instruments, or voice composed at Duke.  The compositions should demonstrate your artistic point of view and productivity, e.g., a minimum of 15-20 minutes of music, and they should exhibit technical assurance and clear expressive intent. All scores should include a title page, instrumentation, performance notes, and any other relevant information, e.g., tech requirements, texts, and a program note. The scores should be carefully edited, neatly printed, and bound. The artistic statement need not be long (500-750 words) but it should be substantive. One copy of the portfolio should be presented to each member of the exam committee before the end of Exam Week in semester 3. The scores will be returned after the exam.

Timetable

Given the scope of the exam, students should begin to work on the preceding four categories immediately upon matriculation. Here is the timetable:

  • During semester 1, make preliminary decisions about which composers you will research.
  • By the end of semester 2, submit a list of composers and repertory for each category for review by the Composition Exam Committee, which will review your list. To ensure equal treatment for all students, the Exam Committee will select particular works or composers for Category C that will be shared by all students taking the exam.
  • By December 1 of semester 3, submit your composition portfolio to the members of the Composition Committee.
  • By December 15 of semester 3, the Composition Exam Committee will assign a topic based on your Category A selection for a formal presentation during the Oral Exam.

Qualifying Exam Format

The qualifying exam has two parts, a written component and an oral component. Normally, the written exam is administered a few days before Spring classes begin in January of Semester 4. The Oral Exam takes place approximately one week later.

Written Exam

The written exam includes seven short essays on score or sound examples from Categories B and C or closely related works provided by the Exam Committee. You might think of this as a more elaborate version of the score identification section of the Diagnostic Exam, except this time you are expected to know the examples since they are drawn from your proposal.  You will have one day (eight hours) to write these essays. You may use practice room pianos but no library resources while you write.  The exam will be sent to you by email no later than 9:00 AM on the day of the exam.  You must submit your essays to the DGSA as well as to members of the Exam Committee by 5:00 PM that day. 

After you turn in the essays, spend the intervening week before the oral exam preparing corrections and clarifications for your essays, particularly if there are inaccuracies. The Exam Committee will very likely ask you to play excerpts of the score ID examples on the piano that illustrate your analytical observations during the oral exam. Bring copies of your essays and score ID examples with you to the oral exam.

Oral Exam

At least one week after the written exam, you will meet with the Qualifying Exam Committee for an oral examination. During this meeting you will give a 30-minute formal presentation on the topic assigned by the Exam Committee at the end of the previous semester. This presentation should be appropriate for a professional gathering of scholars and musicians (i.e., students and faculty who would attend a job interview). Your talk may focus on analytical, stylistic, cultural, and historical issues related to the topic with varying degrees of emphasis. The faculty will evaluate the content and organization of your presentation.

The oral exam also includes a discussion of your score identification essays.  This may entail illustrating your analytical observations by playing excerpts from the scores on the piano.  The exam concludes with a discussion of your Portfolio of Compositions and your artistic statement. 

En Route A.M. (Master of Arts)

After successfully completing the Qualifying Exam, students may apply to receive an en route A.M. All other academic requirements for the A.M. must have been completed, including required RCR certification.  Notify the DGSA of your intention immediately after completing the oral portion of Qualifying Exam, normally at the beginning of semester 4 to receive the A.M. at the end of Y2.

Following successful completion of the Qualifying Exam, the graduate faculty will vote to determine whether the student continues Ph.D. studies or receives a terminal A.M.

Terminal A.M.

A student who wishes to leave the program for professional or personal reasons may graduate with a terminal A.M. at the end of Y2.  In this case, the Qualifying Exam serves as the terminal exam.  Students must fulfill all other academic requirements for the A.M., including required RCR certification.  Application for graduation must be made through the DGSA before the application deadline for that semester.

Students who fail the Qualifying Exam may be allowed to retake the exam in whole or in part at the recommendation of the exam committee.  If a retake is not granted, the student will not continue graduate studies in music and may not receive an A.M. at Duke.

In Ethnomusicology, submission of the Mini-portfolio is analogous to the Qualifying Exam in Musicology and Composition.  The Mini-portfolio consists of the three most accomplished term papers, one of which must be an Ethnomusicology paper, from seminars taken in Year 1.  The Ethnomusicology faculty will also assess your performance in the required two-course social/critical theory sequence (i.e., CA 801S and 802S).

Students should submit the Mini-portfolio to the Ethnomusicology faculty no later than three weeks after the last day of spring graduate classes. The faculty will notify students of their assessment in writing by the start of the Fall semester. A copy of the assessment will be kept on file by the DGSA. Students who fail the Mini-portfolio assessment may not be able to continue graduate studies in music at Duke.

The Field Specialization Workshop in Year 2 culminates in a meeting with Doctoral Committee at the end of spring semester.  Its purpose is to finalize projects students will prepare for the Portfolio & Prospectus Workshop in Year 3.

Doctoral Committee

Year 2 Ethnomusicology students should identify their dissertation adviser and discuss the preliminary membership of the Doctoral Committee. An adviser and at least two other members of the Doctoral Committee should be determined before the Field Specialization Workshop, which takes place at the end of Year 2.  The finalized Doctoral Committee (at least four faculty members) must be approved by the DGS and the Dean of the Graduate School by February 1 of Year 3.

Field Specialization Workshop

The Field Specialization Workshop is a 90-minute meeting with your Doctoral Committee near the end of Year 2, scheduled by the DGSA. In this meeting the student will present and discuss preliminary field specialization lists and a summer research proposal. In preparation for this milestone, the student must prepare the following:

  • Three field specializations and the rationale for them in relation to your research plan
  • Reading lists for each field (not necessarily annotated at this stage)
  • Decisions about the content of your portfolio, i.e., the specific reviews to be written and research papers to be submitted

You should identify at least three faculty members who will serve on your Doctoral Committee for this workshop (you will add a fourth committee member in preparation for the Portfolio & Prospectus Workshop in Year 3). All three members must be present at the Field Specialization Workshop meeting, though one may participate via conference or video call. Afterwards, the committee members will inform you of revisions or additional materials required for their fields in your portfolio. This communication will take the form of a contract signed by each committee member and approved by the DGS.  The deadline for revisions is September 30 of Year 3. Failure to fulfill the terms of the contract in the specified time frame may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

Occasionally, a student may substantially shift the focus of the dissertation project after September of Year 3. Discuss any changes (e.g., in a field specialization) with your adviser as soon as possible so that the Doctoral Committee membership can be finalized in Year 3 by the February 1 deadline.

The Qualifying Exam for Musicology students includes two parts, which are described below. For sections A and B of Part 2, exam candidates will be permitted to use a computer to prepare written essay answers. No online resources are to be consulted during the eight-hour exam period. Exam candidates will be required to submit a signed statement confirming that they have written the exam without consulting online resources.

Part 1: Major Field Examination

The Major Field Examination, at the end of semester 4 (Year 2, spring semester), serves as the culmination of the Major Field Independent Study. The purpose of this part of the Qualifying Exam is to assess the student’s knowledge in a specialized field of research to determine the student’s eligibility to continue with a dissertation in that field. The student proposes the definition of the major field to the Director of Graduate Studies (due December 1 of semester 3), who then approves it after consultation with the Graduate Faculty. The definition of the field should resemble a job description for a research university: for example, “seventeenth-century music” (not “Schütz”). During the Major Field Independent Study, under the guidance of a member of the Graduate Faculty, the student prepares a comprehensive annotated bibliography and a list of core repertory. The completed bibliography must be submitted to the committee two weeks before the exam.

During the Major Field Examination, a committee of three members of the Graduate Faculty, appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies, will evaluate the student’s knowledge of the field, as well as methodological and theoretical approaches undertaken by scholars in that field. The exam will be conducted orally and last a maximum of two hours. The exam committee is usually chaired by the supervisor of the Major Field Independent Study.

Part 2: Comprehensive Examination

The purpose of the Comprehensive Examination is to test the student’s general knowledge of the field of musicology. The examination is given at the beginning of the semester 5 (Year 3, fall semester) by a committee of three members of the graduate faculty appointed by the DGS. The examination has three sections, the first two of which are administered the week before the semester begins, the third part one week later:

A. A written examination on a series of seven out of ten unidentified documents (musical scores, texts, illustrative materials, or sound documents) without the aid of library resources. (8 hours)

B. Three essays written without access to library or online resources. The topics will be chosen from three periods:

  1. Music before 1700
  2. Music in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
  3. Music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Two questions will be given for each category and the student will choose one from each set.  Essays should be double-spaced (and single-sided, if printed) to facilitate copying. (8 hours)

C. An oral examination on the history of music (including discussion of sections A and B of the exam). During the oral exam, students may not consult notes in response to questions about the section A and B answers.

In addition, the student will be expected to present a prepared analysis of a brief composition, the score of which will be provided after the completion of the written exam. The analysis should be organized as an oral presentation, as for a classroom or seminar; students may use prepared illustrative materials (e.g. charts, diagrams), but will be expected to speak conversantly, and from brief notes only; it is not permitted to read a written-out academic paper.

Students are expected use the time between the written and oral exams to address any weak spots encountered in the written portions. (2 hours)

After successfully completing the Qualifying Exam (Major Field Exam and Comprehensive Exam), the graduate faculty will vote to determine whether the student continues Ph.D. studies or receives a terminal A.M.

En Route Master of Arts (A.M.)

Students are eligible to receive an en route A.M. after successfully completing the Comprehensive Exam and all other academic requirements, including RCR certification.  Notify the DGSA of your intention to receive the en route A.M. at the beginning of the semester following the Comprehensive Exam, normally the Fall of Year 3.  

Terminal A.M.

A student who wishes to leave the program for professional or personal reasons may graduate with a terminal A.M. following the successful completion of the Major Field Exam and completion of all other academic requirements, including RCR certification.

If you know in advance that you will leave the program with a terminal A.M., notify the DGSA early in the semester in which you take the Major Field Exam (normally semester 4) to receive the terminal A.M. at the end of Y2. 

Students who fail the Qualifying Exam may be allowed to retake the exam in whole or in part at the recommendation of the exam committee.  If a retake is not granted, the student will not continue graduate studies in music and may not receive an A.M. at Duke.