Bmus Entrance test

CaoimH_in

Directions to the BMus Entrance test? Which building would it be in?
Anyone heading up?

banquo

It'll be on south campus somewhere. Have you ever been to the college before?

South campus is 3 minutes away from the train station.

When you get off the train, there's a small bridge over the river just outside station. Cross it, and follow the path left around to the town.

You'll be on a kinda mucky path and under loads of trees. On your right hand side you'll pass a pub called The Roost and an off-licence with a yellow front. Keep going and you'll get to some traffic lights at a cross-roads and a phone box. Don't cross the lights. Turn left and walk towards the college gates.

There's a small security hut just inside the gate, ask for directions to the exam there.

Best of luck in the exam - you won't need any luck unless you're a total and utter goddamn moron - and God speed.

rcaz

I'm going too. I aced that mock entrance exam they posted out, so it shouldn't be too hard. It's the audition I'm worried about

banquo

Some audition tips:

*Smile and be as crazy enthusiastic as you can. Wave your arms and stammer while talking about some musician you love.
*Don't mention pop music at all i.e. Beatles, Bob Marley, etc, even if you think their music is art.
*Have some 'favourite' part from a Beethoven piano sonata or something. Even better, have a bit of blurb on a 20th Century piece like Stravinsky's ''Rite of Spring'' or something.
*Practise singing intervals. They'll ask you to hum a minor 3rd or major 6th or something.
*Know your theory. I got asked to say how many flats where in Ab major.

The audition is - really! - very very informal and friendly.

Also, if you're not into classical music, don't go to Maynooth. People liek that just f*ck it up for the rest of us.

(I am quite bitter about the BMus course here)

CaoimH_in

Ok, I don't know any of those.. But see, its not that I want to learn see, I want to go to this course and learn all there is to know.. genuinely. I love all types of Music, from Abba To Zappa, classical music, I do love it, and can appriciate it.. Is it worth my while? I was struggling with the test they sent out. But in truth my forte is in how much I really want to learn all of the above.

funky penguin

The test was in Hume last year, on the north campus, and as Banquo says its been held on the south campus in the years before.

Did you get a letter? That should tell you where it is.

rcaz

banquo wrote: »

Some audition tips:

*Smile and be as crazy enthusiastic as you can. Wave your arms and stammer while talking about some musician you love.
*Don't mention pop music at all i.e. Beatles, Bob Marley, etc, even if you think their music is art.
*Have some 'favourite' part from a Beethoven piano sonata or something. Even better, have a bit of blurb on a 20th Century piece like Stravinsky's ''Rite of Spring'' or something.
*Practise singing intervals. They'll ask you to hum a minor 3rd or major 6th or something.
*Know your theory. I got asked to say how many flats where in Ab major.

The audition is - really! - very very informal and friendly.

Also, if you're not into classical music, don't go to Maynooth. People liek that just f*ck it up for the rest of us.

(I am quite bitter about the BMus course here)

I won't be playing anything like a sonata... Try Satie's first Gymnopedie and Bach's Bouree (Lute Suite in E Minor). Not quite the same standard

But Stravinsky's my favourite composer!

I'm pretty well-versed in theory and I can sing some intervals...

It's the kids who've been playing violin since they were four I'm worried about

funky penguin

You shouldn't be worried about that, Maynooth doesn't have a reputation for performance, so many of Ireland's child prodigies go to DIT or the academy.

The college knows this, so **** up and down your instrument is not expected. I had a grade 6 piano when I entered the BMus.

Saying that though, I've improved so much over my year and a half. My musicianship has greatly increased, got a grade 8 last year (hate them, but good for CV's) and I'm working on Diploma standard rep.

Immersing yourself in music has that effect, as well as befriending superior musicians - they give you that extra drive to better yourself.

Norrdeth

funky penguin wrote: »

Immersing yourself in music has that effect, as well as befriending superior musicians - they give you that extra drive to better yourself.

Amen to that!!

rcaz

funky penguin wrote: »

Immersing yourself in music has that effect, as well as befriending superior musicians - they give you that extra drive to better yourself.

Tell me about it! I was a party last night where a guy decided to sight read Clair de Lune. So I've been practising all day :eek:

funky penguin

I should also point out that while NUIM doesn't have a rep for performance, it does have an exception in the form of organ! Woops, sorry Prof Gil.

As well as that, it is a fine place to study Composition, and Martin O'Leary is a wonderful lecturer in both composition and...well andthing else he lectures in!

I'm not hot on Musicology, but Lorraine Byrne Bodley is an excellent advocater of unknown music, and I think, only think mind, that she might possibly know a thing or two about Schubert. Possibly. Maybe.

On top of her (hehe) is Bara Boydell. Love him.

What I dislike is the seeming uninterest in Jazz in the dept, with the exception of Adrian Scahill and Gordan Delap. That I know of.

Conversation with the Prof:

Me: "Can I play Jazz for my practicals?"
Prof: "No." Proceeds to offers me tea and crumpets.

Seriously though, I do like her, but I cannot understand the mentality of allowing Trad Music in a practical then denying Jazz.

rcaz

funky penguin wrote: »

I cannot understand the mentality of allowing Trad Music in a practical then denying Jazz.

Hahaha, I'm sure many would agree with you

I'm really excited about the entrance test, I'd really like to study music there. Composition's my biggest interest.

Norrdeth

Jaaaa, Composition does indeed rule!!
And you lucky sods get to do it in 1st year!!
Not that I didn't do it in 1st year, just on the DL!

CaoimH_in

secretly thinking of ****ing up my Leaving cert so I don't go to Mary I and instead be "forced" to NUIM

banquo

Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.
Go to DIT.

Or anywhere else. Stay far, far away from the NUIM Music Dept. Unless through some miracle you get Adrian Scahill for every single lecture - including the 2nd subject you've to take in 1st year - then steer clear of this place.

I don't really want to elaborate on why I hate this place (the music dept, not the entire university) with the heat of a nova (I will if pushed further on the subject), just take my word for it.

Now run. Run as fast as you can.

funky penguin

On a less dramatic note ( :P ), go where ever you want.

Personally, I've had nothing but good times in the Maynooth BMus course.

banquo

Aye. While personally I hate it and every little tiny thing about it and would love to set fire to the place, that is only my experience. A lot of people love it and have found it to enrich their musicianship greatly.

CaoimH_in

How well is jazz respected up there?

banquo

CaoimH_in wrote: »

How well is jazz respected up there?

Meh. There's a module, but it's more so they can say that they've a module in it.

If you're into jazz for serious then you already know everything in it.

CaoimH_in

True, Mild interest in jazz here, I.e have a vynls and a few albums and a handful of musicans I quite like, I'd love to learn more on it.

If you weren't a classical Musican would you be welcome up there? I play guitar Moderate/good kinda level.

LeixlipRed

How do they regard classic rock? There's a reason we maths people don't let you music heads drink our water. Rubbish taste in music

Norrdeth

CaoimH_in wrote: »

True, Mild interest in jazz here, I.e have a vynls and a few albums and a handful of musicans I quite like, I'd love to learn more on it.

If you weren't a classical Musican would you be welcome up there? I play guitar Moderate/good kinda level.

Well ye kinda have to be to be studying music in a university, that said I started cello in 1st year and I've been OK so far , I'm sure if you studied classical guitar you'd be fine. For some reason they've a thing against steel stringers, not sure why....

banquo

Take it from the guy with a Stravinsky quote as his sig

CaoimH_in

Hmm, you see, given the chance I'd learn most instruments under the sun, maybe thats just my child-like over enthusiasm, But genuinely, having to pick up two instruments in college wouldn't trouble me, infact it'd urge me to go for it more.. hmm..

Edit: I do have an OK music litteracy, like, I know Keys i.e four sharps in A major, FCGD sharp, y'know? I know the intervals of the majors and minors, I know some things on cadences i.e whats perfect whats imperfect, plagal and interupted. I know like dynamic markings and tempo markings. i.e Grave, Largo, Lento, Leghretto, aldegio, adante, Andantino etc. I know ah.. how to harmonise chords, continue a melody change key etc. En harmonics, relative minors, how to compose a piece in a relative minor key.

still I really doubt thats enough. Im studying like mad for this entrance test. Hopefully if I get to an interview, I could get my point across

banquo

wikipedia NUIM page wrote:

It is also host to NUIM, famous for it's in depth ARTS degrees, but infamous for it's poorly rated Music Department.

So there.

funky penguin

CaoimH_in wrote: »

Hmm, you see, given the chance I'd learn most instruments under the sun, maybe thats just my child-like over enthusiasm, But genuinely, having to pick up two instruments in college wouldn't trouble me, infact it'd urge me to go for it more.. hmm..

Excellent to hear. Limiting yourself to one instrument is a bit well....limiting.

CaoimH_in wrote: »

Edit: I do have an OK music litteracy, like, I know Keys i.e four sharps in A major, FCGD sharp, y'know? I know the intervals of the majors and minors, I know some things on cadences i.e whats perfect whats imperfect, plagal and interupted. I know like dynamic markings and tempo markings. i.e Grave, Largo, Lento, Leghretto, aldegio, adante, Andantino etc. I know ah.. how to harmonise chords, continue a melody change key etc. En harmonics, relative minors, how to compose a piece in a relative minor key.

Intervals: You're grand. I just knew major at mine and somehow managed to pull off a minor 3rd, not really knowing it. If you can sing them (you're not given a pitch, you use one yourself making it infinitely easier).

Cadences: You've got the four big ones. Good stuff

Dynamics and Tempo: Couldn't tell you waht the majority ov them are myself. I keep a dictionary for them :P

Harmonise blah bah you are GRAND. More than qualified to do it. Go for it! There's a great guitar vibe in the college aswell with the guitar orchestra.

Oh... just one thing..... brush up on the key sigs......there are 3 sharps in A major...

LeixlipRed

banquo wrote: »

So there.

Did you edit that yourself?

banquo

Sort of i.e. I saw it in there and edited it out.

No one disses my college but me.

Norrdeth

A majors a lovely key! Or E mixolydian rather, especially when you can alternate with F# Aeolian!! The D major subdominant is particularly bright in that key!! Or just anywhere for that matter! ^^

banquo

+1. A Major ftw. My two favourite Mozart piano concertos are the 'big and little' A Majors.

Also, Beethoven's Cello Sonata in A. Sweet.

3 sharps is all I need.

funky penguin

Stop scaring away the fresh meat with your talk of modes!

Edit: Directed at Nodeath,

but +1 on the Mozart piano concertos. Got my ticket for the 1st may! Beethoven's 9th and Mozarts' Piano concerto in A KV125123946193769435. The famous one.


Further edit: 3,000th post w00tage.

banquo

it's 488

I'm rushing to get a ticket the second my grant comes in. Really hope they're not sold out!

rcaz

Is going to NUIM for music a bad idea if I'm not really into the likes of Mozart and Beethoven? I love Stravinsky, Debussy, Messiaen, Part, Shostakovich, Gorecki... Steve Reich So I guess I'm more of a romantic/modern kinda guy? Is that sort of stuff observed at all?

Yeah, I appreciate that if I want to study composition, I'll have to go back to the beginning and learn all the rules, I've no problem with that bit. But they expect you to love hardcore classical stuff?

funky penguin

There is alright, but.....how can you not like Mozart or Beethoven as well?

Seriously though...this college course is all about brining people up to the same level in first year, giving them a taster of everything in second year, then doing what you want in third (to a certain degree anyway).

You WILL be doing baroque/classical harmony, which in essence means, yes everything will end V-I, and the leading note will always rise. :P

Buuuuuut, you will also be doing composition with Martin O'Leary who will love you for loving 20th cent music! Here you will be expected to write in a 20th century style.

So, like everything in life - you gotta take the good with the bad.

What other courses have you applied for? Have you done auditions for them yet? Like DIT, or Trinners, or Cork or Waterford? I royally fooked up my audition for DIT. However, Maynooth was always my first choice. DIT looked at my like I had two heads when I sadi I wanted to do composition and performance held no interest for me.

Norrdeth

El Pr0n wrote: »

I love Stravinsky, Debussy, Messiaen, Part, Shostakovich, Gorecki... Steve Reich

God you're gonna love the composers society or not(we're pretty lame this year I have to admit)

Stuff we normally listen to (or have listened to) include:
Part, Gorecki, Kancheli, Whitacre, Ravel, Mahler, Stravinsky, Zimmer, Debussy, Adams, Shostakovitch,
Prokofiev, Tavener, Kodaly, Lauridsen, Lukaszewski, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Poulenc,
Rodrigo y Gabriela, E.S.T, Adès, Vaughan Williams, Reich
aaaand stuff from student composers!

CaoimH_in

When I realised my mystake with the A major key last night in bed, I just shoved my face into the cushions and screamed... I do know keys.
I do
I DO I DO
do do
doo do do do

rcaz

funky penguin wrote: »

Buuuuuut, you will also be doing composition with Martin O'Leary who will love you for loving 20th cent music! Here you will be expected to write in a 20th century style.

...

What other courses have you applied for? Have you done auditions for them yet? Like DIT, or Trinners, or Cork or Waterford? I royally fooked up my audition for DIT. However, Maynooth was always my first choice. DIT looked at my like I had two heads when I sadi I wanted to do composition and performance held no interest for me.

Is Martin O'Leary tall with grey hair, and pretty well-spoken?

I've only applied for Trinity as well. I didn't apply for DIT, since I'm way way way too weak a performer (Never classically trained, only started piano reasonably seriously when I was 17).
I'm a bit worried that maybe I messed up my CAO by not apllying for every music course going, and then deleting them later on. But oh well, if I don't get music I'll be pretty happy in a Science course.

And Norrdeth, that society sounds really really cool! :cool: Hopefully I might join someday!

Norrdeth

El Pr0n wrote: »

Is Martin O'Leary tall with grey hair, and pretty well-spoken?

Might be Paddy Devine your talkin' about!

funky penguin

Could be Bara as well.

banquo

which one?

rcaz

banquo wrote: »

That's the one! The filename would suggest that that's not O'Leary :P

He's the one I was talking to at both the open day and the expo in the RDS. What's he like? He smirked a little when I said I was a Stravinsky fan, which is why I remember him I guess.

CaoimH_in

ok, just one thing, the folks who ran thhrough the example entrance test.

Could they put up answers to questions 5, and the letter names for question 4.

that and teach me how to write alto soprano and tenor parts for question 8?

rcaz

CaoimH_in wrote: »

ok, just one thing, the folks who ran thhrough the example entrance test.

Could they put up answers to questions 5, and the letter names for question 4.

that and teach me how to write alto soprano and tenor parts for question 8?

Here are my answers, they mightn't be right but I think they are...

Q4 - D, E, F, G, A, C, C#, D

Q5 - Interrupted, Perfect, Perfect

Q8 - From my understanding, you just have to make the triad (root, third, fifth) plus an octave, putting two notes on each stave to make SATB parts.
I guess you'll get more marks for using inversions.

funky penguin

Unless it says so, don't invert the chords, just use root, it'll be far easier.

Make sure you don't cross tenor and alto parts, and make sure Soprano is the highest voice.

banquo

Only inversion you need is the third-last chord in the whole thing: iib.

Your last three chords should probably (99% certainly) be iib-V-I.

CaoimH_in

ok, so im confused help me where i went wrong.

Key: B flat Maj
Flats:B,e

notes for the first
Treble F#..G
.........D....B
___________
Bass...A....G
.........D....E
Chord of D to the chord of E?

Bb C D Eb F G A Bb

Where am I going wrong?

funky penguin

The key is Gminor not Bb major, because of the F sharp. So, its V-VI, D - Eb or an interrupted cadence.

CaoimH_in

explain.. Im sorry.

funky penguin

Do you know about relative major/minors?

CaoimH_in

well.. kinda. please run over the ideas, and I can explain what I was taught.

banquo

Every major key has a 'key signature' - A major's 3 sharps are its key signature.

For every major key, there is a minor key with the same key signature. These major and minor keys are said to be 'related' - hence 'relative majors and minors'.

Bb major's relative minor is G Minor. Similarly, G Minor's relative major is Bb.

In a major key, you usually only use notes that fit in the key signature - few flats, sharps etc. Not true for minor keys. Minor keys have an 'unwritten' sharp that's not in the key signature. This is always the last note before the 'tonic' (the note with the same name as the key)

Thus, in G minor, the tonic is the note G, so f nearly always has a sharp.

If the melody is going f->g, then give the f a sharp so it's f#->g. If it's going down like g->f, then leave the f unsharpened.

You can figure out a major key's relative minor by counting down three semitones - three more frets on the guitar - down from the tonic of the major key.

So, if the piece is in C Major, count down three semitones from C and you'll get to the note A, so you know that hte relative minor of C Major is A Minor, and the G - though it's not in the key signature - should be sharpened.

This is kinda fun