MFAT

Okay, it is getting closer and we are in the throes of practice tests. Many of the questions have a clue to the answer which can be determined through the process of elimination. Furthermore each composer tends to have a theoretical association that ought to be helpful. When dealing with Classical form--think Mozart. When talking about Development--think Beethoven. When addressing the Fugue--Bach, Opera--Wagner and Verdi. Symphonies--Beethoven, Mahler. Songs--Schubert, Schumann. Tone Poems--Strauss and Sibelius (Liszt also). Neoclassicism--Stravinsky, 12-tone--Schoenberg and Webern. The list goes on and on.

Just keeping things categorized in your mind and eliminate the obviously wrong answers as you go. Take your time and don't get overwhelmed. Some of it is easy while other parts seem impossible. Lots of listening as well. We haven't really listened carefully enough, in fact we haven't really learned anything carefully enough! On the other hand, we have covered early and late music fairly extensively. Now it is time to do your own research and explore the fascinating and never-ending world of music.

Use web resources, youtube, Naxos, and of course books to learn about form, counterpoint, theory, history, musical language, trends, influences, genres, and philosophies. All these and more will help you.

I hope this course has been helpful to you. I hope you have learned new things and mostly I hope you are sparked for further musical growth. Classes like this one tend to show us more about what we don't know than what we do. I, myself, am convinced that I will never know enough and each day brings a new revelation of musical knowledge. Let's all keep flapping our wings, flying higher and faster in the world of music, bringing it to the people as we work to improve our abilities and our knowledge.

Best wishes to each of you.