Elemental Music & Dance Education

The degree programme prepares students for a career in a broad range of professional fields and equips them to work with many different target groups, from early childhood educating geragogy. Elemental music & dance teachers are specialists in artistic-pedagogical groupwork in the field of aesthetic education and the professional qualifications they will acquire during their studies will enable them to develop a variety of professional profiles and to work in the following areas:

• Extracurricular educational institutions: Music schools, music & art schools, dance and gymnastics schools, adult education centres, as well as municipal, church and leisure institutions and in the educational departments of museums
• Kindergartens and general education schools (especially cooperative project work with schools), if necessary in conjunction with an additional teaching qualification; music & dance geragogy
• Further education and training institutions: at academies, universities, colleges and other post-secondary educational institutions as well as teacher training institutions, etc.
• Pedagogical institutions that promore social inclusion and integration: Day-care centres, youth centres, in the field of child and youth welfare, special schools, institutions for senior citizens, for people with disabilities, clinics, health and rehabilitation centres, etc.
• Realisation of artistic projects in the fields of transdisciplinary performance, dance, music and/or concert activity at art and cultural institutions and in non-institutional projects as a performing artist, as a planner/organiser, curating or in the role of choreographic and/or musical director, e.g. in dance/music/speech theatre, children's and youth theatre, in public spaces, in inclusion projects, commercial enterprises, private studios, etc.
• Cultural education
• Education management and event organisation
   

The degree programme will further students' creative and design skills as well as their artistic technique. The course is also characterised by a consistent theory-practice relationship: students will receive a theoretical grounding in art pedagogy and educational science, which is complemented by practical placements and teaching tasks. The acquisition and diversification of artistic competences also plays a central part in the course, opening up working methods of contemporary elemental music and dance education, including performative formats. This forms a basis from which skills for teaching music and dance are derived; these are then transferred into diverse, constantly reforming artistic-pedagogical contexts, with special consideration given to social diversity. 

From the 3rd semester onwards, one of the following specialisations can be chosen:  
Instrument/vocal, dance, or music & dance in inclusion and diversity contexts.

The following competences in particular are acquired during the degree programme:

• The ability to teach general musical as well as instrumental/vocal and dance competences.
• The diversification of artistic competences, especially in improvisation and composition, independently and in practice with diverse target groups.
• The ability to plan, implement and document artistic and artistic-pedagogical projects
• The ability to work in diversity contexts in a pedagogically responsible way, on the basis of current scientific and pedagogical knowledge.
• The ability to shape creative processes cooperatively and collaboratively

Link to the curriculum

Students of the Master's programme are encouraged to complete a semester abroad. Semesters 5 and 6 of the degree programme are particularly suitable for this. In addition to subject-specific competences, a study period abroad can also lead to the acquisition and deepening of:

• Subject-specific foreign language skills
• General foreign-language skills (language comprehension, conversation, etc.)
• Organisational skills, through independent planning of everyday student life in international administrative and university structures
• Knowledge about international study systems, as well as broadening one's own subject perspective
• Intercultural competences

Examinations and assessments taken during studies abroad can be approved by the Director of Studies as equivalents to compulsory subjects, elective subjects or free elective subjects required by the Mozarteum University for your degree course. The documents required for the approval procedure are to be submitted by the applicant immediately after their exchange semester.

Details at International Affairs

The entrance examination consists of the following partial examinations:

A - Pedagogical aptitude (leading a group).

Applicants will work with a group (usually fellow applicants) on a prepared piece of their own choice, possibly something they have composed by themselves, e.g.: Song or canon with or without accompaniment (body percussions, instruments, movements, gestures, dance), traditional dance or excerpt from a choreography, spoken word piece, simple ensemble piece (instrumental, vocal). Three copies of the material used (e.g. sheet music, spoken piece, choreographic sketch, music selection), including information about the source(s), must be brought to the entrance examination.

B - Compulsory subject instrument/voice

The following instruments can be chosen as a main study in the BA programme in Elemental Music & Dance Pedagogy (according to staff availability): Recorder, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, horn, bass tuba, percussion instruments, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, piano, harpsichord, organ, voice, guitar, harp and folk instruments (diatonic harmonica, dulcimer, zither).

Examination requirements for the main subject voice (for examples of appropriate repertoire, see below):

• Three pieces of different periods and characters are to be performed from memory. The pieces to be performed are solo pieces with accompaniment (no choir parts).
• A vocal improvisation task will be given in the examination (e.g. playful vocal realisation of a theme).
• Sight reading

Examination requirements if an instrument is chosen as the main subject (for repertoire examples see below):

• Three pieces of different periods and characters are to be played. Memorisation is not required.
• An improvisation task will be given in the examination, to be performed on the instrument.
• Sight reading

C - Practical Music (general musical and vocal aptitude)

Requirements - general musical aptitude/elemental music making: Students' general musical aptitude will be assessed as they participate in an ensemble class under the direction of a teacher. The class will cover improvising and making music in a group (voice, body percussion and mallet instruments), and fulfilling creative tasks involving a text (will be provided in the course of the groupwork).

Requirements for general musical aptitude/percussion: All applicants (including those whose main subject is percussion instruments) will be assessed in their percussion skills. The assessment will take the form of participation in an ensemble class under the direction of a teacher. This session will include question and answer games, imitation and coordination exercises.

Requirements - general musical aptitude/harmonic instrument: All applicants (including those whose main subject is piano or guitar) will be assessed in their skills on a harmony instrument:

• Piano: The candidate must prepare and perform their own accompaniment to a song, which they will sing themselves (self-accompaniment). A song from the voice aptitude test can be used if desired. In addition, applicants must be prepared to demonstrate basic cadences (I-IV-V-I) in various keys (up to three accidentals) in major and minor, and in all positions.
• Guitar: The candidate must prepare two different accompaniment patterns to the same song, which they will sing themselves (self-accompaniment). The candidate should be able to transpose the song into other key (up to three accidentals). A song from the voice aptitude test can be used if desired.
• Other harmony instrument: In principle, another harmony instrument can also be chosen. The examination requirements are based on the requirements for piano/guitar.

Requirements for practical voice aptitude: All applicants (including those whose main subject is voice) will be assessed on their vocal skills.

• Two short pieces of different character and style are to be sung unaccompanied and from memory. (For pieces with several verses, a maximum of two verses.) One of these should be sung in German and one should be a folk song.
• The candidate will prepare a short text (poetry, prose, etc.) and recite it from memory. The performance should show the ability to use the voice in a creative way to enhance the performance of the text. Duration: approx. 1 to 2 minutes.

D - Dance Practice (general dance aptitude in the group and solo study)

Requirements - dance aptitude in a group: participation in a dance technique class (contemporary), assessement in the group under the guidance of a teacher. Some elements of the assessment include: Guided warm up, realisation of movement material in a fixed position and moving through the room, rhythmic exercises, contact and spatial orientation exercises, variation and interpretation of movement material and improvisation. (Duration approx. 45-60 minutes.)

Requirements - solo study: performance of a prepared, individually designed movement/dance study on a topic of the candidate's choice, e.g. presentation of a movement-exploration or dance movement scene, with movement material to be chosen by the candidate. The study can be designed with or without music and/or include other elements supporting the performance (text, image, object, etc.). (Duration: minimum 3 to maximum 5 minutes.) This will followed by a short discussion on intention and process and candidates may be required to perform a follow-up task related to their performance.

E - Music theory and aural skills

Examination of basic knowledge of general music theory (written and oral) including an aural test.

Requirements in the written part of the examination (approx. 60 minutes):

• Notation of melodies from memory
• Continuation of given melodies
• Composing a short melody to a given text
• Noting down one-part and easy two-part melodic dictations as well as rhythmic dictations
• Forming all triads and seventh chords including inversions (especially dominant-seventh chords in root position and 3rd inversion)
• Recognising and notating simple figured basses as well as harmony functions and harmony steps in a musical context

Requirements in the oral part of the examination (5-10 minutes):

• Sight-singing
• Recognising and naming intervals and simple chord progressions
• Singing triads (in inversions) and dominant seventh chords (in root position only)
• Identification of harmonic steps and dissonant neighbour notes
• Performing an extended cadence in major and minor in two different keys (on piano or guitar)

You can find an exam example as well as further help for preparation HERE.

F - German language skills

• Required language level: at least B2 (Common European Framework of Reference CEFR 2001)
• Information on the German examination as well as the recognised certificates can be found HERE

After passing subtest A, candidates will be admitted to partial examinations B to F (possibly in a different order).

The repetition of composite parts of the audition in case of failure is not permitted; the audition can only be repeated in its entirety and only in the next academic year. The audition can be repeated an unlimited number of times.

Pieces of the following degree of difficulty are to be performed (repertoire examples):

Main subject Singing: 

Johann Sebastian Bach from the Schemellis songbook: Selig! wer an Jesum denkt / O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild; John Dowland: Come again, sweet love / Awake, sweet love; Alessandro Scarlatti: O cessate di piagarmi; Joseph Haydn: Die Landlust / Lob der Faulheit / Gegenliebe; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Verschweigung / Sehnsucht nach dem Frühling / Der Zauberer / Zufriedenheit (Was frag ich viel); Franz Schubert: Liebhaber in allen Gestalten / Heidenröslein / Lachen und Weinen / Wo-hin? (Die schöne Müllerin); Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Bei der Wiege / Winterlied; Robert Schumann: Frühlingsgruß, Marienwürmchen, Volksliedchen; Johannes Brahms: Sonntag / Deutsche Volkslieder / Vergebliches Ständchen; Edvard Grieg: Im Kahne; Samuel Barber: The Daisies; Benjamin Britten: Folk Song Arrangements (e.g. Down by the Sally Gardens); Irving Berlin: I got the Sun in the Morning (Annie get your gun).

Main subject piano: 

• A baroque work (e.g. from J.S. Bach: Little Preludes, G.F. Telemann: Fantasies).
• A movement of a sonatina or easy sonata of the classical period (e.g. L. v. Beethoven: Sonatina F-major, J. Haydn: easy sonatas)
• A work from the 19th, 20th or 21st century (e.g. R. Schumann: Album für die Jugend, B. Bartok: Mikrokosmos III)

Main subject Guitar: 

• Logy: Partita in A minor
• A. Sor: Easy/moderate etudes
• L. Brouwer: Etudes simples no. 1-10.

Main subject recorder: 

• A technical study, such as H.M. Linde - Neuzeitliche Übungsstücke; Friedrich der Große (ed.: Höffer v. Winterfeld) - 40 Studien für Altblockflöte.
• Two (moderately difficult) pieces of the candidate's own choice.

If possible, the pieces should be performed on an instrument with baroque fingering.

Compulsory subject percussion instruments:

• Snare drum: E. Kopetzki: one movement from the "Summer Suite".
• Marimba: a piece by G. Stengert / F.Holzenkamp: "13 Pieces for Marimba" (e.g. "Song for Bernadette").
• Vibraphone: a piece from N.Zivkovic's "Funny Vibraphone".
• Drum set: a piece from J. Sponsel's "10 progressive Soli for Drumset" or an improvisation.
• Timpani: an etude by Ian Wright "Graded Music for Timpani" Book II-Grades 3&4.
• Playing at sight on the snare drum.

The pieces above are suggestions only (not compulsory) and give an indication of the level of difficulty expected. However, one piece each should be played on the snare drum, a melody instrument, the timpani and drum set.