If you need help studying for the GACE Music test or just want some more information about what the test is like, you’ve come to the right place!
Click below to take a free GACE Music practice test!
What’s on the Test?
The GACE Music test contains 100 multiple-choice questions and is timed at 2.5 hours.
The exam is split into four testlets, which are taken in separate testing sessions (but can be taken on the same day if you’d like).
Aural Analysis Skills (304)
30 questions | 45 minutes
- Examine melodic features such as contour, tonality, intervallic content, phrasing, and decorative devices.
- Evaluate harmonic traits including chord qualities, interval relationships, cadential patterns, and progressions.
- Assess rhythmic organization through meter, tempo elements, recurring rhythmic motives, and stylistic rhythmic devices.
- Interpret musical form and texture as they appear in recorded excerpts.
- Identify stylistic attributes and genre markers from a variety of world cultures and historical periods.
- Analyze instrumentation and timbral characteristics associated with different musical traditions.
- Distinguish vocal types and ensemble groupings, noting characteristics of choral and small vocal ensembles.
- Recognize instrumental families and ensemble types and describe their identifying features.
- Evaluate expressive qualities such as dynamics, articulation, tempo changes, and interpretive nuances.
- Detect performance inaccuracies when referencing a printed score.
Composition and Music Theory (305)
20 questions | 30 minutes
- Identify scales, modal patterns, key signatures, tonal centers, and melodic interval relationships.
- Recognize harmonic intervals, chord categories, and foundational chord structures.
- Interpret rhythmic notation, including note and rest values, time signatures, and metrical organization.
- Examine melodic construction through phrase contour, structural devices, and motivic development.
- Analyze harmonic functions such as progressions, cadences, and the use of nonharmonic tones.
- Evaluate rhythmic style through metric patterns, rhythmic devices, and tempo-related concepts.
- Identify pitches and key signatures within a given clef framework.
- Interpret standard music symbols, including articulation, dynamic markings, tempo indications, and expressive terms.
- Demonstrate understanding of musical forms, textures, stylistic characteristics, and common compositional methods.
- Apply arranging and composing techniques for a wide range of instruments, voices, and ensemble types.
- Demonstrate facility with improvisational strategies across various musical contexts.
- Use music technology to create, modify, or support musical works.
Music Education and Performance (306)
30 questions | 45 minutes
- Demonstrate familiarity with leading music-education pedagogical models and apply them to instructional planning.
- Sequence developmentally appropriate activities tailored to diverse music-learning environments.
- Apply basic performance techniques for classroom and accompanying instruments, including foundational methods of instruction.
- Use music technology for listening, creating, recording, and instruction while following ethical and practical guidelines.
- Employ formative and summative assessment strategies to monitor and guide student musical development.
- Explain how music connects to the arts, academic disciplines, community settings, and everyday life.
- Identify vocal classifications, vocal-development stages, and ensemble types while applying healthy vocal practices.
- Recognize the properties and performance fundamentals of string, wind, brass, percussion, and keyboard instruments.
- Address common performance or pedagogical issues in vocal and instrumental music through targeted instructional strategies.
- Conduct ensembles using appropriate patterns, expressive gestures, and cueing techniques.
- Analyze and interpret musical scores to locate potential challenges and support performance preparation.
- Select suitable repertoire for a variety of ensembles and contexts while adhering to copyright and publication standards.
Music History and Culture (307)
20 questions | 30 minutes
- Identify musical styles, instrumental practices, genres, and performance traditions from cultures and historical periods worldwide.
- Recognize influential composers, significant musicians, and representative repertoire from diverse eras and cultures.
- Compare musical traits across stylistic periods, cultural groups, and global traditions.
- Explain how sociocultural, technological, historical, and aesthetic factors shape the creation and function of music in society.
How to Register
To get started with the registration process, you’ll need to create a MyPSC account on the GaPSC website. You should receive a Georgia Certification ID (GA CERT ID) during this process, which you’ll use for identification throughout the registration and testing process.
The next step is to create an Evaluation Systems GACE account. This account will allow you to register for the exam and pay the testing fee(s).
GACE Music Study Guide and Flashcards
Get practice questions, detailed study lessons, and complex subjects broken down into easily understandable concepts.
How the Exam is Scored
The GACE Music test is scored using a scaled scoring method. Here’s how it works:
Scaled Scoring
For every question you answer correctly, you get one point added to your raw score. At the end of the test, your final raw score will be converted to a scaled score.
The reason your raw score is converted to a scaled score is because everyone that takes the test is given a slightly different set of questions. Since everyone has a different arrangement of questions, and because some questions are harder than others, converting your raw score to a scaled score ensures a more even playing field.
Retaking the Exam
If you don’t get the score you want on your first try, that’s okay! You can take the exam again after a mandatory 30-day waiting period.
FAQs
How many questions are on the GACE Music exam?
The exam contains 100 questions.
What is the time limit for the GACE Music exam?
The exam is timed at 2.5 hours.
What is the passing score for the GACE Music exam?
You’ll need to get a final scaled score of at least 220 to pass.
How much does the GACE Music exam cost?
The full testing fee is $169.
Mometrix Test Preparation is not affiliated with or endorsed by any official testing organization. All organizational and test names are trademarks of their respective owners.