Students should enroll in MUS 100 (Keyboard Skills 1) by default. Those who have significant experience may try to place into MUS 202 (Keyboard Skills 3) at their Summer Orientation session by notifying their first-year advisor that they wish to take a placement test during Springboard. To place into MUS 202, students will be able to play the following on the piano: 

• Scales: all white key major and minor scales, 2 octaves, hands together, demonstrating correct fingering. All black key major scales, 2 octaves, hands separate, demonstrating correct fingering.
• Arpeggios: all major and minor triad arpeggios, 2 octaves, hands separate, demonstrating correct fingering.
• Chord Progressions: I-IV6/4-I-V6/5-I, i-iv6/4-i-V6/5, I-vi6/4-IV6/4-ii-V6/5-I, I-iii6/4-IV6/4-I.
• Harmonization: be prepared to harmonize a melody in 4/4 or 6/8 meter using all the chord progressions above (melody played by the right hand, chord progression played in the left hand).
• Transposition: any harmonization transposed to another key. 
• Performances pieces: perform two-hand pieces at the placement test that emphasize position changes in both hands on white and black keys. Pieces will have varied tempo and meter markings, and must be played with musicality regarding dynamics, phrasing, & style.
• Technical exercises: staccato and legato technique; rhythms of quarter, eighth, sixteenth, triplet, and involving dots; pedal technique correctly demonstrated.

 See complete requirements of all levels of Class Piano.

For any questions related to Class Piano, please contact Scott Zane Smith at smithsz@jmu.edu.

The undergraduate core music theory curriculum at JMU is unique because students choose from a menu of courses depending on their interests, concentration, and career aspirations instead of taking a sequence of courses like at many other institutions. Students entering the School of Music will need to complete a music theory diagnostic test before enrolling in first semester classes. Please check Questions Related to the Music Theory Diagnostic Test for more. 

If you have any more questions related to music theory, please contact Dr. John Peterson at peter2jr@jmu.edu.

Where can I find information about how first-year advising works or general information not specific to the School of Music?

Students should consult their OneBook, which contains helpful information specifically for first-year students. In addition, students may find these links helpful:

• First-Year Advising
• First-Year Room Assignments & Roommate Selection
• Parking on Campus