Skip to main content

Preparation Manual

Print this page

Section 4: Sample Selected-Response Questions
TX PACT: Music: Early Childhood–Grade 12 (777)

Expand All Answers | Collapse All Answers

This section presents some sample exam questions for you to review as part of your preparation for the exam. To demonstrate how each competency may be assessed, sample questions are accompanied by the competency that they measure. While studying, you may wish to read the competency before and after you consider each sample question. Please note that the competency statements do not appear on the actual exam.

The correct answer is provided for each sample exam question. The sample questions are included to illustrate the formats and types of questions you will see on the exam; however, your performance on the sample questions should not be viewed as a predictor of your performance on the actual exam.

Domain I—Aural Analysis Skills

Competency 001—Understand elements of music presented in recorded examples.

1. This excerpt ends with which of the following cadences?

(The examinee would listen to a 20-second excerpt of a lied from the Romantic period.)

  1. deceptive
  2. half
  3. authentic
  4. plagal
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option B is correct. This question requires the examinee to analyze harmonic characteristics presented in a recorded example. This excerpt ends on the dominant chord (V). The type of cadence that ends on a dominant chord is called a half cadence.

Competency 002—Understand characteristics of Western, U.S., and world music presented in recorded examples.

2. This excerpt is representative of which of the following styles of music from the United States?

(The examinee would listen to a 30-second excerpt of a piano rag.)

  1. bebop
  2. blues
  3. swing
  4. ragtime
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option D is correct. This question requires the examinee to recognize the style of a recorded example of music from the United States. Ragtime music is typically performed on the piano. Ragtime is characterized by duple meter, syncopation, four-bar phrase lengths, and a regular alternation of low bass notes on the beat with mid-range chords between beats.

Competency 003—Understand elements of a musical performance presented in recorded examples.

3. Which of the following instruments is featured as the soloist in this musical example?

(The examinee would listen to a 20-second excerpt of a solo concerto from the Classical period.)

  1. oboe
  2. clarinet
  3. flute
  4. bassoon
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option A is correct. This question requires the examinee to identify an orchestral instrument presented in a recorded example. The example presents an excerpt from a concerto in which the oboe is the solo instrument. The oboe's conical bore and double reed contribute to its characteristically bright, penetrating timbre.

Domain II—Music Theory and Composition

Competency 004—Understand musical notation.

4.

Measure with a 12 over 8 time signature showing 3 groups of notes, each composed of 3 beamed notes.

The first group consists of a dotted eighth, sixteenth, and eighth note. The second group consists of 3 eighth notes, with the last eighth note tied to the first eighth note in the third group. The third group consists of an eighth note, tied to the previous eighth note as just described, and 2 sixteenth notes.

Which of the following best completes the measure shown above?


  1. Quarter note followed by an eighth note.

  2. Eighth rest followed by a dotted quarter note.

  3. Three beamed notes consisting of a dotted eighth, sixteenth, and eighth note.

  4. Four beamed sixteenth notes followed by a dotted quarter rest.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option B is correct. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of note values, rest values, and time signatures. The examinee is asked to select the correct rhythmic values necessary to complete a measure of 12 slash 8 time. The given measure contains only eight eighth-notes worth of time. The correct response includes an eighth rest and a dotted quarter note, which provide the four eighth-notes worth of time needed to complete the measure.

Competency 005—Understand melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements.

5. Which of the following represents a natural minor scale?


  1. Treble clef with whole notes D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, C, B, A, G, F, E, D.

  2. Treble clef with whole notes D, E, F, G, A, B flat, C sharp, D, C sharp, B flat, A, G, F, E, D.

  3. Treble clef with whole notes D, E, F, G, A, B flat, C, D, C, B flat, A, G, F, E, D.

  4. Treble clef with whole notes D, E, F, G, A, B, C sharp, D, C natural, B flat, A, G, F, E, D.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option C is correct. This question requires the examinee to identify a natural minor scale. Musicians often derive this scale by starting on the sixth note of the major scale. The pattern of whole (W) and half steps (H) for the natural minor scale is: W-H-W-W-H-W-W.

Competency 006—Understand musical composition, arrangement, and improvisation.

6. Which of the following musical forms typically includes an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation?

  1. minuet and trio
  2. da capo aria
  3. sonata-allegro
  4. theme and variations
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option C is correct. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of musical forms. Developed during the Classical period, sonata-allegro form typically includes an exposition of the themes with a modulation to a related key, a development of the themes and motives, and a recapitulation that presents all of the themes in the tonic key.

Domain III—Music History and Culture

Competency 007—Understand the history of Western music from the Middle Ages to 1750.

7. The compositional style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is characterized by:

  1. syllabic vocal lines and regular phrase structures.
  2. chromatic harmonies and large melodic leaps.
  3. syncopated rhythms and repeated notes.
  4. stepwise vocal lines and polyphonic textures.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option D is correct. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of major composers from the Renaissance. Representative of late-sixteenth-century vocal polyphony, the musical style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is characterized by stepwise voice leading, carefully controlled treatment of dissonances, and imitative textures.

Competency 008—Understand the history of Western music from 1750 to the present.

8. The string quartet first appeared as a musical genre during which of the following periods of Western music history?

  1. Romantic
  2. Classical
  3. Baroque
  4. Renaissance
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option B is correct. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of genres from 1750 to the present. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 to 1809) played a significant role in the emergence of the string quartet genre at the beginning of the Classical period.

Competency 009—Understand U.S. and world music.

9. Which of the following styles of Latin American music typically features the following instrumentation: two trumpets, two or three violins, one guitar, one vihuela, and one guitarrón?

  1. mariachi
  2. mambo
  3. calypso
  4. salsa
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option A is correct. This question requires the examinee to identify instruments associated with various musical traditions. A typical mariachi ensemble includes the instruments listed.

Domain IV—Music Methodology and Performance

Competency 010—Understand vocal and choral performance techniques.

10. Which of the following represents the typical alto vocal range?


  1. Treble clef with whole notes E4 and A5.

  2. Treble clef with whole notes C4 and F5.

  3. Treble clef with whole notes A3 and C5.

  4. Treble clef with whole notes E3 and G4.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option C is correct. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of vocal ranges. The range of pitches from the A below middle C to the C above middle C is considered to be the typical alto range.

Competency 011—Understand instrumental performance techniques.

11. A beginning clarinetist is producing a small, weak tone. Which of the following techniques would best address this problem?

  1. telling the student to play using more vibrato
  2. modeling proper air support and embouchure for the student
  3. having the student play in the chalumeau and clarion registers
  4. playing a recording of a professional clarinetist for the student
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Option B is correct. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of techniques for addressing typical problems encountered in playing wind instruments. Modeling is an effective strategy for teaching beginning instrumentalists. Proper air support and embouchure are essential elements for creating good tone quality on a clarinet.
Return to Navigation