Institute of Music
The EPQ-5 at the Curtis Institute of Music is an aptitude-based audition designed to measure musicality, technique, and musical memory. It consists of five separate sections, each testing different areas of musical ability. The sections include: 1. Rhythm Perception and Production, 2. Pitch Perception and Production, 3.Melodic Memory, 4. Sight-Reading, and 5. Musical Keyboard Identification and Discrimination. Musical keyboard identification and discrimination requires applicants to recognize and reproduce aurally presented notes and chords on the keyboard. Sight-reading tests applicants' ability to learn melodic material at sight. Melodic memory tests aural memory, requiring applicants to recall and reproduce short melodies. Pitch perception and production tests an applicant’s ability to discern tonal differences and produce them on an instrument or through singing. Lastly, rhythm perception and production tests an applicant's understanding of beat, accenting, and rhythmic division and their ability to reproduce them on an instrument or through clapping.