Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover

Applicants to all artistic and artistic-educational bachelor's degree programmes, including the interdisciplinary bachelor's degree programme (school music), will be tested on their knowledge of ear training, music theory and general music theory.

Applicants for artistic and artistic-educational bachelor's degree programmes will be tested in an exam in the subjects of ear training, music theory and general music theory (example). The exam grade is used to classify applicants into performance levels and does not affect the overall grade for the aptitude test.

Applicants for the interdisciplinary Bachelor's programme (school music) will be tested in an exam in the subject of ear training and an oral examination in music theory.

Aural training

• Identifying and notating intervals, triads and tetrads
• Notating rhythms
• Unison melody dictation

Music theory/general music theory

• Notating polyphonic music in inversions
• Four-part arrangement of a given chord progression
• Questions on general music theory (multiple choice)

Oral examination in music theory (only interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree)

• Reproducing and naming intervals, rhythms, melodies and chords
• Describing a given musical score (key, time signature, harmony, structure, style, etc.)
• Composition of a short, elementary piece of music according to specifications (e.g. a thorough bass or chord symbol sequence)

The University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover offers courses to prepare for the aptitude test in the subjects of aural training/music theory. Courses start annually in November; further information will be announced here in good time.

Further recommendations for independent preparation:

• Open Music Academy website
• ‘Orlando’, online ear training programme
• Clemens Kühn, Ear Training for Self-Study
• Laura Krämer, General Music Theory

The HMTMH offers applicants for the academic year 2027/28 preparatory courses for the entrance examination in the compulsory subjects of aural training and music theory, containing these topics:

• Composition and aural training
• General music theory
• Music theory

The course content is based on the specific requirements of the oral and written entrance examinations at the HMTMH. The courses are supervised by professors and qualified major subject students. Both classroom courses and an online course are offered.

Period: November 2026 to June 2027 | 18 course dates of 90 minutes each (initially fortnightly, later weekly)

Classroom courses: On Tuesdays (18:00 to 19:30 CET/CEST for Jazz|Rock|Pop) or Saturdays (11:30 to 13:00) at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Neues Haus 1, 30175 Hanover

Online course: Wednesdays (17:00 to 18:30 CET/CEST) on Zoom

The registration deadline is 8 November 2025. The course fee is 180 euros.

To participate, please fill out the registration form, the privacy policy form and the SEPA Direct Debit Mandate, and send it to vorbereitungskurs@hmtm-hannover.de.

• Registration form [in German] (pdf Datei,75 K)
• Privacy policy form [in German] (pdf Datei,69 K)
• SEPA mandate (pdf Datei,59 K)