Supporting Subjects

The entrance examination in piano as a supporting subject consists of a video recording, which must be uploaded as part of your application.

The video must include all four parts below:

1) A piano piece

The piano piece must be of a difficulty level equivalent to:

• An allegro movement from a sonatina by F. Kuhlau or M. Clementi
• J. S. Bach: A Two-Part Invention
• P. I. Tchaikovsky: 24 Short Piano Pieces, Op. 39

2) A prepared four-part chorale (from a Scandinavian chorale book or a Bach chorale).

Below you can download two examples of Danish chorales.

3) Set task: a short piano piece of a difficulty level comparable to F. Schubert: Waltz in B minor, Op. 18, No. 6, D145.

The set task will be published on this page 10 days before the application deadline (1 December).
The set piano task replaces the sight-reading task, as the piano examination is submitted as a video. The purpose is to provide insight into the applicant’s ability to study and read music. It is not expected that the task will be performed flawlessly, but rather that it shows how far one can progress within 10 days.

4) Assigned 3 scales and 3 arpeggios, played over two octaves with both hands in parallel motion. The scales and triads will be selected from all major and minor keys (all three types of minor: melodic, harmonic, and natural).

The assigned scales and triads will be published on this page 10 days before the application deadline (1 December).
The performance should be secure, with few or no mistakes, using standard fingerings.
 

Assessment

The examination is assessed by two internal examiners and graded according to the Danish 7-point grading scale. The result serves as a basis for piano instruction. The test is non-prohibitive. If you do not achieve a passing grade in the piano entrance examination, you should expect to develop the necessary piano skills to pass the exam after the 3rd or 4th semester.

Requirements for the recording

• There are no formal requirements to the quality of the recording of the proposed task. I.e. using a smartphone on the music stand is perfectly fine.
• The audition recording must clearly show hands and fingers of the applicant.
• The audition recording must be unedited except between performances (i.e. between pieces), and the audition must be recorded within six months of submitting your application.
• Check that the recordings have been submitted successfully.
• Accepted formats: mp4, mp3, webm and mpeg.
• The maximum size of a file that can be submitted in the online application is 1GB. Therefore, it might be necessary to divide your audition recording into individual pieces (please remember not to edit within a piece of music).  

For extra guidelines on video recording, please watch our video. If YouTube is not available in your country, the video can also be accessed here.

Set task: Available on 20 November 2026 at 10.00 AM

Scales: Available on 20 November 2026 at 10.00 AM

Arpeggios: Available on 20 November 2026 at 10.00 AM

Example of arpeggios (however, they should only be played over 2 octaves):

From Charles-Louis Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist in Sixty Exercises (New York: G. Schirmer, 1900), Part II, 44.

We will send information about your grade to you by email at the end of February.

The test consists of three parts: The first part is an auditive test, where the student must answer several listening assignments. After a short break comes the second part, which is a test of dictation- and correction where the music you listen to must be compared to the notated. The third part is a visual test where the student must answer a number of note reading– and harmonization tests.

The assignments of all three parts of the test range from relatively simple to more complicated. You may find some of the assignments difficult to solve. In that case, do not let it affect you, just move on to the next assignment and concentrate on that. The purpose of the test is to identify how far your aural ability, your orientation ability and your musical knowledge carry. 

The test can only be taken in Danish or English.

Duration: Approx. 2½ hours

The test is assessed with one mark according to the 7 point scale.

When the test is assessed it is divided into 5 parts: 

A1 Auditive test: assignments 1-6 and 10-11
A2 Auditive test: assignments 7-9
V1 Visual test: assignments 1-10
V2 Visual test: assignments 11-13
D Dictation/correction test: assignments 1-7

One mark is given for each of the 5 parts. The collected mark is calculated as an average of all the 5 marks. It is a precondition to pass the test that either a) all 5 parts are passed separately or b) that at least 4 parts are passed and that the collected average mark is at least 4.

Auditive test

• identification of style periods (i.e. renaissance, baroque, romance)
• identification of ensemble of the composition (i.e. chamber music, solo concert)
• identification of tonality types (i.e. minor/major, modal)
• identification of time/metres (i.e. double time, triple time)
• identification of movement types (i.e. homophone movement, polyphone movement)
• identification of musical form (i.e. AA, AABA)
• identification of instruments (i.e. oboe, bassoon, viola)
• identification of chords (triad and chord of 4ths, i.e. minor/major/diminished/augmented, seventh chords, clusters)
• identification of chord types in musical contexts
• identification of intervals
• identification of key from stated starting tone
• notation of bass part and identification of chord functions in a four-part chorale with stated soprano part

Visual test

• identification of chords from part of a score incl. C clefs and transposing instruments
• identification of style period from part of a score
• identification of tonality types from a note example
• identification of modulating course of a melody from note examples
• identification of movement types from note examples
• identification of musical form from note examples
• identification of chord types
• identification of intervals
• notation of the first 10 notes of the harmonic series from a given fundamental note
• localising errors in a 4-part/voice chorale movement
• notation of middle parts in a 4-part/voice chorale movement
• harmonic analysis of homophonic movement

Dictation and correction test

• correction of a course of a melody that is played for you
• notation of a melody played for you where the rhythm is stated already
• notation of the rhythm of a melody played for you where the notes are stated already
• notation of the upper part in a polyphonic printed score
• correction of a polyphonic printed score compared to a movement

Answers to assignments in the entrance examination may be given using the notation the applicant is most familiar with, e.g., letter names (C, D, E, etc.) or solfege (do, re, mi, etc.).

The auditive test has a duration of circa 40 minutes, the dictation- and correction test circa 30 minutes and the visual test 60 minutes. There is a 10 minute break between each of the tests

Applicants with dyslexia will be offered 50% extra time to finish their written entrance exams, if they ask for it. You must submit documentation on your dyslexia to admission@dkdm.dk well in time before your entrance exam.  

In cases, where the extra time doesn´t solve the problem, the applicant can apply for a dispensation to replace her/his written entrance exam with an oral entrance exam.

We will send information about your grade to you by email at the end of January.