Sample placement exams for Rhythm and for Melody and Harmony (“Pitch”) are below. You can try out the exam and read the following guidance as to which course sections you should get. Alternatively, read the descriptions on the course contents page, or follow the course links to see the detailed contents.
If you are confident you can do the entire Rhythm test accurately, then you can probably skip that course. If you believe you can do most exercises correctly, but aren’t sure about #7,8,14-16,23 and 30, then you should take Part 3 of the course. If you are also unsure about #2,4-6,9,10,12,13,19-22 and 24-29, then you should take Parts 2 and 3. If you’re not even confident of #1,3,11,17 or 18, you should probably start right at the beginning.
You can skip Part 1 of Melody and Harmony if you’re confident about the following sections of the pitch exam: Top of page 1, left side except octave number, bottom of page 1 except the third one, first four scales on page 2 (and could do the next two in a different clef), first two lines on page 3 (except the 4 with C clefs). You can skip Part 2 of the course if you know all of the above, plus the rest of page 3 (except the exercises in C clefs). If you believe you can handle this whole test, then go directly to Diatonic Harmony.
If you take either of these tests but aren’t sure what your results tell you, please contact me for further advice.
One thing you will notice about the fundamentals courses: The lesson numbers within each of the parts are not quite sequential. The course outline goes back and forth between easier and more difficult topics in order to give the student time to practice the difficult items for a little longer before moving on to the next item that builds on it.
For example, Melody and Harmony Part 2 includes lessons 15-18, 20-21, 23-24 and 26-27, while Part 3 includes lessons 19, 22, 25, and 28. This way, students who already know triads (lessons 20-21) can buy only Part 3, which contains material they don’t know yet, while students who are new to triads can learn them in Part 2, then switch to Part 3 for lesson 22, which will give them a change of pace while they let their knowledge of triads percolate.
Hopefully, this procedure has a legitimate pedagogical purpose and saves your family some money!