Florence Conservatory Entrance Exam | Our Experience with the Second Examination

If you are considering studying music in Italy, you may wonder what the entrance examination at an Italian conservatory is actually like.

Our daughter took the entrance examinations at the Conservatorio di Firenze, and in this article I would like to share our experience of the second examination.

This is, of course, based on our daughter’s personal experience. The details may vary depending on the course, instrument, and year, but I hope it will give families considering studying music in Florence a better idea of what to expect.

The Second Examination at an Italian Conservatory

At an Italian conservatory, passing the practical entrance audition is an important step toward admission.

However, studying at a conservatory involves much more than instrumental lessons.

Students also study subjects such as:

• Music history
• Ear training
• Reading different clefs
• Music theory
• Harmony
• Musical analysis
• Piano

Students who have attended an Italian music high school have already studied many of these subjects before entering the conservatory.

For this reason, students take a second examination to assess the level of knowledge and skills they have acquired before starting their conservatory studies.

The purpose is not simply to decide whether a student passes or fails.

The examination helps determine whether the student has reached the level expected after studying these basic subjects at a music high school. If there are areas where the student has not yet reached the required level, they may need to take additional or supplementary courses after entering the conservatory.

In other words, passing the second examination does not mean that these subjects are finished.

For example, piano continues as a regular subject at the conservatory even after the second examination.

It is better to think of the examination as a way of confirming the student’s foundation before moving on to the next stage of music education at the conservatory.

Our daughter had not attended an Italian music high school, so she had to study many of these subjects intensively during the summer before taking the examination.

Day 1 | Ear Training, Clef Reading and Music Theory

The first day covered ear training, reading different clefs, and music theory.

Ear Training

The ear-training examination was quite nerve-racking at first.

The key and time signature were not given beforehand. First, the examiner played the tonic chord, and then the melody was played once for the candidates to write down.

Our daughter had already experienced Italian ear training when she was younger, so she found this part relatively manageable.

Compared with the ear-training exercises she had encountered in Japan, she felt that the tonic chord made it easier to identify the key. The melodies were also divided into two-bar sections, rather than the four-bar sections that are often used in Japanese ear training.

Of course, this is simply her personal impression based on her own experience.

Reading Different Clefs

Reading different clefs was more challenging.

The examination included changes of clef and meter, as well as ornaments and other details that required knowledge of the rules.

Our daughter got stuck on a turn sign that was written vertically.

She knew the general rules for ornaments, but she had not memorized every detail well enough to apply them instantly during an examination.

It was a good reminder that knowing something in theory and being able to recognize it immediately under exam conditions are two different things.

Music Theory in Italian

The music theory examination was another challenge for international students.

It was not enough to know the answer. Students also had to explain their understanding in Italian.

For someone studying in a language that is not their mother tongue, this adds another layer of difficulty to an already demanding examination.

Day 2 | Music History

The second day was devoted to music history, with two hours for the examination.

There was an unexpected problem that morning: public transportation was on strike.

There were no buses, and it was not easy to find a taxi at first. We eventually managed to get one, but the experience taught us an important lesson.

When you have an important examination in Italy, it is worth leaving much earlier than you think you need to.

Preparing for Music History

The Conservatorio di Firenze had sample questions and information about the examination syllabus available online.

Our daughter borrowed study materials from friends who attended an Italian music high school and studied a wide range of topics, from the beginnings of Western music through to contemporary music.

She studied composers, important works, opera, musical forms, and the historical development of music.

Fortunately, she has always enjoyed music history and has a good memory for this kind of information.

Being able to listen to the music online while studying was also very useful.

The Actual Exam Was Different from the Sample

One thing that surprised the students was how different the actual examination was from the sample questions.

The sample questions were largely multiple-choice.

The actual examination, however, consisted of six pages of written questions.

Some of the candidates commented that it was quite different from what they had expected.

For international students, the challenge was not only knowing the information but also being able to explain it clearly in Italian.

According to our daughter, quite a few candidates decided to leave when they realized that they were not sufficiently prepared.

The teachers, however, were kind and encouraging. They explained that studying music history would make their future studies more interesting and help them develop a broader understanding of music.

Harmony and Musical Analysis

Harmony and musical analysis were another major part of the second examination.

Again, there were two hours.

The sample exercise was relatively short, at around eight bars. The actual piece was much longer, with a sonatina-like structure covering a full page.

Students had to identify harmonic progressions, phrases, cadences, and other structural elements.

The harmony exercise was also longer than the sample. Instead of around eight bars, the actual exercise was about sixteen bars and included a modulation.

There were many rules and details to remember, and time was limited.

The musical analysis question was also different from the sample. The sample involved a fugue, while the actual examination involved a suite.

And once again, the answers had to be explained in Italian.

Studying Harmony

Harmony was probably one of the subjects that required the most support at home.

Our daughter used the Italian harmony textbook used for conservatory studies.

Because the textbook was difficult for her to understand at first, I also used two Japanese books on harmony that I already had.

One was an introductory book that explains harmonic connections step by step.

The other was a more entertaining harmony book written in a dialogue format, almost like a conversation between the characters.

First, I read the books myself and tried to understand the material. Then I explained the concepts to my daughter in simpler terms.

At the same time, she repeatedly read through the Italian harmony textbook herself.

Little by little, she began to understand the concepts and then worked through exercises to put that knowledge into practice.

This was not something she could learn simply by memorizing rules. She had to understand the principles and then apply them to actual musical examples.

In a sense, she was trying to learn in a short period of time what students at an Italian music high school normally study over several years.

Day 3 | Piano

The third day was the piano examination.

Our daughter prepared three contrasting pieces, including works by Czerny, Bartók, and Alessandro Longo.

There were also scales, two-octave arpeggios, dominant seventh arpeggios, sight-reading, and transposition.

For our daughter, this part of the examination was not particularly difficult.

But there was an amusing moment involving another candidate.

One student apparently had not prepared any pieces to perform.

The examiner asked if there was anything the student could play.

In the end, the student played only an accompaniment for an opera.

The violin examination had its own moments like this.

The instructions said that the performance should last at least 15 minutes, but many candidates brought only the first movement of a concerto, which took less than ten minutes to perform.

You have to smile and think, “This is Italy!”

Making Friends During the Examination

By the end of the three days, the candidates had naturally started talking to one another and making friends.

There were students from different countries, and English was often used as a common language.

The international atmosphere was one of the things she enjoyed about the examination experience.

It also gave her a glimpse of the kind of environment she would encounter at the Conservatorio di Firenze.

Looking Back on the Experience

Looking back, I think the most important thing for our daughter was having a clear goal.

She had not attended an Italian music high school, so she had to find her own way of learning subjects that other students had studied for years.

She borrowed notes and textbooks from friends, studied throughout the summer, and asked me questions whenever she did not understand something.

There were also times when she asked me to stay nearby while she studied or prepared for the examination.

Her violin practice inevitably became less of a priority during that summer.

But something else happened as a result.

Until then, she had often relied on her musical instincts when playing the violin. Through studying harmony, musical analysis, and music history, she began to understand music from a more structural perspective.

I think this knowledge may eventually influence the way she listens to and interprets music.

The second examination was therefore much more than simply another step toward entering the conservatory.

It became an opportunity for her to look at music in a different way.

Now that the examination is over, she is excited to begin her life at the Conservatorio di Firenze.

Living in Florence While Studying Music

For families considering studying music in Florence, choosing where to live can be just as important as choosing a school.

Living in a furnished apartment in the historic center offers a very different experience from staying in a hotel or renting a small student room.

You have your own kitchen and living space, and the whole family can experience everyday life in Florence together.

And studying music in Florence is not only about what happens inside the conservatory.

Walking through the historic center, visiting museums, listening to music, having coffee at a local bar, and simply experiencing everyday Italian life can all become part of the experience.

If you are considering staying in Florence for a month or longer while studying music, art, or Italian, you can find more information about our furnished apartment and long-term stays here.