A phrase in a minor key ends as the bass steps down a semitone while iv6 moves to V. Which cadence does the listener hear?Answer: A Phrygian half cadence. Source: Wikipedia, Cadence. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0001
A recorded dance number is played from a written arrangement by sections of saxophones, trumpets and trombones over a rhythm section. Which jazz style, at its height when such big bands dominated in the early 1940s, is it most likely to be?Answer: Swing. Source: Wikipedia, Big band. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0003
A recording of Hindustani classical music is led by a plucked stringed instrument that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Which instrument is it?Answer: The sitar. Source: Wikipedia, Sitar. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0003
A scale on a recording rises by three whole tones and a semitone, then two whole tones and a last semitone. Which mode is it?Answer: Lydian. Source: Wikipedia, Lydian mode. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0001
Show all 44 questions (40 more)
Responding: listening skills, continued
Five voices with no instruments sing a secular Renaissance piece in polyphony. Which vocal ensemble is the listener most likely hearing?Answer: A madrigal group. Source: Wikipedia, Madrigal. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0004
In a recorded concerto movement, the full orchestra brings back its opening passage between the soloist's episodes. What is that recurring passage called?Answer: A ritornello. Source: Wikipedia, Ritornello. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0001
In a recorded dance movement, the players suddenly sound three even beats across the span that two beats had been filling. What is this rhythmic device?Answer: Hemiola. Source: Wikipedia, Hemiola. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0002
In a recorded trio the flutist plays every written note at the right time, yet each long note sits slightly flat against the other players. Which kind of error is this?Answer: An intonation error. Source: Wikipedia, Intonation (music). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0005
On a recording, each note of a flute passage is shortened and set apart from the next by a sliver of silence. Which articulation is the flutist using?Answer: Staccato. Source: Wikipedia, Staccato. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0002
On a recording, two trumpets, a horn, a trombone and a tuba play with no other instruments. Which ensemble is the listener hearing?Answer: A brass quintet. Source: Wikipedia, Brass quintet. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0004
Music theory 7
A canon gives its lower voice the same melody in halved note values. Which device is the composer using?Answer: Diminution. Source: Wikipedia, Diminution. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0007
A major scale and a minor scale share one key signature and all of the same notes. What is the relationship between the two keys called?Answer: Relative. Source: Wikipedia, Relative key. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0006
A piano piece takes its name and its characteristic rhythm from a walking dance that originated in Poland and is counted in three. Which dance is it?Answer: The polonaise. Source: Wikipedia, Polonaise. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0009
A symbol over the last chord of a chorale tells the choir to hold it past its written value, for as long as the conductor chooses. Which symbol is it?Answer: A fermata. Source: Wikipedia, Fermata. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0006
By the Oxford Companion's definition, a period consists of two phrases that each begin with the same basic motif. What are the two phrases called?Answer: Antecedent and consequent. Source: Wikipedia, Period (music). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0007
In a hymn setting, all four voice parts move in the same rhythm, chord by chord. Which word describes this kind of homophonic texture?Answer: Homorhythmic. Source: Wikipedia, Homophony. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0008
Which chord is spelled B, D, F, A?Answer: A half-diminished seventh chord. Source: Wikipedia, Half-diminished seventh chord. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0008
Creating and performing music 7
A soprano can reach a high C, but the notes she sings most comfortably and with her best tone lie well below it. What is that comfortable band of her voice called?Answer: Tessitura. Source: Wikipedia, Tessitura. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0011
A student arranges a class song at a keyboard and saves the work as a MIDI file. What does a MIDI file hold?Answer: Instructions such as pitch and tempo, not recorded audio. Source: Wikipedia, MIDI. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0010
In conducting, what is the ictus?Answer: The exact moment of the beat. Source: Wikipedia, Conducting. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0013
In the Illinois music standards, kindergartners create musical ideas with limited guidance. Which example of a musical idea does the standard itself give?Answer: Answering a musical question. Source: Illinois Arts Learning Standards, Music Standards (Illinois State Board of Education, 2016), MU:Cr1.1.K. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0010
Over one semester a seventh-grade choir director hears several boys' voices crack and drop in pitch. What is taking place?Answer: Voice change: the male voice deepens at puberty. Source: Wikipedia, Voice change. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0011
What happens when a trumpet player presses a valve?Answer: Extra tubing is added and the pitch drops. Source: Wikipedia, Brass instrument valve. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0012
The xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones of an Orff classroom share a feature that lets a teacher leave only the notes a beginner needs. What is it?Answer: Removable bars. Source: Wikipedia, Orff Schulwerk. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0012
Connecting: history, culture and context 10
A fast Balkan dance tune groups its beats 2+2+3 without a break. What is the Ottoman term for a rhythmic system built from such binary and ternary cells?Answer: Aksak. Source: Wikipedia, Aksak. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0016
A unit on how music shapes and reflects social movements uses the gospel song "We Shall Overcome". With which movement is the song heavily associated?Answer: The U.S. civil rights movement. Source: Wikipedia, We Shall Overcome. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0015
The bouzouki is a long-necked lute with steel strings and a fretted fingerboard. In the music of which country is it popular?Answer: Greece. Source: Wikipedia, Bouzouki. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0016
For what use did J. S. Bach compose his church cantatas?Answer: Lutheran services through the church year. Source: Wikipedia, Church cantata (Bach). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0014
In West African societies, which figure is at once historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and musician?Answer: The griot. Source: Wikipedia, Griot. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0018
Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the librettos for three of Mozart's operas. Which three?Answer: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Source: Wikipedia, Lorenzo Da Ponte. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0014
Which composer, active in Chicago from 1927, is remembered as the first African-American woman whose composition a major orchestra played?Answer: Florence Price. Source: Wikipedia, Florence Price. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0014
Which feature most sets Chicago blues apart from the Delta blues it grew out of?Answer: Electrified instruments, above all the electric guitar. Source: Wikipedia, Chicago blues. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0015
Which genre, among the earliest kinds of electronic dance music, was created by Chicago DJs and producers and is typically built on repetitive 4/4 drum patterns and synthesizer riffs?Answer: House. Source: Wikipedia, House music. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0017
Which name is given to the jazz style built on the music that grew up in New Orleans as the 20th century began, also called traditional or hot jazz?Answer: Dixieland. Source: Wikipedia, Dixieland jazz. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0015
Music education 10
A playing test is meant to measure tone and rhythm, but most of its points go to wearing the uniform and arriving on time. What does the test lack?Answer: Validity. Source: Wikipedia, Validity (statistics). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0021
A principal proposes a separate music class for all students with disabilities. Which requirement of the federal IDEA regulations must the school weigh first?Answer: Educating them with nondisabled peers as far as is appropriate. Source: 34 CFR 300.114, LRE requirements. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0023
A sixth grader with an IEP joins the chorus. What must the district make sure of for the music teacher under the federal IDEA regulations?Answer: The IEP is accessible and its accommodations are made known. Source: 34 CFR 300.323, When IEPs must be in effect. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0023
A teacher sings a four-note pattern, waits, and asks the children to hear it in their heads before they echo it. Which word did Edwin Gordon coin for this inner hearing and comprehension of music?Answer: Audiation. Source: Wikipedia, Gordon music learning theory. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0019
A unit links protest songs to the history students are studying in social science. Under which artistic process do the Illinois Arts Learning Standards place the anchor standard on relating artistic works to societal, cultural and historical context?Answer: Connecting. Source: Illinois Arts Learning Standards, Music Standards (Illinois State Board of Education, 2016). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0022
Before playing a new passage, a middle school band chants "one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and" together. What is a counting system of this kind for?Answer: Making the beat easy to find while a rhythm is learned. Source: Wikipedia, Counting (music). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0020
In the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for music, Anchor Standard 7 heads the Responding process, which frames listening lessons in a general music class. How does it read?Answer: Perceive and analyze artistic work. Source: Illinois Arts Learning Standards, Music Standards (Illinois State Board of Education, 2016). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0020
Second graders step the beat, clap the rhythm and trace each phrase with their arms. Which approach uses movement to teach rhythm, structure and musical expression?Answer: Dalcroze eurhythmics. Source: Wikipedia, Dalcroze eurhythmics. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0019
Two judges score the same recorded solo with one rubric and reach very different totals. Which quality of the assessment is in doubt?Answer: Inter-rater reliability. Source: Wikipedia, Reliability (statistics). Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0021
Which syllable system does the Kodály method use for sight-singing?Answer: Movable-do solfège. Source: Wikipedia, Kodály method. Written to the ILTS Music (212) test framework, objective 0019
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test design and framework of field 212, Music, in the study guide on the Illinois Licensure Testing System website (https://www.il.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IL_SG_OBJ_212.htm, copyright 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.; test page https://www.il.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/IL212_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-13): 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours 15 minutes, with a headset for the listening section, passing score 240; Responding: Listening Skills (objectives 0001 to 0005, 22%), Music Theory: Musical Elements and Structures (0006 to 0009, 17%), Creating and Performing Music: Composing, Singing, Playing and Conducting (0010 to 0013, 17%), Connecting: Music History, Culture, and Context (0014 to 0018, 22%) and Content Specific Pedagogy: Music Education (0019 to 0023, 22%). The bank holds 44: 10, 7, 7, 10 and 10. The listening questions describe in words what is heard; the page plays no recordings. Every fact was read on the public page named under its question: the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for music on the Illinois State Board of Education website (https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Music-Standards.pdf), 34 CFR Part 300 in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations and the named Wikipedia articles. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This unofficial study guide to the ILTS Music content test, field 212, sets out what the test weighs and then asks 44 practice questions of our own. It is not affiliated with the Illinois State Board of Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
What is on the ILTS Music content test (212)
Five subareas, by the framework on the ILTS site read October 13, 2026: Responding: Listening Skills 22%; Music Theory 17%; Creating and Performing Music 17%; Connecting: Music History, Culture, and Context 22%; and Content Specific Pedagogy: Music Education 22%. The bank holds 10, 7, 7, 10 and 10.
A listening section, taken with a headset
The test page lists a headset for the listening section, where scales, cadences, styles, ensembles and performance errors are told by ear. No recording plays here; those ten questions put what is heard into words.
Illinois in the answers
Six questions rest on the Illinois Arts Learning Standards for music, approved by the State Board in 2016, or on music made in Chicago: its electric blues, house music and the composer Florence Price.
Twenty-three objectives sit under the five subareas, and no subarea has fewer than four.
Questions and answers
Is there a free ILTS Music content test study guide?
The official study guide on the ILTS site holds the test design, the framework and sample questions. This page is a separate, free and unofficial one: the same five subareas, 44 questions written here, and a public source under each answer.
How many questions are on the ILTS Music test?
100 multiple-choice questions on a computer, the test page says, with a headset for the listening section. Testing time is 3 hours 15 minutes; the framework marks 80 questions scorable and 20 non-scorable.
What is the passing score for ILTS Music (212)?
240 is the figure on the test page, read October 13, 2026. The number of right answers behind it is not published, and a count on this page does not convert to it.
Does the ILTS Music test cover teaching methods?
Yes. Content Specific Pedagogy: Music Education is 22% of the score: elementary and secondary methods, assessment, links to the other arts and subjects, and teaching diverse learners, including students with special needs and gifted students.