Is this like a College Bowl with a buzzer?
No. Each team is given a designated amount of time to discuss and answer each question.

Do we compete directly with other teams?
Each team takes the test in the privacy of their own table within a large room. Each team will be given their own scores privately. Only the scores of the top teams qualifying for the state contest will be shared with all participating teams.

Is this a written test?
Yes. In fact, there are no verbal responses to any of the questions. Teams will confer with each other for the amount of time specified, and then one person from each team will write the answer on the sheet provided.

Can team members discuss each answer before they write it down?
Yes. The only stipulation is that students whisper so that other teams are not disturbed.

Is everyone in the same room?
Yes.

Does the whole test involve listening to music from the study tape and identifying the composer and the title?
Yes, two of the five rounds are exactly that. Round Three, however, will be a multiple choice section dealing with information in the study guide. The other two rounds will include listening to music that is not on the study tape and applying knowledge from the study guide.

Is the study guide important?
Definitely. All of the correct answers and the judge's decisions will be based on the information in the study guide.

Will the entire musical selection be heard during the testing?
No. Most of the time, short musical excerpts from the repertoire will be played. The lightning round is the most exciting portion of the contest because the examples are so brief.

Are there any tricks to preparing?
There are some general suggestions that might help students organize their time and talents. For instance, each member of a team can become the expert in 1/3 of the material (whichever period or section fits each member's strengths). Prepare a mock test using the study tape and study guide as source material. The most important thing is that students need to know all of the information in the study guide.

How do students move on to the state contest?
The two teams with the highest scores in each region will advance to the state contest. Only one team from each school will be allowed to advance to the state contest. In the unlikely event that the two best scores are from the same school, the third highest scoring team would progress to the state contest.