Contest Rules and Regulations

1. The Contest is open to all Minnesota public and private high school students as well as independent teams comprised of high school aged students.

2. Each team will be comprised of three members. Teams may designate an alternate if needed. Only one team per school will be eligible to advance to the State Contest.

3. The format will consist of five (5) rounds.

  • Round 1 Identification of music samples by title and composer.
  • Round 2 Answering stylistic, formal and historical questions about music samples (identification, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank questions).
  • Round 3 Lightning round. Identification of 2-10 seconds of music by composer and title (choices listed).
  • Round 4 Multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions based on information from the Study Guide.
  • Round 5 Mystery round. Identification (composer & period) of music not included on the Study Guide CDs but written by the same composers.

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    Music in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 will be from the Study Guide CDs. The multiple choice questions in Round 4 will be taken from the Study Guide. Samples in Round 5 will have stylistic or formal traits similar to the compositions on the CDs.

    Regional Level Scoring

    At the regional level, the competition is scored as follows:

  • Round 1 - 10 listening samples/ 20 questions (composer & title) 20 points
  • Round 2 - 5 or 6 listening samples/ 20 questions 20 points
  • Round 3 - 20 listening samples/ 20 questions (composer & title, choices listed) 20 points
  • Round 4 - 20 multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank questions 20 points
  • Round 5 - 10 mystery samples/ 20 questions (composer & period) 20 points

    • State Competition Scoring

    The first five rounds of the State Competition is similar to the Regional Contest.  After the five rounds of competition, the top two teams will participate in a College Bowl competition to determine the State Champion.

    Adjudication process

    A. All answers will be objective. Answers should contain information found in the Study Guide.

    B. Any question or disputes will be resolved by the judges. Teams and coaches have 15 minutes from the end of round five to raise questions regarding scoring.

    C. The decisions of the judges is final.