The board of the Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie (GMTH) has published a statement on the MULEM-EX study of May 2024, a survey examining the current music teacher shortage in Germany by interviewing applicants and students of school music education. The results of the study suggest that admission exams in music theory and aural skills may have a discouraging effect; this is understood in such a way that music-theoretical content allegedly has a limited significance for assessing the general eligibility of applicants. The GMTH statement, in which I was involved, disputes these findings.
The authors of the study recommend that music theory admission exams in school music programmes be suspended in order to counteract the decreasing numbers of students. This is a controversial issue. In general, I would be open to such a measure, provided that its success is thoroughly evaluated. In order to prevent a decline of standards in music theory and aural skills, the corresponding topics would, if no longer examined in an admission test, need to be integrated in the curriculum. For example, an elementary music theory course could be introduced in the first year of study, and the acquisition of elementary competencies would be subject of the first module examination.
