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SACE · SACE Stage 2 · official past papers

SACE Music Studies past exams 2023–2025, by year and topic

The official SACE Board exams, marking guides and examiner reports we index, organised by topic and subtopic and labelled with the study design it was written under. Open the official paper, work the question in your own workspace, or bring a tutor into it live.

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ATARMAxxing indexes 3 official SACE Board Music Studies papers from 2023 to 2025, with 39 questions mapped to 4 topics. Every paper opens on the SACE Board website.

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Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards) · 2025–presentStage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination) · 2021–2024

SACE Music Studies exams by year: official papers & marking guidance

Past exams indexed: 2025, 2024, 2023. Open the official SACE Board papers, with marking guidance where available.

YearStudy designOfficial paper(s)Marking guidance
2025 SACE Music Studies examStage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination paper (question booklet, score booklet and formula sheet; PDF) ↗Marking guidance ↗
2024 SACE Music Studies examStage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination paper (question booklet, score booklet and formula sheet; PDF) ↗Marking guidance ↗
2023 SACE Music Studies examStage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination paper (question booklet, score booklet and formula sheet; PDF) ↗Marking guidance ↗

3 official papers across 3 years (2023–2025), 3 with marking guidance, published by SACE Board. These span more than one study design; the most recent is Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards). Earlier papers may cover material that has since changed.

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Aural perception and dictation · 15 mapped questions

Rhythmic dictation

Melodic error detection and dictation

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 59 marks(a) Circle three wrongly written notes in an alto saxophone melody (3); (b) complete the flute part of a flute-and-bassoon piece in A major from its given rhythm and some given notes (6); the end of bar 3 was hardest.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Recognition: rhythm, melody, chord, meter, progression

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 19 marksNine 1-mark tick-box items, each played three times: choose the rhythm (crotchet beat, then dotted-crotchet beat), choose the melody (two items), name a triad quality, pick the time signature of two excerpts from options including 5/8, 6/8 and 7/8, and pick which of four chord progressions (diatonic sevenths in F major; then a compound-time progression including a half-diminished chord and B7(b9)) accompanies a melody. The SAA notes (c) and (i) were hardest.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Broken chord

Scales

Recognition

  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 19 marksNine 1-mark tick-box items: rhythms, melodies, a triad quality, two time signatures (options including 9/8 and 7/8), and two progressions under a melody (D major with diatonic sevenths; A minor with E7).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 110 marksFive 2-mark tick-box items: a rhythm, a melody, an E seventh-chord quality, a time signature, and a progression under a melody in G major given in Roman numerals or chord symbols.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Fragment matching and melodic dictation

  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 59 marks(a) Choose which three of four notated fragments fill three gaps in a violin melody (3); (b) complete the cello part of an oboe-and-cello piece in F-sharp minor from its rhythm (6); many missed the D# and E# of the ascending melodic minor. The SAA called Q5 the most challenging question.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Broken chords

Scale identification

Error detection and melodic dictation

  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 58 marks(a) Circle four wrong notes in a cello melody (2); (b) complete a violin part with guitar accompaniment from given rhythm, first note and chord symbols (6), using the melodic minor's raised 6th and 7th.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Rhythm, melody and time-signature recognition · Chord quality and broken chords · Scales and modes · Chord progressions under a melody — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Musical elements, notation and the formula sheet · 3 mapped questions

Rhythm re-barring

Rhythm regrouping

Bar lines and grouping

Also in this topic: Rhythm grouping and re-barring · Intervals, key signatures, scales · Chord spelling and nomenclature · Clefs, transposition and scale degrees — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Score reading and analysis of unfamiliar works · 12 mapped questions

Aural-only analysis

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 87 marksA 90-second piece with no score: name the second meter used, describe two roles of the guitar, how texture builds intensity in the middle section, and the tonality of each of the three sections (3).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 89 marksA two-minute piece in four 'episodes' built partly from everyday sounds: the function of found sounds, the texture of episode two from options, rhythmic effect, tempo and volume at its end, two timbre features of episode three, and pitch and meter overall.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 88 marksA piece with no score: its form from options, how texture is used (3), and how the composer combines a range of musical styles (3).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Score analysis: string quartet

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 714 marksQuestions on a printed score for string quartet: the cello's compositional technique in the opening, a chord to name (reading several clefs, quality and inversion), how arco and another string technique are played, tonality and harmony with evidence (4), transcribing two bars of the viola (alto clef) into treble clef, the relationship between three upper parts, and three textures with bar numbers.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Arrangement analysis

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 910 marksA well-known nursery melody, then an arrangement of it for saxophone quartet, electric bass and percussion with a score: the opening interval, how meter and rhythm of the original were adapted, which saxophone never has the melody, the effect of a meter and tempo change (2; few gained both marks), names of two symbols, why one saxophone is marked louder, and a scale-degree name.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 914 marksA hymn tune and a 'fantasy' on it for wind quintet: function of the first four bars, who first plays the melody and where, four broken chords in the flute (triads, not extended chords), the horn's role, rewriting a clarinet excerpt at concert pitch with a key signature (2), and naming and describing two articulations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 910 marksA Christmas carol and a brass-quintet chorale arrangement: how rhythm and meter were adapted, a horn note's scale-degree name (transposition), melody instruments in four phrases, the effect of two markings on duration, and which instrument plays a given concert-pitch note.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Comparative analysis table

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 1012 marksCompare a chorale and a fughetta (scores given, each played once, then a 6-minute pause) in a table covering meter, tonality, form, timbre, use of dynamics and use of harmony; stronger answers described timbre qualities and did not confuse timbre with texture.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 1012 marksA theme with three variations for mallet instruments: compare each variation with the theme by rhythm and meter, scale or mode, and instruments playing the melody; weaker answers missed the modal variations.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Score analysis: clarinet and piano

  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 712 marksOn a printed sonatina score: name the form, name three chords (including one needing the clarinet note to make a seventh, and a half-diminished chord), the final cadence (plagal), which instrument has the melody and why, the function of a D7 in C minor (V7 of the dominant), the left-hand role, two compositional devices from options, and the relationship between the keys of the sections.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Score analysis: oboe and piano

  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 712 marksOn a printed score: name a (diminished) chord, key and cadence of a passing modulation, three ways a climax is created, the common chord progression (1-4-7-3-6-2-5-1 from the formula sheet), the oboe's compositional device, and the final key and cadence.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Theme and variations comparison

  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 1012 marksA theme with three variations for saxophone quartet: compare each variation with the theme by tempo, tonality and thematic material (3 x 3), find oblique motion, and name an interval between two saxophones. Some confused tempo with meter; the hardest question that year.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Harmony in a score · Compositional devices · Texture, timbre and expression · Form and arrangements · Comparative analysis tables — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

Manipulating elements: melody writing, arranging and harmonisation · 9 mapped questions

Three-part arrangement

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 1114 marksCompose three parts beneath a played melody with chord symbols: suitable voicing and voice-leading, use the progression, at least one extension, chord and non-chord notes in every part (including the bass).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 1112 marksCompose three parts beneath a melody with chord symbols (opening given); few added the requested extension in bars 2 to 4; non-chord notes were required in the bass too.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 1112 marksCompose three parts beneath a B minor melody with chord symbols, adding extensions (e.g. Bm7, A7) and non-chord notes, with parts aligned under the beats.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Melody completion

Harmonisation (choice)

  • 2025Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (change table to 2025 onwards)Music Studies examination 2025 Question 1324 marksOption A: harmonise a melody in four-part vocal style including a cadential six-four and a dominant seventh, labelling chords. Option B: harmonise a medium-swing melody for keyboard including two secondary dominants, at least one extended and one altered chord. Most students chose Option B.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2024Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2024 Question 1324 marksOption A: four-part vocal harmonisation with a cadential six-four (on a strong beat at a cadence) and a dominant seventh resolved correctly. Option B: jazz-related keyboard harmonisation with two modulations (passing modulations to D minor and B-flat major recognised by stronger answers), extensions and an alteration.Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →
  • 2023Stage 2 Music Studies Subject Outline (pre-2025 version; same 130-minute examination)Music Studies examination 2023 Question 1324 marksOption A: four-part vocal harmonisation including a passing six-four (Vc in bar 1). Option B: slow-swing keyboard harmonisation including a modulation (to A minor by demand via a half-diminished ii and E7).Official paper ↗Marking guidance ↗Check tutors for this question →

Also in this topic: Eight-bar melody completion · Option A four-part vocal style · Option B jazz-related harmony — question-level mapping in progress; the year table above links every official paper.

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