Music entrance exam at UdeA: how and how to prepare
At the UdeA you do not have the general examination for music: everything is decided in two elimination tests, one of your instrument and another of ear, reading and harmony. We explain each one.
To get into Music, Music Canto or Bachelor of Music at the University of Antioquia, you do not have a general entrance examination of the UdeA. At the most recent call we have reviewed (2027-1), the entrance was decided with two final tests: specific test (PE) of your instrument, singing, direction or composition and the Test of aptitude, atoning, reading and harmony (PAELA).
The first requires a minimum of 30 points to continue with the process and the second, 65 points about 100 for Music and Canto and 70 points for License.Here we tell you what they evaluate, how they share their quotas and how to organize their production.
To sum up
- For UdeA's music pregrades there are no general examination: at the 2027-1 call, two clear-cut tests were presented, the specific test (PE) and PAELA.
- The specific test evaluated your instrument, singing, direction or composition and at 2027-1 requested at least 30 points and, depending on the area, was face-to-face or video.
- The PAELA evaluates sonation by imitation, tuning of scales and intervals, harmonic recognition and rhythmic-melodic reading at first glance and at least 65 / 100 for Music and Canto and 70 / 100 for Licenciatura.
- The Know 11 is required to sign up, but the UdeA has eliminated the minimum score and the quotas are limited by area and passing the minimum does not secure acceptance.
- The Music Preparatory (up to four semesters) has its own admission and, according to the UdeA, his conduct does not mean his direct entrance to undergraduate.
What music programs the UdeA offers
The Music Department of the Faculty of Arts, at Medellín, offers three pregrades and a preparatory. The Master's degree in Music is also offered in the sections of Oriente (Carmen de Vibor) and Urabá (Apartadó).
| Programa | Title | Duration | Fees 2027-1 | Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music (Medellín) | Master at the study line (instrument, direction or composition) | 8 semesters | 34 | Symphony instruments, classical guitar, piano, tiple, bandola, composition, direction and popular music (low, flute, guitar and popular keyboards) |
| Música Canto (Medellín) | Master at lyric song or master at popular song | 8 semesters | 10 | lyric and popular singing |
| Bachelor of Music | Bachelor of Music | 10 semesters | 20 at Medellín, 20 at Carmen de Viboral and 20 at Apartadó | Instruments, singing, composition, direction and popular music |
| Supremo en Música (Medellín) | A high-level training isn't an undergraduate. | Up to 4 semesters | According to quotas for each Chair | Popular instruments, singing and music |
The difference of background lies in the profile: the guide describes Music as a program for people with "outstanding talent" and vocation for the professional study of an instrument, direction or composition, while the Licenciatura seeks vocation for teaching, as well as previous knowledge and mastery of an instrument, singing, direction or composition. If you doubt between them, read Do you have a Master in Music or a Master in Music?.
What's the admission process, step by step
- Registration and payment at the UdeA portal (Study at UdeA > Undergraduate > Registration and payment), choosing the area where you will present the specific test.
- Specific Test (EP)If you do not reach the minimum, you do not continue with the process.
- Notification of preliminary results from those who continue.
- PAELAat the headquarters to which you come (Medellín, Carmen de Viboral or Apartadó).
- Issuance of results and quota allocation.
| Etapa | Date published |
|---|---|
| Registration and payment | From 31 August to 30 September 2026 |
| Value of registration | $90,800 in Medellín and $28,200 in Carmen de Viboral and Apartadó |
| Sending videos (virtual areas) | From 28 September to 10 October 2026 |
| Specific face-to-face test | 20 October 2026 |
| PAELA | October 21 at Medellín and October 23 at Carmen de Vibor and Apartadó |
| Issuance of results | 18 November 2026 |
The UdeA has been open for music at both semesters (there have been guides for 2026-1, 2026-2 and 2027-1) in recent periods, but the offer is defined in every process. If you have been late for one, mark your calendar next and use that time to prepare you.
About Know 11: for pregrades you have to have the result or citation of the state exam, but the UdeA has eliminated the minimum score to sign up. Those undergoing grade 10, or grade 11 at schedule B, cannot report to the pregrades at that period.
The specific test (PE): your instrument, voice, direction or composition
It's the first test and evaluates your skills and knowledge in the area you're after. At 2027-1, at least 30 points were required to advance. The Department published a PDF of area-by-area requirements with different scales, studies and works for Music, Licenciature and Preparatory and these general criteria for evaluation:
- Sound tuning and monitoring.
- Rhythm and metric accuracy.
- Instrumental technique, posture and instrument management.
- Domination of the level of difficulty of the repertoire.
- Interpretation and music.
- Reading at first glance, when applying.
A face or a video?
It depends on the area. In 2027-1, in Medellín they were face-to-face, among others, lyrical and popular singing, piano, classical guitar, winds, percussion, cello and popular music. By video, bodola, contras, tiple, viola and violin. At Carmen de Viboral and Apartadó, the specific proof was only by video. If you live outside the metropolitan area, you can demand the virtual modality by mail before they close the inscriptions.
The video has strict rules: with no audio or image editions, recorded in the last three months, with a front frame of you and your instrument, uploaded to YouTube as "no list" and announcing at first the date and what you're about to play. A link that doesn't work or a private video leave you out, so prove it from another device before sending it.
Examples of what some areas demand (2027-1)
| Area | What did they demand |
|---|---|
| Classical guitar | For Music: a studio (Sor, Brouwer or Carcassi) and a free piece. To the Bachelor's degree: a studio by Brouwer, a song with singing and accompanying you and a free piece. |
| Piano (Bachelor's and Preparatory) | Retirement at first glance, an obligatory work by Prokofiev and about 10 to 15 minutes of repertoire for his degree. |
| Popular song | Two memory works, one from the Colombian Repertoire and another from North or South American, and a cappella with track or with piano or guitar, without amplification. |
| Popular musicians | Three pieces in three contrasting genres with the group of teachers with track or solo. |
| Composition | 3-piece portfolio with its own PDF (at least one conventional notation), its MP3 models, a video presenting them and a virtual conversation with the jury. |
Download your area's PDF as soon as it's published: the required works take months to mount. To choose free parts and organize your program, follow how to choose the Repertoire for Repertoire for Readings.
PAELA: aptitude, intonation, reading and harmony
If you pass the specific test, they quote you to PAELA, which is currently available. According to guide 2027-1, they evaluate both your musical skills and your knowledge of theory, reading and hearing training with these exercises:
| Ejercicio | What does that mean? | How to practice it |
|---|---|---|
| Retirement by imitation | Listen to a fragment and sing it tuned. | Singing short phrases after listening to them once, without instrument support. |
| Filling of scales and intervals | Singing scales and intervals with precision. | To figure out bigger and lower scales and each range from different grades, with a tuning or piano. |
| harmonic recognition | To identify harmonic ear chords or relationships. | Distinguish bigger, minor, diminished and increased chords and then simple cadences. |
| Rhythmic-melodic reading at first glance | Read and sing a fragment you don't know. | Read new material every day: first the rhythm, then the heights, without stopping at an error. |
The PAELA was worth 100 points. At 2027-1, at least 65 points had to be drawn for Music and Canto and 70 for Licensorship. I saw with the changes: at the 2026-1 call this was called PAEL (aptitude, intonation and reading) and requested 65 points for all pregrades and at 2027-1 added harmony and increased the minimum of the Licensorship.
To train the hearing part you can use our [hearing training]](/herramientas/entrenamiento-auditivo) with intervals and chords and for reading, the rhythmic and melodic reading method for the acceptance test.
How quotas are assigned
The passing of the two minimums leaves you competing for a quota, unadmitted. According to guide 2027-1, quotas are assigned from the highest standardized scores but with an important difference between programs:
- Music, Music Song and Preparatory: Each area defines an order of priority from your score and performance at the specific test. Your instrument weighs a great deal on the final result.
- Bachelor's degree in Music: No order by area. The quotas go to those who get the highest scores at PAELA. Here your ear, your reading and your harmony decide.
The Department distributes the quotas by area at the end of the process and each Chair has a limit. That's why two candidates with the same score can have different luck as per the instrument. If they are tied up at the quota level, the benefits are applied to those who voted at the last elections (Act 403 of 1997).
The UdeA Music Preparatory
The Preparatory is a pre-university training of up to four semesters in instrument or voice and musical theory. Students can come forward to care about any of the last three grades of high school and no Know 11 is required. Their admission also has two elimination tests: area-specific and a 50-point (PA) musical aptitude test (with at least 30), evaluating rhythm, co-ordination, memory and tuning by mimics of rhythmic and melodic fragments.
It's a good door if you're still at school, but it's not a shortcut: the UdeA makes clear that applying or finishing his high school doesn't mean directly entering an undergraduate. If you want to compare preparatory options, we explain what's a music preschooler and how to choose them.
How to Prepare for UdeA Music Test
| Before Test | Specific Test | PAELA |
|---|---|---|
| 9 to 6 months | Daily technique: scales and arpegtiums of the level requested by your area. | Grammar: tnalities, intervals, scales and triades, and atoning to daily scales. |
| 6 to 3 months | Ride the required works and choose the free ones. | Ritmic and tuned reading with new material and recognition of ear chords. |
| 3 to 1 months | Touch the complete program with other people, if by video, make test recordings. | Imitation of increasingly long phrases and ear cadences. |
| Last month | Sound and final recording simulations with time. | I'm simulates with someone who's propose to you some exercise you don't know about. |
Always practice with [methonoman]](/herramientas/metronomo): Meter accuracy is one of the explicit criteria of the specific test and the voice works even if your instrument is another, because PAELA is sung.
For the complete schedule, check how to prepare for the music admittance testand if you are currently applying to the Bachelor's degree, get ready as well an interview with an entrance to musicuseful at many graduates. A medio tono you can prepare [music theory]](/clases/teoria-musical), solpseus, dictated and instrument with teachers in virtual classes, from every town, we tell you how to prepare for music admissions testsIf you are also looking at other universities of Medellín, compare with admission to Music at EAFIT.
Frequently asked questions
The UdeA's applying for general entrance exam for music?
Not for music pregrades. At the 2027-1 call the entrance was decided with the specific test and PAELA, both eliminations. If you have to have the result or citation of Know 11, but there's no minimum score.
What's the minimum score at UdeA's music exam?
In 2027-1 30 points were requested in the specific test to advance, and at PAELA 65 out of 100 for Music and Canto and 70 for Licenciatura. Reaching these minimums does not secure a quota, because quotas per area are limited.
Can I have a video-specific UdeA test?
It depends on area and campus. In 2027-1, in Medellín they were by video bindola, contraband, tiple, viola and violin and in Carmen de Vibordal and Apartado all areas. If you live outside the metropolitan area you can apply for a virtual modality before they close their inscriptions. PAELA is an face-to-face.
If I do the Music Preparatory I get directly into the race?
No. The UdeA clarifies that applying or finishing the Preparatory does not mean direct entry to an undergraduate, and you have to report to the admission process as an aspirant.
What if I don't have a good song but I play my instrument really well?
The PAELA is purported and relies on intonation, tuning of scales and intervals and singing reading, so you have to work with your voice as a reading tool, even if you do not aim at singing. With daily practice you get better quite a few months.