Achievement in Music (AIM)
The Achievement in Music (AIM) Program, which is sponsored by the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, is a comprehensive theory and performance curriculum comprised of 14 levels of achievement for piano students. The local associations are in charge of administering the exams in their areas. Over 3000 students from Illinois, as well as several other states, participate in these exams each year. Separate AIM programs have also been written for voice and strings.
NOTE: Examples of aural skills to be used with the sample aural skills test at each level in the Syllabus may be found at https://nsmta.org/aim/. Here is the direct link to their audio files: https://nsmta.org/aim/aim-aural-skills-practice/
Click here for the new version of the Aural Skills practice exam.
*Send checks to *names
November Exam (Online): Sunday, November 15, 2020
Registration Deadline: October 15, 2020
Music Link Submission Deadline: October 22, 2020
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: November 14, 2020
AIM Levels 1 ABC and 2; Theory Levels 3 and 4
Fees: $20 for levels 1 A,B,C and 2, $30 for levels 3 and 4 (covers theory and performance exam)
Co-Chairs: Mary Anne Block*: mablock@ameritech.net
Fran Onley: reonley@comcast.net
This year the November ISMTA AIM exams for levels 1 and 2 complete and levels 3 and 4 theory only, will be conducted online on Sunday, November 15. Teachers will continue to register their students using OPERA, but will need to include the student’s e-mail address in addition to the level and repertoire information (for levels 1 and 2). This will allow judges to contact the student to arrange the appropriate connection for the keyboard skills exam. The student will also need to specify the name and composer of the transposition piece (for level 4). It is highly recommended that the student choose one of the selections from the AIM workbook to ensure the assigned judge will have access to the selected piece.
The Keyboard exam will be administered to students using FaceTime, Skype, Zoom or other appropriate platform as agreed to by the student and his or her assigned judge. Teachers entering students should be familiar with one or more of these platforms and be prepared to administer the keyboard exam for several students using their own devices from their home to connect with the students. The Keyboard exam includes the sightreading, harmonization, transposition and playbacks, as applicable. For levels one and two, it will also include aural skills.
For levels 3 and 4, Students will be provided access to aural skills files which they will use to complete the aural skills exam on their own. (If students wish to practice listening to aural skills examples, they may access practice aural skills files at https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ using the access code 123-456-789. These practice files are for all levels, so students will need to select the appropriate level.)
The written exam for levels 2,3 and 4 will be emailed to the student (at the address provided through registration) on Sunday, November 15th. The student will need to complete both the aural skills and written portion of the exam, scan all pages and send to the AIM coordinator or specified AIM committee member by 7:00 pm on Sunday, November 15th.
For the Performance Section of the exam (levels 1 and 2), teachers should specify in the registration, the title and composer of the piece and the specific edition or collection used by the student for the piece. For any music that is not in the public domain, the teacher must scan (using a scanning app or printer feature) and place it on a shared drive and enter a link to the music in the “Music Link” entry in OPERA. The teacher will need to ensure that the shared link to the music is set up with the download and print feature “disabled” so it can only be viewed electronically. (see instructions below for this). If the teacher is unable to create a restricted link to the music, the teacher may send the music to the coordinator to be placed on an NWSMTA shared drive folder. The coordinator would then create and enter into OPERA the restricted link to the music.
Assigned judges will receive from the AIM coordinator, the list of students they will be judging along with the students’ email address so judges may contact the student to arrange an appropriate platform for the keyboard skills exam. If they are judging level 1 or 2, they will also see the specific repertoire they will be judging along with the Music Link and Video Link (stated below).
For the performance section of the exam (levels 1 and 2), students will be asked to record their performance and store them on a platform that may be shared, such as a private YouTube account, their personal shared drive, such as One Drive, DropBox or Google Drive . If the student and teacher are unable to store the recording on a shared drive, the teacher may send the recording (if the file is small enough) to the AIM coordinator. (This is only as a last resort). The teacher (or AIM Coordinator) will then provide a link to the pre-recorded performance in the “Video Link” entry in the OPERA registration.
In the event there are technical difficulties viewing the performance through the Video Link or accessing the music on the Music Link, the judge may contact the student’s teacher at the e-mail address listed in the “Repertoire to be Judged” section of OPERA.
All Video Link submissions will be due by 10:00 pm on
Saturday, November 14th
Music Link submissions will be due by October 22nd.
Exam Registration Deadline is October 15, 2020
Judging of the Repertoire should be completed within one week
following the exam.
Here is how to disable file printing and downloading in Google drive.
1. Locate the file in Google drive and click on Share (person icon with +) or right click and select Share.
2. In the Get Link portion of the Share window, set to Anyone with the Link can VIEW. (Do NOT set to Anyone with the Link can EDIT)
3. In the Share window, click on Settings (gear icon)
4. In the Settings window, UNcheck the two boxes.
5. Click on “Get Link” then “Done”
6. Go to OPERA registration page for the student and paste the link in the Music Link box (CTRL V).
January Exam (Online): Sunday, January 31, 2021
NEW Registration Deadline: December 20, 2020
AIM Levels 5-12 Theory Exams
Fees: $30 for all levels (covers theory and performance exam)
Chairperson Helen Chang, Helen Grosshans*
January (Levels 5-12) AIM Exams ONLINE
This year the January ISMTA AIM exams for Levels 5-12 theory will be conducted online on Sunday, January 31st. Deadline has been extended to December 20th to register students using OPERA. https://www.nwsmta.org/opera-aim-registration.html. Please send one check per studio to Helen Grosshans: 310 W. Hintz Rd, Arlington Heights, IL 60004 by December 20th.
Since the entire exam is online, these are the changes in registration process.
1. Teachers entering students should be familiar with one or more online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, etc. and be prepared to administer the keyboard exams if asked to judge***
2.Teachers need to enter the student or parent’s e-mail in OPERA. Judges will contact the students by email to give them the online meeting ID after NWSMTA schedules the exams. Students will receive email directly from NWSMTA Sunday, January 31st with the Written and Aural Skills Exams.
3.Teachers need to specify the name and composer of the transposition piece in OPERA. We recommend the student choose one of the transpositions from their AIM workbook for easier access by Judges. If they choose to use a transposition outside of the AIM workbook, their judge may request a scan of the original piece.
Here are the procedures for the January Theory Exams you may copy and forward to students:
1.Keyboard Exam- Scheduled by NWSMTA but the meeting ID is provided by the judge. Zoom or other appropriate platforms (Google Meet, Skype, etc.) may be used as agreed to by the student and the assigned judge. The Keyboard exam is played live and includes the sight-reading, rhythm, harmonization, transposition and playbacks (Levels 5-6). Sight-reading, Rhythm and Harmonizations are viewable through a shared screen in the meeting.
2.Aural Skills-Each student will receive an email on exam day with the blank exams to print out. All Level 5-12 students go to https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ to hear the Aural Skills. Every student will be given a unique, one time access code (under their teacher’s OPERA page). Practice aural skills examples are at https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ with practice access code 123-456-789.
3.Written Exams- Students will receive an email on exam day with the blank exams to print out. The student will need to complete both the aural skills and written portion of the exam, scan all pages and send back to nwsmta.aimexams@gmail.com by 7:00 pm on Sunday, January 31st. These will be graded accordingly.
Any questions concerning registration or the exam process can be directed to Helen Chang at helenlchang66@gmail.com. Assigned Judges will receive further instructions from Helen Chang regarding the judging procedures and Judge’s Meeting. Thanks for entering your students!!
March Exam (Online): Sunday, March 14, 2021
Registration Deadline: February 7, 2021
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: March 6, 2021
AIM Levels 3-9 Performance Exams
Co-Chairs: Vonnie Mrozinski: lmrozinski@sbcglobal.net
Helen Grosshans: thegrosshans@yahoo.com
April Exam (Online): Sunday, April 18, 2021
Registration Deadline: March 11, 2021
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: April 16, 2021
Level 12 Recitals: By July 31, 2021
AIM Levels 10-12 Performance Exams
Co-Chairs: Suzanne Fleer: suzannejf2@comcast.net
Suzanne Murray: smurraypiano@gmail.com
REPERTOIRE APPROVAL
All repertoire that is not on the AIM Piano Syllabus Repertoire List must be approved by January 15, 2021.
Repertoire Approval Required for ALL Level 12 students (exams and recitals) by January 15, 2021.
Approval for Level 12 is required even if the repertoire is from the Syllabus listings.
Email requests to Illinois Repertoire Substitution Chair Stephanie Myers at hisamimyers@gmail.com
PDF FORMS
AIM Levels 1 ABC and 2; Theory Levels 3 and 4
AIM News and Updates
♪ Theory students in Levels 5 and above will be listening to the pre-recorded aural skills portion of the theory exam on MP3 players or CD players. Listening independently in a listening room shortens the exam time required with a judge. On the day of the exam, the MP3 and CD players will be provided onsite along with earphones. Students do not need to bring their own MP3 or CD player. Although earbuds and headsets are provided and will be cleaned with a sanitary wipe after each use, students may opt to bring their own. (2013)
TEACHERS: Please remind students that the recording may be paused as directed for extra time; students are NOT to pause the recording during (in the middle of) the dictation example.
- General Information
- AIM Parent Letter
- CODA Online Piano Repertoire Search (Login required)
- OPERA ONLINE ENROLLMENT for all exams
NOTE: Examples of aural skills to be used with the sample aural skills test at each level in the Syllabus may be found at https://nsmta.org/aim/. Here is the direct link to their audio files: https://nsmta.org/aim/aim-aural-skills-practice/
Click here for the new version of the Aural Skills practice exam.
*Send checks to *names
November Exam (Online): Sunday, November 15, 2020
Registration Deadline: October 15, 2020
Music Link Submission Deadline: October 22, 2020
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: November 14, 2020
AIM Levels 1 ABC and 2; Theory Levels 3 and 4
Fees: $20 for levels 1 A,B,C and 2, $30 for levels 3 and 4 (covers theory and performance exam)
Co-Chairs: Mary Anne Block*: mablock@ameritech.net
Fran Onley: reonley@comcast.net
This year the November ISMTA AIM exams for levels 1 and 2 complete and levels 3 and 4 theory only, will be conducted online on Sunday, November 15. Teachers will continue to register their students using OPERA, but will need to include the student’s e-mail address in addition to the level and repertoire information (for levels 1 and 2). This will allow judges to contact the student to arrange the appropriate connection for the keyboard skills exam. The student will also need to specify the name and composer of the transposition piece (for level 4). It is highly recommended that the student choose one of the selections from the AIM workbook to ensure the assigned judge will have access to the selected piece.
The Keyboard exam will be administered to students using FaceTime, Skype, Zoom or other appropriate platform as agreed to by the student and his or her assigned judge. Teachers entering students should be familiar with one or more of these platforms and be prepared to administer the keyboard exam for several students using their own devices from their home to connect with the students. The Keyboard exam includes the sightreading, harmonization, transposition and playbacks, as applicable. For levels one and two, it will also include aural skills.
For levels 3 and 4, Students will be provided access to aural skills files which they will use to complete the aural skills exam on their own. (If students wish to practice listening to aural skills examples, they may access practice aural skills files at https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ using the access code 123-456-789. These practice files are for all levels, so students will need to select the appropriate level.)
The written exam for levels 2,3 and 4 will be emailed to the student (at the address provided through registration) on Sunday, November 15th. The student will need to complete both the aural skills and written portion of the exam, scan all pages and send to the AIM coordinator or specified AIM committee member by 7:00 pm on Sunday, November 15th.
For the Performance Section of the exam (levels 1 and 2), teachers should specify in the registration, the title and composer of the piece and the specific edition or collection used by the student for the piece. For any music that is not in the public domain, the teacher must scan (using a scanning app or printer feature) and place it on a shared drive and enter a link to the music in the “Music Link” entry in OPERA. The teacher will need to ensure that the shared link to the music is set up with the download and print feature “disabled” so it can only be viewed electronically. (see instructions below for this). If the teacher is unable to create a restricted link to the music, the teacher may send the music to the coordinator to be placed on an NWSMTA shared drive folder. The coordinator would then create and enter into OPERA the restricted link to the music.
Assigned judges will receive from the AIM coordinator, the list of students they will be judging along with the students’ email address so judges may contact the student to arrange an appropriate platform for the keyboard skills exam. If they are judging level 1 or 2, they will also see the specific repertoire they will be judging along with the Music Link and Video Link (stated below).
For the performance section of the exam (levels 1 and 2), students will be asked to record their performance and store them on a platform that may be shared, such as a private YouTube account, their personal shared drive, such as One Drive, DropBox or Google Drive . If the student and teacher are unable to store the recording on a shared drive, the teacher may send the recording (if the file is small enough) to the AIM coordinator. (This is only as a last resort). The teacher (or AIM Coordinator) will then provide a link to the pre-recorded performance in the “Video Link” entry in the OPERA registration.
In the event there are technical difficulties viewing the performance through the Video Link or accessing the music on the Music Link, the judge may contact the student’s teacher at the e-mail address listed in the “Repertoire to be Judged” section of OPERA.
All Video Link submissions will be due by 10:00 pm on
Saturday, November 14th
Music Link submissions will be due by October 22nd.
Exam Registration Deadline is October 15, 2020
Judging of the Repertoire should be completed within one week
following the exam.
Here is how to disable file printing and downloading in Google drive.
1. Locate the file in Google drive and click on Share (person icon with +) or right click and select Share.
2. In the Get Link portion of the Share window, set to Anyone with the Link can VIEW. (Do NOT set to Anyone with the Link can EDIT)
3. In the Share window, click on Settings (gear icon)
4. In the Settings window, UNcheck the two boxes.
5. Click on “Get Link” then “Done”
6. Go to OPERA registration page for the student and paste the link in the Music Link box (CTRL V).
January Exam (Online): Sunday, January 31, 2021
NEW Registration Deadline: December 20, 2020
AIM Levels 5-12 Theory Exams
Fees: $30 for all levels (covers theory and performance exam)
Chairperson Helen Chang, Helen Grosshans*
January (Levels 5-12) AIM Exams ONLINE
This year the January ISMTA AIM exams for Levels 5-12 theory will be conducted online on Sunday, January 31st. Deadline has been extended to December 20th to register students using OPERA. https://www.nwsmta.org/opera-aim-registration.html. Please send one check per studio to Helen Grosshans: 310 W. Hintz Rd, Arlington Heights, IL 60004 by December 20th.
Since the entire exam is online, these are the changes in registration process.
1. Teachers entering students should be familiar with one or more online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, etc. and be prepared to administer the keyboard exams if asked to judge***
2.Teachers need to enter the student or parent’s e-mail in OPERA. Judges will contact the students by email to give them the online meeting ID after NWSMTA schedules the exams. Students will receive email directly from NWSMTA Sunday, January 31st with the Written and Aural Skills Exams.
3.Teachers need to specify the name and composer of the transposition piece in OPERA. We recommend the student choose one of the transpositions from their AIM workbook for easier access by Judges. If they choose to use a transposition outside of the AIM workbook, their judge may request a scan of the original piece.
Here are the procedures for the January Theory Exams you may copy and forward to students:
1.Keyboard Exam- Scheduled by NWSMTA but the meeting ID is provided by the judge. Zoom or other appropriate platforms (Google Meet, Skype, etc.) may be used as agreed to by the student and the assigned judge. The Keyboard exam is played live and includes the sight-reading, rhythm, harmonization, transposition and playbacks (Levels 5-6). Sight-reading, Rhythm and Harmonizations are viewable through a shared screen in the meeting.
2.Aural Skills-Each student will receive an email on exam day with the blank exams to print out. All Level 5-12 students go to https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ to hear the Aural Skills. Every student will be given a unique, one time access code (under their teacher’s OPERA page). Practice aural skills examples are at https://auralskillsplayer.weebly.com/ with practice access code 123-456-789.
3.Written Exams- Students will receive an email on exam day with the blank exams to print out. The student will need to complete both the aural skills and written portion of the exam, scan all pages and send back to nwsmta.aimexams@gmail.com by 7:00 pm on Sunday, January 31st. These will be graded accordingly.
Any questions concerning registration or the exam process can be directed to Helen Chang at helenlchang66@gmail.com. Assigned Judges will receive further instructions from Helen Chang regarding the judging procedures and Judge’s Meeting. Thanks for entering your students!!
March Exam (Online): Sunday, March 14, 2021
Registration Deadline: February 7, 2021
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: March 6, 2021
AIM Levels 3-9 Performance Exams
Co-Chairs: Vonnie Mrozinski: lmrozinski@sbcglobal.net
Helen Grosshans: thegrosshans@yahoo.com
April Exam (Online): Sunday, April 18, 2021
Registration Deadline: March 11, 2021
Video of Repertoire Submission Deadline: April 16, 2021
Level 12 Recitals: By July 31, 2021
AIM Levels 10-12 Performance Exams
Co-Chairs: Suzanne Fleer: suzannejf2@comcast.net
Suzanne Murray: smurraypiano@gmail.com
REPERTOIRE APPROVAL
All repertoire that is not on the AIM Piano Syllabus Repertoire List must be approved by January 15, 2021.
Repertoire Approval Required for ALL Level 12 students (exams and recitals) by January 15, 2021.
Approval for Level 12 is required even if the repertoire is from the Syllabus listings.
Email requests to Illinois Repertoire Substitution Chair Stephanie Myers at hisamimyers@gmail.com
PDF FORMS
AIM Levels 1 ABC and 2; Theory Levels 3 and 4
AIM News and Updates
♪ Theory students in Levels 5 and above will be listening to the pre-recorded aural skills portion of the theory exam on MP3 players or CD players. Listening independently in a listening room shortens the exam time required with a judge. On the day of the exam, the MP3 and CD players will be provided onsite along with earphones. Students do not need to bring their own MP3 or CD player. Although earbuds and headsets are provided and will be cleaned with a sanitary wipe after each use, students may opt to bring their own. (2013)
TEACHERS: Please remind students that the recording may be paused as directed for extra time; students are NOT to pause the recording during (in the middle of) the dictation example.