<p>Hey guys! This thread is for year-long discussion for 2012-2013 students in AP Music Theory. </p>
<p>How far are you guys? I feel like we might behind, we are in the middle of chord inversions and figured bass. Also, aural skills... Ugh. Seventh chords are hard to hear distinctly for me!</p>
<p>Yeah I did really bad on those. But we’re getting into species counterpoint now and for the next few weeks…hopefully it’s not too much over my head stuff!</p>
<p>Due to other AP courses, I couldn’t take music theory this year. However, I do plan to take it next year. </p>
<p>Just curious, what are your “musical” backgrounds? I wanna get a feel of how rigorous this course will be. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I just did the first semester of AP Music theory. I have to drop it due to scheduling conflicts, but I wish I didn’t. It’s an amazing class.</p>
<p>I’ve got a pretty advanced musical background, as do most people in the class. It’s a class that you definitely have to be a musician in order to succeed in. It’s not a class that someone without any experience playing an instrument or being around music can waltz in and understand it. </p>
<p>Another reason I’m mad I have to drop it is that my school gets through the AP curriculum in 2 terms, so the 3rd term is devoted entirely to composition. So I’m really upset that I have to leave before we get into fun composition stuff :p. </p>
<p>The class is challenging, but very reasonable. It’s not a huge-work intensive class. Pay attention in class, and do your homework by a piano so you can actually hear the concepts. Be sure to practice listening, harmonic and melodic dictation, and sight-singing. According to my teacher, the course gets easier as it progresses.</p>
<p>The exam is getting close!! Anyone struggling with the conflict with AP Biology? I know that’s affect a couple of people in my APMT class.</p>
<p>I’m feeling good about everything that’s NOT aural skills. Aural skills man, the aural skills are tough. It’s a shame that some of the analysis, like in the harmonic dictation, is based on your aural ability! Arg. That’s what I’ll be doing this weekend, a ton of ear training.</p>
<p>Anybody know any good websites for ear-training? I’m having trouble finding good ones.</p>
<p>Teoria is the best for ear training. I also use GNU Solfege, a downloadable program (free). There are also practice free-response questions on the CollegeBoard’s AP Music Theory site, as well as the entire 1998 exam - online and for free!</p>
<p>Just tried teoria, I LOVE IT!! Thanks!</p>
<p>Great! Let me know if you have any other questions about AP Theory or theory in general; I’d be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>Just curious, but how did you pace yourself while doing the free response section? Did you follow the time they suggested in the parentheses or did you spend more/less time on certain questions?</p>
<p>Personally, I found the AP’s “suggested times” to be quite generous. I completed the entire free-response writing section in approximately 15 minutes (about 5 minutes for the figured bass, 5 minutes for the chord progression, 10 minutes for the melody harmonization). I found the melody harmonization to be the hardest exercise; I found the other two to be of comparable difficulty. </p>
<p>As far as pacing myself, I approached all of the exercises methodically. After analyzing the chords in the figured bass, I wrote the soprano voice, then the alto and tenor. Writing horizontally allowed me to easily check for voice-leading problems and parallels while writing. I also rechecked each voice after the exercise was completed. I followed the same method with the second harmonization exercise. For the melody harmonization, I first labeled all of the soprano scale degrees (crucial in determining phrase model). Then I mapped out my phrase model (T-Pd-D-T). Then, I added the bass, keeping the phrase model in mind. </p>
<p>If you find yourself running out of time, analyze your methods. What part of the exercise takes you the longest? For example, when working on the figured bass, does it take longer for you to complete the analysis, or does it take longer for you to write the parts? Once you pinpoint your weakness or weaknesses, begin tackling them specifically.</p>
<p>During your practice sessions, I would also aim to be approximately five minutes under the AP’s “suggested time.” The extra five minutes will help during the test - during tests, time often slips away, and you will also need extra time to check and double-check your work. </p>
<p>I hope this answers your question!</p>
<p>Okay, thank you! Hoping to score a 5 on this exam and this’ll be my first AP exam ever. I’ll let you know in 3 weeks how it goes :)</p>
<p>How much music theory do you have to know to do well? What does it cover exactly?</p>
<p>Just over a week left… Arg!! I’m so nervous! Any last minute tips for improving hearing chord professions? I can hear intervals pretty well but I can’t hear chord progressions at all, so I struggle in the harmonic dictation.</p>
<p>In the harmonic dictation, I use the first 2 times to notate the soprano and bass lines and use the last (2? I can’t remember if they play it 3 or 4 times) to notate for the numerals (like difference between V or V7). hope it helps!</p>
<p>slugabed: how did you train for the harmonic dictation, particularly hearing the chords/progressions?</p>
<p>Just did some practice harmonic dictation problems! There are a bunch up on Collegeboard that you can practice with. I’ve also been playing the piano since I was 4-5, so that probably helped as well.</p>
<p>Okay, test in under a week and I’ve do Teoria and stuff maybe an hour a week for the past month or two.</p>
<p>Think I’m screwed? How’s the curve on this? I’m pretty sure I’ll ace the written part, but I took a practice aural MC section and got 20/43. Ugh…</p>
<p>From what I’ve witnessed, the AP graders are quite lenient. I think a 5 equals about a score of 75% or higher, if I remember correctly. Also, the AP treats the aural and written tests as almost separate tests, and sub scores are awarded for each part and then averaged. So, it’s possible to receive a 4 on the aural section, a 5 on the written section, a receive a 5 on the entire test. Just do the best you can!</p>
<p>Ahhhh exam in less than 24 hours! My teacher showed us the grading scale and w/o the curve, a 5 is like a 63%…I got like a 61% on a practice test so she said I could probably get a 5 haha d:</p>
<p>Does anyone find it odd that the 20-minute bass line composition (FRQ 7) is only worth 9 of the 200 points, whereas the figured bass and Roman numeral realizations are shorter and worth 25 and 18 points? No complaints, I’m much better at realization than I am at bass line composition. </p>
<p>Also, in response to a recent comment, your overall score is not the average of the aural and nonaural subscores. It’s entirely possible to make 3’s on Aural and Non-Aural and get an overall score of a 2.</p>