<p>I have to fill out my schedule for next year (senior year) and AP music theory seems like an interesting course; however, i do not have any real knowledge of music. i.e. i never actually played an instrument (aside from messing around on a guitar/piano), i cant read music, etc... with this hinder my opportunity to succeed?</p>
<p>“The student’s ability to read and write musical notation is fundamental to such a course. It is also assumed that the student has acquired (or is acquiring) at least basic performance skills in voice or on an instrument.”</p>
<p>Straight from the College Board website.</p>
<p>“The student’s ability to read and write musical notation is fundamental to such a course. It is also assumed that the student has acquired (or is acquiring) at least basic performance skills in voice or on an instrument.”</p>
<p>Straight from the College Board website.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re not going to have much success if you don’t already have the abilities outlined by NewAccount. =\ I recommend against taking it.</p>
<p>I’m taking it right now, and I’ve been playing violin and singing for 10 years, and I still find some stuff terribly difficult.</p>
<p>I’m going to be honest and say that you’re going to fail in that class…badly. Reading music is the basics to music theory, and if you can’t read music then you won’t know anything about chords, scales, symbols, etc. I suggest you take another course.</p>
<p>Yeah. To do anything in AP music theory, you need to already know how to read music, and learning how to read music is not some trivial thing you can do in a week.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t go so far as to say you’d automatically fail, but it will be extremely difficult without prior knowledge. Unless your school has a “Fundamentals of Music Theory” class that you can take beforehand (as does mine), then I would suggest not taking it. It’s certainly not an easy A, and not worth taking just to have another AP.</p>
<p>EDIT: Read the first post again and realized the scheduling was for senior year (making a “Fundamentals” course irrelevant in terms of taking the AP).</p>