AP Music Theory

<p>Hey all.
I'm thinking of taking the AP Music Theory test this year but I'm not sure if I should. I do have experience with 'music' as I have played piano for about 10 years, I'm in my school's choir, and I have recently taken ABRSM's grade 5 theory test. The scores haven't come in yet but I'm planning to take grade 8 soon. Besides the short summary from collegeboard, I have no idea how the AP test is. Any advice? Is it hard? What books should I study from?</p>

<p>AP music theory will be harder than ABRSM’s grade 5. In addition, ABRSM’s grade 5 dose not include Aural test which AP music theory does.</p>

<p>Here is the course description from collegeboard:
[AP</a> Central - AP Music Theory Course Description: Effective Fall 2010](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>AP Music Theory Course and Exam Description Audio Files – AP Central | College Board)</p>

<p>If it helps, I am currently enrolled in AP Music Theory. It’s not bad. ^^; I’m a flute player. Playing the piano will definitely be to your benefit.</p>

<p>If your instruction in piano included theory and you’ve been playing for ten years, you should have enough of a backbone to supplement with the specific terms on the AP Music Theory test. I would say that a musical ear (eg perfect pitch, relative pitch) is the skill that prepares you best. When I took the course through my high school, we spent the majority of the semester practicing the different types of dictation, sight-singing, and basic ear training. A few weeks before the exam, we began going through the College Board’s old tests so we could learn what specific terms we didn’t know.
In my opinion, the most difficult part of the test was the multiple choice analysis of a music sample, so practice that with the materials provided by the college board. Do the same with the different types of dictation, and become familiar with the rules they use to grade dictation.
One good test would be musictheory.net. If you don’t know the majority of the material there, you may want to reconsider taking the test. Just remember: The old tests from college board will be your best study guides.
Good luck!</p>

<p>I was just going to post the same question - how hard is the AP Music Theory test?
My D is considering taking AP M/T next year.
She plays a little piano, a little violin and sings.
Her theory knowledge is not great. (I probably know more than she does.)
But she does have a very good ear.</p>

<p>I was told one needs to hear a selection of music and write down all the parts including all the harmonies.
Yikes.
That sounds hard.</p>

<p>Bump. plus five more characters</p>

<p>The free response part (at least to my knowledge) involves melodic dictation (listening to a melody 3-4 times and writing it down), harmonic progression (listening to a musical excerpt 3-4 times and notating soprano and bass voices and the roman numerals that indicate the chords and their inversions), realizing figured bass using traditional 18th century procedures, and completing the bass line for a melody. There are 2 questions for each concept (first one is easier, second is more difficult) except the completing the bass line for the melody.</p>

<p>The multiple choice part includes both aural and non aural questions, and there are 2 sight singing questions where you get a certain amount of time to practice and then the proctor helps you record it so it can be scored.</p>

<p>Piano knowledge is a plus, strong background in music theory is almost a must (or it’d probably be pretty difficult), and a good ear will be helpful particularly with writing down melodies and such.</p>

<p>I’ve been playing the piano for 11 years and I’ve taken up to ABRSM music theory level 5 and I’m taking the test next week! Let me know if you have any other questions.</p>