<p>So I'm planning to take AP Music Theory next year for my sophomore year. But at our school, you need to take music theory before you can take AP Music Theory. But I asked the Music Theory teacher and she said if I take the Music Theory Final Exam and pass with an 85 or higher, I could get in the ap class. I've played the violin for 10 years, and I'm just wondering what are the things you need to know for regular Music Theory? Thanks in advanced!</p>
<p>I’m also a freshman; my school’s music program works the same way with Music Theory 1 as a prereq for AP. I don’t know about your school, but here, if you get a note from a music teacher you don’t have to take Theory 1. I also have played violin for 9 or 10 years, but I’m taking Theory 1 anyway, then I’ll probably take AP junior or senior year.</p>
<p>Assuming you can read treble clef fine, here are some topics which I’ve either learned or significantly reviewed in Theory 1 so far: Alto/Bass clefs, different types of scales (major, melodic minor, harmonic minor, blues, etc), circle of fifths & key signatures, intervals (perfect, major, minor, diminished, augmented) triads & diminished 7th chords, chord inversions, solfeggio, figured bass, musical forms (binary, ternary, rondo, motifs, etc). We’ve just started doing transposition and arrangement. I was surprised at how much I didn’t know about music theory, even with an extensive knowledge of violin. Your school’s class may be easier or harder, though. See if you can get a sample syllabus to look over.</p>
<p>If you’re going to study for that test, I’d recommend using the site musictheory.net for lessons and exercises. If you don’t play piano I’d also recommend getting aquatinted with the note on a keyboard, as that can really help with intervals and chords.</p>
<p>EDIT: I should note that my school’s Theory 1 class is only a semester long, and AP is a full year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help. I don’t know like 1/3 of the stuff you just said, so yeah, I guess there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know. I’ll checked out the website and so far, it seems pretty useful.</p>
<p>Yep, definitely everything that kestrel24 mentioned. I took it (regular music theory, not AP) through my school district online, and we covered basically all of that, plus various time signatures. My friend’s taking the class now at school, and she said that she’s learning the modes, which is something I know only through my piano theory lessons.</p>
<p>Right, forgot about modes and time signatures; we’ve done those as well.</p>
<p>What are modes?</p>
<p>Basically, in a certain key, scales that use different notes for root position are considered to be in different modes. The Ionian mode is the same as a major scale, and it starts on the note that the key signature is named after – an Ionian scale in C major would start on the note C. If you move the starting note up by one (C to D) but keep the key signature the same (no sharps or flats), you would be in the Dorian mode, which sounds different because there’s a different pattern of whole and half steps. The natural minor scale is the Aeolian mode – if you move the starting note, C, up by 5 you get A minor, the relative minor of C major. Therefore, Aeolian is the 6th mode.</p>
<p>Here’s an About.com article explaining it: [What</a> are modes? - Musical Modes, Modal Scales](<a href=“http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnerstheory/f/modes.htm]What”>How Is W Pronounced in French?)</p>
<p>There’s a mnemonic for the modes but I don’t feel like getting my notes out. It’s really useful, though.</p>
<p>Also, AP Music Theory is the easiest class in the world… too bad that out of the five wind players in that class I’m the least accomplished :/</p>
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<p>I Don’t Play Loud Music At Lunch.</p>
<p>That’s not what I was thinking but that definitely works too!</p>
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<p>Haha. I totally learned this from Barron’s last year. Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. Good stuff.</p>
<p>Now I know what modes are. Awesome.</p>
<p>Honestly, I thought that music theory was really hard. I mean, yes, I breezed through it and got a 100 in the class (keep in mind that this was online during the summer), but the class assumed that you’d never played an instrument before, and started from “This is the grand staff”. There were many times when I thought “If I didn’t have 10 years of piano behind me, this would be freakin’ impossible”. However, you seem very determined, and you should be able to learn a lot just by reading “Music Theory for Dummies” or something like that.</p>
<p>Ok. Thanks for the tip.</p>