<p>Hey everyone, I'm taking the AP Music Theory exam this May.
Are there any prep books available?
Any recommendations on any kind of music theory book(s) to buy for review?
All other advice on preparing or taking the exam would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I took the AP Theory test as a sophomore (last year). There aren't any books that you can buy, but your teacher should be prepping with you on both the aural and non-aural portions of the test. I didn't buy any books (since there aren't any) and just did my class work and got a 5 on it. Just be sure to practice the ear training stuff and partwriting.</p>
<p>sadly, there aren't any review books for AP Music Theory. but yay for someone taking it (i am now too)
i would suggest doing EXTENSIVE ear training: triads, sevenths, scales, etc etc. especially inverted chords: those are harder.</p>
<p>Yeah. The written stuff isn't horribly difficult (lots of places for mistakes, but not truly difficult). The aural part, which I am currently having some issues with, is harder for some and easier for others. It all depends on your ear and how much you can hear. </p>
<p>Hopefully I can get a 5 on the exam (I paly 4 instruments, but this class has provided me with a completely different perspective on music).</p>
<p>the hearing is seriously a pain in the ass man! i cant tell the difference between a 1st inverted 7th chord and a 2nd inverted 7th chord. maybe if i tried really hard, then i could, but, blah.</p>
<p>and interval recognition is a pain in the ass too. :(</p>
<p>thanks for replying, everyone!
yeah the aural part is difficult for me as well
just curious, are you guys going into music? (majoring in it in college, making it your career path, etc.?)</p>
<p>jaug - just wondering, what 4 instruments do you play?</p>
<p>I'm stressing about the AP Music Theory exam as well. Good luck to futur06 and any other people who are also taking this exam. By the way, I've played the piano for about 8 years, but I still struggle with the aural part... I think it's just me, though.</p>
<p>WOw.. So many people taking this (althougt it still isn't the most popular)
I'm worrying, also. Written = easy, but listening and melodic dictation are harder. It seems like pianists fare better on this exam, also. It doesn't hurt to have perfect pitch for others. I personally know 3 people who have perfect pitch. Isn't this supposed to be around 1/10k ? (I def. don't know 30k ppl)
Yeah, I digress.</p>
<p>Powerabe13 - i've played the piano longer than you have but I struggle with the aural part, too. I think the aural part is easier for choral kids and people who play strings, etc. since (well at least in my opinion) they have to be more conscientious about listening for tones and sounds in general - oh and plus choral people are constantly singing which makes things easier for them as well.
yeah danielsjang, i dont really know what the statistics are either but perfect pitch is definitely an advantage - i know 1 person who has it and someone i know's brother has it too.</p>
<p>Yeah, futur06, I am in chorus and have been for four years. I took the APMT exam last year and found the aural part relatively easy... i was just ignorant and sang both of the sight-singing pieces in major. For some reason, I thought that the first one was always major and the second always minor... unfortunately I realized this wasn't the case a little too late. I had trouble with the written section as well because I am not very familiar with instruments and their timbre and stuff. The part writing was simple enough, though. Ended up with a 4.</p>
<p>i signed up for it too, but after looking at what my potential colleges will give me for a 4 or 5, i've come to realize that most schools don't even recognize that exam...</p>
<p>INSTRUMENTS! argh, i dont even know what instrument sounds like what for each. bah, im gonna be cramming like mad, =</p>
<p>some of the good colleges give credit for a 4/5 on the exam, especially ones im looking at: UPENN, UVA, Columbia...</p>
<p>i wouldnt know about other colleges though, :(</p>
<p>I too am taking the APMT test this year... Im nervous about it though. I think i can do alright on MC, but dictations are going to kill me. Im pretty bad, except for identifying chord progressions, so at least ill get some of that right... Too bad there arent practice books, cds, whatever, or practice exams.</p>
<p>Practice the aural stuff. I wish I had done more training in that area when I took the test; I was utterly unprepared for the listening portions. This probably stemmed from most people in my class being choir kids--they always aced the aural reviews... I did poorly on those, but aced the writing-based stuff...</p>
<p>But, if your target is a 4, it's possible to have a subscore split of 5/2 composition and listening respectively. </p>
<p>To those fretting about inverted 7th chords... They aren't really prevalent on the test. Scales, progressions, and musical analysis are major components of the listening sections.</p>
<p>dam im gonna take it for the heck of it, i dont even take the class in school, just every saturday at a prep division, written will be easy, but aural, uyyyy, i hope they're lenient cuase i cant hear for my life... and when do we have to notate chord progressions with aural stimulation. i thought they only thing we need to know about chords is for harmonizing</p>
<p>thanks for replying, everyone!
& best of luck :)</p>
<p>Guys. How do you do voice leading, bass line, and all that kind of stuff where you have to notate? I know the rules for the secondary functions and all the numbers and #s beneath the staves with all the inversions. I know I have to always be free of parallel 5ths and 8ves between any voice and checking for that is pain in the rearrr. But like how do you assign which note to which voice? I know you follow the common tone, but it’d be great if I had specific steps towards the 4-piece writing. The fact that there are various answers to it makes me confused.</p>
<p>P.S. To respond, I have perfect pitch. But that’s only advantageous when it comes to dictation and those first five questions that ask what is played. It’s not good when it comes to listening to an excerpt of a composition. I can hear it, but the answers and questions ask a lot of terminology, in which most of them I have no clue what they are. My teacher hasn’t taught me anything, that’s why. Haha.</p>
<p>kimhm92: For voice leading, you follow the general principle that the individual voices should be as pleasant, melodic, and easy to sing as possible (while avoiding parallel fifths and octaves, and exposed fifths and octaves). To accomplish this, you generally try to keep common notes in the same voice, minimize the distance that a voice must move (so move by step whenever possible unless you are staying on the same chord), and avoid awkward intervals like augmented seconds or augmented fourths. You are correct in that there are many different good answers, just as there are with an English essay. </p>
<p>Certain chord progressions have idiosyncratic resolutions. Generally, a leading tone should rise to the tonic particularly when it is in an outer voice. In a dominant 7th chord, the 7th should fall to the mediant of the key. If you have perfect pitch and can hear what the voices are doing, then these “rules” should feel very natural and to “break” them should feel unnatural and ugly. </p>
<p>You must become familiar with the terms used on the examination. The list of terms is quite short, so if you consult your textbook, you should have no problem. Most of the terms would have been discussed during your private music lessons over the last several years, if you have a private teacher that does more than merely develop technique. A good teacher should help a student understand the repertoire they are learning and part of understanding that repertoire means understanding its structure and the compositional techniques that it employs.</p>
<p>The hardest part of AP Music Theory is developing the ear, so you are fortunate that you have that mastered. The easy part is attaching words to compositional techniques. </p>
<p>Ask your teacher these same two basic questions (re: voice leading principles and terminology). They should be able to help you. Sometimes a teacher just needs the focus of a particular question.</p>