<p>Hi, I'm trying to decide whether or not to self-study this, as it may be cool . . .or not.</p>
<p>Pros-
Piano for 9 years, Guitar for 3, Trumpet for 1- musical!
Have two teachers willing to help
Have textbook and have started reading
I love music and music theory- this passion seems like something good for an application</p>
<p>Cons-
Not going to lie- I don't have perfecet pitch or anything close to it, though I have dedication to improve that
Not offered at my school, so I have to take test at some other school, which no one has ever done at my school and I don't want people to think I'm showing off
No prep books- so i can't really BS it like Euro (5)</p>
<p>Even if the exam is not offered by your school, your school's AP coordinator should be able to order an AP Music Theory exam for you. There's no need to go to another school to take it, so that shouldn't affect your decision. </p>
<p>I would say go for it. You've got the necessary background. Prep books aren't that important for music theory--a good textbook and a teacher who does a lot of dictations with you will be enough. I would suggest looking into "Tonal Harmony" by Kostka/Payne and "Music in Theory and Practice" by Benward/Saker.</p>
<p>I have the older edition of "Tonal Harmony", hopefully one of my teachers will have the other. . .</p>
<p>I'm feeling better about this. However, unlike thesloth, I think I should study. How did I go about learning this? I've only ever done theory workbooks and forgot some of it. Do I take notes? Make flashcards? </p>
<p>And how do I survive the listening part?</p>
<p>I'm just nervous since I've heard this exam is somewhat difficult.
Thanks for your confidence!</p>
<p>the aural stuff was the hardest part for me. But with your music background, you should have pretty good aural skills, but only you can assess that. Just study chord analysis, voice leading (huge topic), texture (shows up on the multiple choice), cadences, and make sure to work on your aural skills. Practice melodic and rhythmic dictation, and harmonic dictation (your piano background should help with this), and you should be fine. Also practice identifying chords through listening. Learn how to harmonize a melody. That should cover most of it. It's really not that difficult if you have a strong aural background, and the textbook should cover all those topics.</p>
<p>Voice leading covers a big part of the test, so make sure you get a strong background in that and chord analysis. Memorize the rules of voice leading (although there may be slight variations in the rules in different textbooks), but don't get TOO caught up in the rules. You must avoid certain things like parallel fifths or doubling the leading tone, but if you maybe can't double the root in a primary triad, it's okay to double the third so you don't have to make a huge interval jump in any of the voices. I think I'm getting a little ahead of you, but just keep in mind that some of the voice leading rules you come across are not absolute.</p>
<p>Oh, and you don't need anything near perfect pitch to do well; good relative pitch will suffice, and may even be more useful than perfect pitch.</p>
<p>Sorry to bring this old thread up, but how much time (like per week I suppose) do you think I need to devote to this. I don't want to get bogged down, as I am taking 3 others academic APs (though I think this one is the hardest I'm doing). Like if I spend an hour a week with my teacher and then work on stuff independently (easier topics, practice) is that good enough?</p>
<p>And just curious, when I take it all by myself at school, do they play the CDs for me? Do I sight-sing into a tape or to a teacher? Sorry if these questions are stupid. </p>