<p>I plan to take the AP Music Theory this coming May. My parents expect a 5.</p>
<p>I've checked out the textbook "Tonal Harmony" and I've purchased the textbook "Music Theory" by George Thaddeus Jones. I have perfect pitch and I am on Certificate of Merit Lv. 9. I've also purchased Practica Musica.</p>
<p>My major concern is that I have no choral experience and that I don't know anyone around my area that is familiar with the exam. I've asked my piano teacher to tutor me, and she's agreed, but she doesn't seem confident with the material on the exam.</p>
<p>Do you think that if I self-study for this exam I can pass with a 5? Also, can you recommend any additional resources that you found helpful when you took the exam? (Or even better, do you know any classes or tutoring programs in the SoCal (Los Angeles, Diamond Bar, Riverside, San Bernardino, anywhere around this general area)) area?</p>
<p>George Thaddeus Jones’ “Music Theory” will not be especially helpful. While it covers the basics of part writing, I remember it being rather confusing and overall of little use (I cannot admit, however, to being especially careful with my reading of the book; I still doubt it will be substantially informative). </p>
<p>I know very little of the work of Stefan Kostka (I believe you have his “Tonal Harmony”). This book seems to include an introduction to 20th century music, which will be highly interesting but complete useless on the exam. </p>
<p>There are a number of quality textbooks written by intelligent professors who are currently involved in music theory education, including Laitz’s “The Complete Musician” and Jane Piper Clendinning and Elizabeth West Marvin’s “The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis.”</p>
<p>If you have absolute pitch and some ear training software the aural portion should be doable; nevertheless meeting with a chorale instructor might be helpful (not surely not necessary) for the sight singing. Your piano teacher is crazy not to know/“seem confident with” the stuff on the exam as it’s pretty much a Theory 101 class.</p>
<p>I should add the AP Music Theory exam isn’t the best exam to self study, unless you simply want to do it for kicks. Many universities will not grant credit for this exam as they offer their own placement tests, and I personally don’t think a 5 would greatly affect an acceptance to Harvard.</p>
<p>Good luck with you studies and if you do plan on training for the AP exam.</p>
<p>My school uses the “Tonal Harmony” book. It’s pretty good, and that’s what our teacher uses in and out of class. The only thing is that it is always easier to have someone explain and supplement the book. I have tons and tons of worksheets along with the textbook and we take notes every class.</p>
<p>If you intend to be a music major, the AP Music Theory test may be of very little value to you. Most music schools/departments want you to learn music theory their way and will give you their own placement test either during the admissions process or after matriculation. Knowing the material for the AP Test may get you advanced placement into the second or even third semester of the normal music theory sequence, but even a 5 on the test will in most schools not earn you any credit in terms of semester hours completed.</p>
<p>If you have a particular school/conservatory in mind, you might try to obtain whatever texts they use for Music Theory I and II as well as Aural Skills I and II.</p>
<p>My DD school does not even allow testing out of theory classes…so even though she had 2 years theory before college…she started in theory 1 along with everyone else…Theory isn’t an easy class so having a good foundation isn’t a bad thing… if you can learn some before going in that’s great…but I agree that the AP 5 probably won’t help you much.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous sentiments. If you want to major in music - a high score on the AP Music Theory exam is not likely to serve any difference at all in your admissions; and is very unlikely also to help you place out of any classes. Music schools are usually pretty adamant that their students follow their very own core curriculum of theory and ear-training or solfege courses. </p>
<p>Therefore, I would advise you not to stress out over it. It’s good that you’re taking it - but the benefits are intangible and are for yourself.</p>
<p>As for texts: I am not able to reccommend anything specifically for high school AP Theory, but at my undergrad conservatory (a very well known east coast school) - we used the Laitz Complete Musician for the rudimentary freshman class, but in the theory courses beyond that 101-level most of the text material were usually coil-bound prints of books written/compiled by the professors themselves.</p>
<p>Tell us why you need to get a 5 on the Music Theory AP exam. Are you a prospective music major? If so, that AP score isn’t really going to help you at all. Music majors don’t “place out” of theory with the AP exam.</p>
<p>DS, who is a music performer, took the AP Music Theory course but didn’t waste our money on the exam. It would have counted for NOTHING in his music performance degree program.</p>
<p>DD is NOT music major and she DID get a 5 on the Music Theory AP exam (not self study…she took the course, played three instruments and sang). Even with that…the 5 on the AP Music Theory exam netted her NOTHING in regards to college. Since she currently plays in her college orchestra and takes music lessons on her instrument, she more than fulfilled the fine arts core requirement with courses taken. </p>
<p>I guess I want to know why there is a NEED for a five on that exam. I agree with others…the aural part is something you just need to DO. It’s not all that easy to self study.</p>
<p>Oh, goodness! I’m starting to hesitate over taking the exam. It’s just that I heard that you need 10+ APs to be competitive so my family’s trying to help me squeeze in as many APs as possible. I don’t have any AP classes this year and freshmen year is relatively light course-wise, so my family felt it would be a good idea to self-study for AP Music Theory, since I already had music experience and perfect pitch. I don’t want to take the test as means of taking Music Theory in college or anything like that. I just wanted to make my application look more impressive, even if it’s just by a little bit.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of your advice, but I still don’t want to turn back. I’ve already spent lots of money on prep for the exam, what with Practica Musica being $100 and all of the textbooks… Theorygeek, thanks for your advice on the textbooks, but I think I’ll keep them. As I’ve no experience with choir, I think I’ll take a look at their sections about writing the voice-leading parts. I’ll also take a look at your recommended ones. </p>
<p>If I’m willing to put time into studying for the aural section, even without a teacher or choral experience, are the odds of getting a 5 good ones?</p>
<p>My daughter’s AP Music Theory Class had an awesome teacher. There were six students in the class, all played instruments and ALL six played piano. Two got 5’s, and two got 4’s. The other two got 3’s. </p>
<p>I asked my daughter about the test. She said it was NOT an easy one. It has two sections…the written theory and the aural section. She had many years of music theory in summer music programs and she is an outstanding sight reader. She said those skills AND her piano background are what made it possible for her to get that 5.</p>
<p>I’m sorry…I don’t think 9 vs 10 AP tests will make any difference whatsoever.</p>
<p>Are you a high school FRESHMAN? If so…you need to know that there are MANY schools where there are no AP courses for freshmen. And many of those kids do get accepted to good schools.</p>
<p>I would suggest you post your question about needing 10 AP courses to be competitive on the Parents Forum. You are sure to get some feedback about the relative importance…or not…of that idea there.</p>
<p>I highly recommend “Tonal Harmony” 5th edition. My high school has offered AP Theory for the past 4 years, and every student has gotten a 5. Every. Single. One. I found that incredible. Our teacher did retire though… so it’ll be interesting to see the scores in May with our new teacher. I think it’ll be the same, if not better. Remember: “Slow theory is no theory.” :P</p>
<p>Best of luck! I’m taking it this year on my own as well (not quite alone, since I do get worksheets and stuff from my teacher). I’ll send anything I find helpful your way if you’d like.</p>
<p>Man, I really wished I had gotten an account here before I decided to take AP Music theory! thumper1, I appreciate your advice, but for me, there’s really no turning back. I’ve already spent lots of money on exam preps. If it’s hard… I guess I’ll have to work all the harder. And if I get a 4, at least I tried. My parents just want to see me put in effort. Right now they expect a 5 because I’m not working hard as I should… I’m going to get serious. </p>
<p>riku92mr, I’m very glad there’s someone in my boat this year. I’d love it and appreciate it if you sent me anything you found helpful. You’re taking it this year on your own - Are you self-studying? If your high school offers AP MT, why aren’t you taking the course?</p>
<p>One bit of warning, having perfect pitch probably won’t do you that much good on the AP exam. My son has perfect pitch, and it actually can work against you because if I understood him right a lot of music theory is based on relative pitch and relative intervals (I am not a musician, so if this is off slightly my apologies) and that works quite differently then id’ing via perfect pitch.</p>
<p>I don’t think taking the AP music exam will hurt you, but I like others question whether it would help you with college admissions much. If the AP exam doesn’t do much for music majors (and that I have heard is true, including from at least one college level theory instructor) I suspect it won’t do much in terms of admissions. </p>
<p>One other recommendation I have is to do a web search and find where admissions people have been interviewed candidly about candidates to their schools.One of the things I have read is that the quantity of AP’s taken, while it makes for great news reporting and schools use the number of AP courses offered to show how good they are, might not mean much, that you would be better taking a smaller number of AP’s rather then trying to do, in your example, 10, that quality may be a bit better then quantity (I also kind of wonder if an admissions person might not look at 10 AP courses and think this is another kid trying to hard to impress us, like the kid with extra curriculars flooding the application form)…</p>
<p>Musicprnt - yeah, I’ve figured out the part about the perfect pitch when I was trying to identify the bass note of a progression the other day… Is there any chance I can develop decent relative pitch when I already have perfect pitch?</p>
<p>First we need to find out what you mean by perfect pitch. How fine a distinction between notes can you make? If asked to sing a named pitch without being given a note, can you produce the requested pitch reliably within a small fraction of a semitone? If a note just a small fraction of a semitone above, say, Bb were to be played, could you reliably identify it as being a little sharp of a true Bb? Can you do both without having heard any music being played in the previous half hour, or are you sometimes a little off on the first attempt and much more solid thereafter?</p>
<p>I know some people who seem to have a very precise reference source inside their head. They can go without hearing a note for long periods, then sing A-440 (or 220 if male) within a few cents (hundredths of a semitone) every time. Some of them have difficulty when they are asked to transpose at sight - a very important skill for a musician. Some of them go absolutely nuts when singing with a choir that has gone a quarter step sharp or flat - it almost seems to cause them physical pain. Others seem perfectly able to adapt to these situations and can learn to use both perfect and relative pitch to best advantage.</p>
<p>I know some others who I would describe as being close to having perfect pitch, but they are not quite as precise about it as the first group. If you play them a slightly sharp Bb, they seem to be able to recalibrate their internal reference to the point where they will be perfectly happy calling that note a Bb and will adjust everything else accordingly. This group seems to have fewer problems with transposition or slight excursions from A440, which is particularly helpful if they happen to be playing with a modern orchestra that tunes to 442 for added brilliance or, heaven forbid, an Early Music ensemble playing at historical pitch that might set their A anywhere from about 380 to 480 Hz.</p>
<p>So, to answer your original question, a few people who have perfect pitch seem to have trouble integrating relative pitch into their bag of musical tricks. In my experience, these are mostly the ones who have the stronger version of perfect pitch and who have gotten used to experiencing music with that skill always engaged. Chances are, if you did not even know you had perfect pitch until very recently, you should be able to learn to use relative pitch when it is advantageous to do so.</p>
<p>For self-study, I’d recommend “The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis” by Piper Clendinning/West Marvin as well as “The Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills” by Clendinning/Marvin and Phillips. I believe all of these authors have been chief readers for the exam at one time or another, and they know it well. The books are well written and easy to understand. Chapters 1-20 or so in both books have enough information to cover the exam. </p>
<p>I do like the Kostka/Payne, but it goes through the basics very quickly, and doesn’t provide for enough practice for high school students for the aural section of the AP. </p>
<p>While it generally doesn’t matter what score you get on the AP test if you are going into music, study for the test will take you through the first semester of music theory in college. It makes your first year quite a bit easier if you don’t want to test into the higher theory levels at first.</p>
<p>If you are not going into music, the AP test can give you some liberal arts credits. </p>
<p>Riku, I’m VERY impressed that everyone who took the test in your school got 5s for the past 4 years! They must have been some very dedicated kids (and the teacher, too!). How many kids were in the classes? </p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever had a perfect-pitch kid in any of my classes (and I’ve had a lot of kids!), but I think they would have an advantage on the aural section (Free Response 1-4), and especially on the two sightreading examples. However, I have found the best students to be the piano kids. </p>
<p>Self-study could work, but you really should purchase the released exams from the collegeboard site and practice. You will then be able to see the common “tricks” to the exam. </p>
<p>My daughter (not a music major) got a 5 on the AP Theory exam. It netted her NOTHING at her university. She is an engineering major and had only a 4 credit (over 4 years) fine arts requirement. She is in the orchestra and will have 16 hours of orchestra credit when she graduates.</p>
<p>Having a 5 on this AP exam also didn’t help her a speck in admissions.</p>
<p>Sure, Thumper1 (hello, btw), it probably doesn’t help one way or another in admissions. But I’m guessing your daughter learned some good basic music theory, which she was able to use in her further orchestra studies. </p>
<p>That’s my point of view on the APs, anyway. If they want 5s, they’ll get 5s. Most of my kids are there to learn about Theory, not get the AP score, since they are generally seniors and it won’t matter.</p>