<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am going to be studying piano performance at USC Thornton School of Music starting this fall and I was wondering how difficult it would be to test out of Theory I.</p>
<p>In high school, I took the Music Theory AP test and I got a 5, with subscores of 5 and 5. I also had a private teacher till senior year (quit for auditions) and I was just learning some bizarre chords like Augmented 6th, etc.</p>
<p>Do I have a chance to test out of Theory I? or at least a semester of it?</p>
<p>I was wondering this as well, to a different extent… I got subscores of 5 on aural and 3 on non-aural… Does anyone know if it would be possible to take Theory I with Aural Skills II? Also, is the diagnostic test that’s given on the first day going to be timed? I feel like the time limit is what hurt me the most on the AP test, not the content. If I can show what I know without that limit, would it be possible to test out of Theory I? I got a 4 on the test as a whole. Sorry to reply without answering your post, bam7piano. Looks like we’re in a similar boat.</p>
<p>Are you assigned a “mentor” at Thornton? These are similar to the questions D asked her mentor in hopes of testing into advanced theory and ear training at Peabody.</p>
<p>During her audition back in Feb she took the Peabody specific SACRE test and can go straight into theory 1 without further testing. However she can take additional tests during orientation week to try for advanced placement. Check out the Peabody website for example exams.</p>
<p>Ear training during the audition was verbal but during orientation it will be written and everyone has to take the exam. She will also have to take a keyboard placement for non-piano majors.</p>
<p>My son’s experience at Thornton was that testing out of theory/aural skills happens the first week of school. My son narrowly missed testing out of year one (despite years of classical theory and jazz theory in HS), could’ve pushed it, but said they taught things “differently” than he was used to, and decided an “easy” year of theory/aural skills might be nice. It was.</p>
<p>That said, he’s been told and believes he will most likely test out of Aural Skills II this fall.</p>
<p>Thornton students have advisors and private teachers, but not mentors that I’m aware of.</p>
<p>And yes, it is possible to take Theory I with Aural Skills II, or visa versa.</p>
<p>Ear training (which I assume is the same thing as “aural skills” or whatever they are calling it) is generally a separate course from theory, you can be advanced in theory and not so much in ear training, so yes, it would be possible IMO.</p>
<p>As far as placing out of theory I, since you had private teaching as well as AP theory, you potentially could. With AP alone I am a lot more ambivalent, depends on how the course is taught, from what I have seen of first year theory at music schools the ‘straight’ AP curricula may be a hard sled to place out (if it were a better match, I suspect music schools would use the AP test for placement, rather then making students take placement tests).</p>
<p>The question is why would you want to place out? You would end up taking theory anyway, so it wouldn’t free up time, so what would be the purpose? Do you want to get to more advanced theory then you might be able to starting with theory I? Will it allow you to finish theory stuff earlier (some schools may allow that, others have their students taking it all 4 years anyway). </p>
<p>In favor of not placing out is that it would give you a chance to get accustomed to terminology used in the program and their way of representing things (there are things that can vary from program to program, the way they notate things, solfege symbols and so forth can be different). You also might find in placing out that second year theory might move a lot faster and require a lot more intense work on the students part, whereas perhaps working through I will get you up to speed on what you will need higher up. Friends of my sons who had pretty solid grounding in theory (they took the AP theory exam and got 5’s without even studying for it or taking a class, felt it was easy) took theory I at the music schools they went to, and said they were happy they did, gave them valuable reinforcement and also allowed them to learn the different terminology and notations used in the program and they weren’t bored. </p>
<p>Obviously, in the end it is up to you, with your goals and so forth, and it could be for you placing out would be better. You’ll see how you stand taking the placement exam, and then you can decide if you do well enough whether to place out or not.</p>
<p>Thank you thank you!. Seems like I’ll have to see how well I do during the first week…</p>
<p>The reason I want to test out of Theory I is because I really want to take a musicology class that requires at completion of Theory/Aural Skills II, something like that. Looking at my plan of junior year (that academic advisors gave me at the orientation), I’m not sure if I can cram this class into my schedule - sophomore year would be better.</p>
<p>jazz/shreddermom, do you happen to know some of the textbooks they’re using for Theory I? I would like to take a look at that and decide myself whether I should.</p>
<p>Tonal Harmony, but there was also a Thornton-published reader/workbook I think. Books for Fall should be posted soon in your OASIS thingie.</p>
<p>Also, I know that that 4-year-plan they gave you is not engraved in stone - there are deviations. Talk to your advisor.</p>