AP Exam Format
The EXAM
AP Exam Scores
The Readers’ scores on the free-response questions are combined with the results of
the computer-scored multiple-choice questions; the weighted raw scores are summed
to give a composite score. The composite score is then converted to a score on AP’s
5-point scale. While colleges and universities are responsible for setting their own
credit and placement policies, AP scores signify how qualified students are to receive
college credit or placement:
AP SCORE QUALIFICATION
5 Extremely well qualified
4 Well qualified
3 Qualified
2 Possibly qualified
1 No recommendation
AP Exam scores of 5 are equivalent to A grades in the corresponding college course.
AP Exam scores of 4 are equivalent to grades of A–, B+ and B in college.
AP Exam scores of 3 are equivalent to grades of B–, C+ and C in college.
The following is a summary of the material to be covered and skills to be mastered in the AP Music Theory course in preparation for the AP Music Theory Examination. The AP Music Theory Exam tests the student’s understanding of musical structure and compositional procedures through recorded and notated examples. Strong emphasis is given to listening skills, particularly those involving recognition and comprehension of melodic and rhythmic patterns, harmonic functions, small forms, and compositional techniques. Most of the musical examples are taken from standard repertoire, although some examples of contemporary, jazz, vernacular music, or music beyond the Western tradition are included for testing basic concepts. The exam assumes fluency in reading musical notation and a strong grounding in music fundamentals, terminology, and analysis. It may include any or all of the following:
I. Musical Terminology and II. Notational Skills:
III. Basic Compositional Skills:
IV. Score Analysis (with or without aural stimulus):
V. Aural Skills:
The EXAM
AP Exam Scores
The Readers’ scores on the free-response questions are combined with the results of
the computer-scored multiple-choice questions; the weighted raw scores are summed
to give a composite score. The composite score is then converted to a score on AP’s
5-point scale. While colleges and universities are responsible for setting their own
credit and placement policies, AP scores signify how qualified students are to receive
college credit or placement:
AP SCORE QUALIFICATION
5 Extremely well qualified
4 Well qualified
3 Qualified
2 Possibly qualified
1 No recommendation
AP Exam scores of 5 are equivalent to A grades in the corresponding college course.
AP Exam scores of 4 are equivalent to grades of A–, B+ and B in college.
AP Exam scores of 3 are equivalent to grades of B–, C+ and C in college.
The following is a summary of the material to be covered and skills to be mastered in the AP Music Theory course in preparation for the AP Music Theory Examination. The AP Music Theory Exam tests the student’s understanding of musical structure and compositional procedures through recorded and notated examples. Strong emphasis is given to listening skills, particularly those involving recognition and comprehension of melodic and rhythmic patterns, harmonic functions, small forms, and compositional techniques. Most of the musical examples are taken from standard repertoire, although some examples of contemporary, jazz, vernacular music, or music beyond the Western tradition are included for testing basic concepts. The exam assumes fluency in reading musical notation and a strong grounding in music fundamentals, terminology, and analysis. It may include any or all of the following:
I. Musical Terminology and II. Notational Skills:
- Notate and identify pitch in four clefs: treble, bass, alto, and tenor.
- Notate, hear, and identify simple and compound meters.
- Notate and identify all major and minor key signatures.
- Notate, hear, and identify the following scales: chromatic, major, and the three forms of the minor.
- Name and recognize scale degree terms, e.g., tonic, supertonic, etc.
- Notate, hear, and transpose the following modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian (authentic forms only).
- Notate, hear, and identify whole tone and pentatonic scales.
- Notate, hear, and identify all perfect, major, minor, diminished, and augmented intervals inclusive of an octave.
- Notate, hear, and identify triads and seventh chords including inversions.
- Define and identify common tempo and expression markings.
III. Basic Compositional Skills:
- Compose a bass line for a given melody to create simple two-part counterpoint in seventeenth- and/or eighteenth-century style; analyze the implied harmonies.
- Realize a figured bass according to the rules of eighteenth-century chorale style, major or minor key, using any or all of the following devices: diatonic triads and seventh chords, inversions, nonharmonic tones, and secondary-dominant and dominant seventh chords.
- Realize a four-part chorale-style progression from Roman and Arabic numerals.
IV. Score Analysis (with or without aural stimulus):
- Identify authentic, plagal, half, Phrygian half, and deceptive cadences in major and minor keys.
- Identify in score the following nonharmonic tones: passing tone (accented and unaccented), neighboring tone, anticipation, suspension, retardation, appoggiatura, escape tone, changing tone (cambiata), and pedal tone.
- Small-scale and large-scale harmonic procedures, including:
- identification of cadence types
- Roman-numeral and figured-bass analysis, including nonharmonic tones, seventh chords, and secondary-dominant chords
- identification of key centers and key relationships; recognition of modulation to closely related keys
- Melodic organization and developmental procedures:
- scale types; modes
- melodic patterning
- motivic development and relationships (e.g., inversion, retrograde, sequence, imitation)
- Rhythmic/metric organization:
- meter type (e.g., duple, triple, quadruple) and beat type (e.g., simple, compound)
- rhythmic devices and procedures (e.g., augmentation, diminution, hemiola)
- Texture:
- types (e.g., monophony, homophony, polyphony)
- devices (e.g., textural inversion, imitation)
V. Aural Skills:
- Detect pitch and rhythm errors in written music from given aural excerpts.
- Notate a melody from dictation, 6 to 8 bars, major or minor mode, mostly diatonic pitches, simple or compound time, treble or bass clef, 3 to 4 playings.
- Notate melodies from dictation, 6 to 8 bars, major or minor mode, chromatic alteration from harmonic/melodic scales, simple or compound time, treble or bass clef, 3 to 4 playings.
- Sight-sing melodies, 4 to 8 bars long, major or minor key, duple or triple meter, simple or compound time, treble or bass clef, using solfege, pitch names, numbers, or any comfortable vocal syllable(s).
- Hear the following nonharmonic tones: passing tone (accented and unaccented), neighboring tone, anticipation, suspension, retardation, appoggiatura, escape tone, changing tone (cambiata), and pedal tone.
- Notate the soprano and bass pitches and Roman and Arabic numeral analysis of harmonic dictations in eighteenth-century chorale style. Features may include seventh chords, secondary dominants, major or minor key, 3 to 4 playings.
- Identify processes and materials in the context of music literature representing a broad spectrum of genres, media, and styles:
- melodic organization (e.g., scale-degree function of specified tones, scale types, mode, melodic patterning, sequences, motivic development)
- harmonic organization (e.g., chord function, inversion, quality)
- tonal organization (e.g., cadence types, key relationships)
- meter and rhythmic patterns
- instrumentation (i.e., identification of timbre)
- texture (e.g., number and position of voices, amount of independence, presence of imitation, density)
- formal procedures (e.g., phrase structure; distinctions among literal repetition, varied repetition, and contrast; small forms)
how the exam is setup
Multiple-Choice Section - (80minutes)
The multiple-choice section of the exam consists of about 75 questions and counts for 45 percent of the total score. Multiple-choice scores are based on the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for unanswered questions. Because points are not deducted for incorrect answers, students are encouraged to answer all multiple-choice questions. On any questions students do not know the answer to, students should eliminate as many choices as they can, and then select the best answer among the remaining choices.
• Questions 1- 38 are based on aural stimulus test a student’s listening skill and knowledge about theory largely in the context of examples from actual literature. Most of these questions will cover topics D, E, and F in section V of the outline above, although emphasis is likely to be on the various elements mentioned under topic F. Some aural stimulus questions may test the student’s skill in score analysis.
• Questions 39- 75 not based on aural stimulus emphasize those materials listed in topics A–E in section IV of the outline above; they may include knowledge and skills listed for sections I, II, and III as well.
Written Free-Response Section - (80 Minutes)
The written free-response section contains 7 questions and counts for 45 percent of the composite score. The question types in this section (Roman numerals and letters refer to topics in the outline above) include:
• Free-Response Questions 1 and 2: Melodic Dictation (9 points each)
• Free-Response Questions 3 and 4: Harmonic Dictation (24 points each)
• Free-Response Question 5: Part Writing from Figured Bass (24 points)
• Free-Response Question 6: Part Writing from Roman Numerals (24 points)
• Free-Response Question 7: Composition of a Bass Line (9 points)
Sight-Singing Portion - (8 Minutes)
The sight-singing portion of the exam comprises of 2 brief, primarily diatonic melodies (9 points each) (of about four to eight bars) that the student sings and records on a CD. It is worth 10 percent of the total score.
One is usually Major/Compound meter
One is usually Minor/Simple meter
• Students take this portion of the exam one at a time.
• Students use movable Do based Singing: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do
• Students can choose to whistle or use scale degrees - though solfege is easier.
• Students are given 75 seconds to examine and practice each melody and 30 seconds to perform each melody. They may sing the melody beginning with the given starting pitch or transpose the melody to a key that is more comfortable.
The multiple-choice section of the exam consists of about 75 questions and counts for 45 percent of the total score. Multiple-choice scores are based on the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for unanswered questions. Because points are not deducted for incorrect answers, students are encouraged to answer all multiple-choice questions. On any questions students do not know the answer to, students should eliminate as many choices as they can, and then select the best answer among the remaining choices.
• Questions 1- 38 are based on aural stimulus test a student’s listening skill and knowledge about theory largely in the context of examples from actual literature. Most of these questions will cover topics D, E, and F in section V of the outline above, although emphasis is likely to be on the various elements mentioned under topic F. Some aural stimulus questions may test the student’s skill in score analysis.
• Questions 39- 75 not based on aural stimulus emphasize those materials listed in topics A–E in section IV of the outline above; they may include knowledge and skills listed for sections I, II, and III as well.
Written Free-Response Section - (80 Minutes)
The written free-response section contains 7 questions and counts for 45 percent of the composite score. The question types in this section (Roman numerals and letters refer to topics in the outline above) include:
• Free-Response Questions 1 and 2: Melodic Dictation (9 points each)
• Free-Response Questions 3 and 4: Harmonic Dictation (24 points each)
• Free-Response Question 5: Part Writing from Figured Bass (24 points)
• Free-Response Question 6: Part Writing from Roman Numerals (24 points)
• Free-Response Question 7: Composition of a Bass Line (9 points)
Sight-Singing Portion - (8 Minutes)
The sight-singing portion of the exam comprises of 2 brief, primarily diatonic melodies (9 points each) (of about four to eight bars) that the student sings and records on a CD. It is worth 10 percent of the total score.
One is usually Major/Compound meter
One is usually Minor/Simple meter
• Students take this portion of the exam one at a time.
• Students use movable Do based Singing: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do
• Students can choose to whistle or use scale degrees - though solfege is easier.
• Students are given 75 seconds to examine and practice each melody and 30 seconds to perform each melody. They may sing the melody beginning with the given starting pitch or transpose the melody to a key that is more comfortable.
