Advanced Placement Music Theory
Advanced Placement Music Theory (or AP Music Theory, AP Jams, AP Music, or even Music AP) is a course and examination offered in the United States by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school students who wish to earn credit for a college level music theory course.
Some of the material covered in the course involves low sight reading, in-depth terminology, musical phrasing and composition, music history, chord structure and cadences, and other areas of music theory. This course is recommended for students with particularly strong abilities in music and college music majors.
The exam itself is divided into two broad sections: Section I, the multiple-choice section, and Section II, the free-response section. In turn, each section is divided into parts.
Section I of the exam consists of four-choice multiple choice questions; the total amount varies each year. The first half of the section is listening-based; the proctor will begin playing a provided CD, and the exam will begin. Each question or group of questions is based on a musical selection or an auditory stimulus. The selection or stimulus will be played, and the student must answer as many of the questions as possible. Each musical selection or auditory stimulus is usually played two or three times for each question or group of questions, though the exact number differs from question to question.
Section II of the exam consists of three different parts, all of which are student-produced responses. One part of the section is listening-based, one part is part-writing, and one part is sight-singing.
The listening-based part of the section contains two types of questions: melodic dictation, in which a one-part melody is played two or three times, a starting pitch, time signature, and key are given on the answer sheet, and the student must accurately record both the pitch and length of the played notes. The student must record two melodies; generally, one melody is in a major key and in a compound meter while the other melody is in a minor key and in a simple meter. One melody is written in the treble clef and the other is in the bass clef. The first melodic dictation question is in simple meter, while the second melodic question is in compound time. The reason for this is to test candidate AP Music Theory students in their ability to distinguish between simple and compound time signatures as well as being able to read bass clef and treble clef.
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