AP Music Theory case studies
AP Music Theory · Put your knowledge to work in context.
AP Music Theory is a College Board Advanced Placement course and exam that mirrors a one- or two-semester introductory college music theory course. It is designed for high school students who already read and write musical notation and have basic vocal or instrumental performance skills, and who want to deepen their ability to recognize, describe, and produce the elements and processes of music. The exam assesses four course skills: analyzing performed music, analyzing notated music, converting between performed and notated music, and completing music from cues in 18th-century style. Stimulus materials draw on baroque, classical, romantic, late 19th- or 20th-century, and contemporary styles, including world music, jazz, and pop, in both instrumental and vocal forms. The AP Music Theory case studies are 5 cases and about 4,066 words.
1Chorale Harmonization: Doubling a Leading Tone in a Deceptive Cadence
A student harmonizes a four-voice SATB phrase in G major. The soprano melody ends the phrase on scale degree 2 (A) over a chord the student labels as a deceptive resolution.
903 words, about 5 min2Melodic Dictation: Deciding What to Notate When the Tune Modulates
In a melodic dictation exercise, the instructor plays a eight-measure melody twice. The key signature given is one sharp (G major or E minor).
626 words, about 3 min3Figured Bass Realization: Handling a 4–3 Suspension Over a Changing Bass
A student realizes a figured bass in four voices. The bass line reads: F (with figure 6), B♭ (with figure 5/3), then a passage marked 4–3 over a sustained G in the bass, then C (with figure 6/4), then F (5/3).
806 words, about 4 min4Sight Singing: Choosing a Starting Pitch and Handling a Modulation
A sight-singing example is in A major, four measures long, and modulates to E major in measure 3 via a D♯ accidental. The student is given a starting pitch of A (the tonic) and begins confidently.
790 words, about 4 min5Part-Writing: Parallel Fifths Hidden by a Suspension
A student submits a four-voice exercise in C major. The progression is I–V–vi–IV–V–I.
941 words, about 5 min