AP Music Theory study guide
AP Music Theory · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
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. Topics on this exam: Section I: Multiple Choice, Section IIA: Free Response: Written, and Section IIB: Free Response: Sight Singing. The AP Music Theory study guide has 3 sections and about 1,003 words.
01Section I: Multiple Choice
The multiple-choice section tests aural and written theory skills across harmony, melody, rhythm, form, and score analysis. You will hear excerpts and see notated examples; questions ask you to identify intervals, chords, cadences, scales, textures, and formal structures. Intervals and chords: Identify quality and quantity by ear and from notation, including inversions and seventh chords. Scales and modes: Major, natural/harmonic/melodic minor, and church modes; recognize scale-degree patterns.
342 words, about 2 min02Section IIA: Free Response: Written
The written free-response section asks you to complete tasks such as harmonizing a melody, realizing a figured bass, part-writing, and analyzing a short passage. You must demonstrate voice-leading rules, harmonic logic, and stylistic consistency. Figured bass realization: Interpret figures (e.g., 6, 6/4, 7, 6/5) and supply upper voices. Part-writing rules: Avoid parallel fifths and octaves, resolve tendency tones (leading tone up, chordal seventh down), and keep voices within ranges.
340 words, about 2 min03Section IIB: Free Response: Sight Singing
The sight-singing section requires you to perform a short melody at sight, typically after a brief preparation period. You are assessed on pitch accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, and tonal security. Melodies may be in major or minor, and often include leaps and syncopation. Tonal orientation: Establish the key by singing the tonic triad or scale before starting.
321 words, about 2 min