AP Music Theory question

cherryli2015
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:12:52 +0000

My daughter is considering take “AP Music Theory” course in next school year. This is a new course in our high school, and only last one semester.

My daughter has played piano for many years, and has past ABRSM Music Theory 5 with distinction. So for AP Music Theory, the theory part should not be a big problem. We are worrying about aural part which worth 55% of the points. We are not sure whether it will be a wise decision for taking this course.

She never has done any aural training before, and she also does not have perfect pitch. She tried the sample test in college board for a little bit. For the first 10 aural questions she probably can figure it out, but for the rest, she is kind of totally lost.

My question is: Does my daughter possible get 5 after taking one semester course? In other words, does listen skill can be trained from grand zero to some level like: sight-singing, Melodic/Harmonic dictation, detection of errors in pitch rhythm in two-voice examples? Identification of processes and materials in the context of music literature? etc.etc. I know nothing about music. I found these terms in the course description

Any one has experience? Thanks in advance for input.