<p>i am a junior in high school and my school does not offer an ap music theory course. however, since i am planning on becoming a music major, i would like to take the test. i have taken piano lessons for 12 years and sight-sing quite well. what resources would you recommend to me for preparing for the exam?</p>
<p>If you are going to be a music major, there is no point in taking the test. Every school will test you according to the structure of their own theory curriculum and place you accordingly. Spend your time and money on your keyboard skills and music. Good luck! Lorelei</p>
<p>It would be good for you to KNOW the information contained in the AP Music Theory exam…however, you need to know, that as a music major, you will NOT receive any college credit for music theory at most schools. Why do you want to take the exam? It is important to know the material, but for a music major, the exam is irrelevant. You will take a theory placement test at your college that will determine where you will start theory. The AP exam in music will not be used (at least it’s not used anywhere that I have ever heard of for performance majors).</p>
<p>This is an interesting question, though. If you are knowledgable about theory, it certainly couldn’t hurt to show an AP score of 5 on your application. Perhaps buy a prep book for the test & look it over to see if your theory background is as strong as you believe. I don’t think it would be at all worth your time to try & self-study for the exam. But just as an engineering school likes to see high AP scores in scienes and math, a good AP score might be one more piece of your portfolio demonstrating your commitment to music.</p>
<p>Maybe some program reps will post with their thoughts?</p>
<p>Juilliard does a theory test as a second round call-back for singers. Other schools require a theory screening at the time of the auditions. But the audition is all important. AP theory scores will not gain any admission advantage in any music performance program.</p>
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<p>It won’t matter at all for a music major.</p>
<p>There are two possible advantages: a personal one, ie, the satisfaction of gaining additional insights into an area of high interest, and the second being taking the AP exam for potential credit to be applied to elective requirements if you decide that music as a major is not necessarily your raison d^etre.</p>
<p>I see the first as being more of a factor for study than the second.</p>
<p>If the time spent in pursuing AP music theory detracts from perfecting your audition repetoire and practice time, I would deem it counterproductive.</p>
<p>Just my $.02.</p>
<p>Agreed. A 5 won’t hurt, but it isn’t going to help either and there are better ways to spend that time and money than on taking the AP test. The level of commitment is apparent enough from the auditions and the teacher recommendations. Different schools have different approaches to teaching theory. Some require more of it than others. Some present certain concepts in a different order than others. A one-size-fits-all Music Theory test just does not work because each school needs a test that corresponds to its own curriculum.</p>
<p>Crossposted with violadad:
Unless you switch out of a performance major after one semester, you will likely already have many more music credits than available electives to spread them over in the new major, so I’m not sure adding another semester’s worth of theory via AP is going to help a whole lot for most people who decide to switch majors.</p>
<p>It is easy to purchase a “released exam” from AP central [2003</a> AP® Music Theory Released Exam](<a href=“Store App”>Store App)
For $25 you will be able to take an actual exam (I think the most recent one is from 2003) and see how you do. It comes complete with the listening CD. DD and DS both used this approach, since they did not have time to do the school’s AP class and both had good scores. In the end, the credits have been helpful in one case, but both kids appreciated the process of testing their knowledge and skills, and I do think the good scores helped with admissions (both took the exams at the end of 11th grade)
Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with most of the posters that taking the AP test won’t matter for music schools, although it could help prepare you for some the of theory tests they will give as part of the application process. Most colleges don’t give credit for many AP classes (because AP classes are like the Platte River: a mile wide and an inch deep).
However, my son took the AP Music test last year. He recommends checking out the college board site…they have some previous tests. If you’ve had a lot of theory, it really shouldn’t be too difficult. Good luck!</p>
<p>Just an FYI…if you are taking the AP music theory course as a SENIOR, you will NOT have any of your scores during the admissions process anyway. The scores are not released until the end of June/beginning of July. Schools do not use AP scores in the admittance process in most cases…and this is one reason why. Some students (taking the same course as others) will NOT even have scores to submit.</p>
<p>This is a great online study guide for AP Music Theory.
[AP</a> Music Theory Study Guide](<a href=“http://www.scribd.com/doc/3468010/AP-Music-Theory-Study-Guide]AP”>http://www.scribd.com/doc/3468010/AP-Music-Theory-Study-Guide)</p>
<p>Sorry to bring up an old zombie thread, but maybe I’ll be saving a few electrons . . . </p>
<p>My daughter is considering taking AP Music Theory next year.
But her mother thinks it is a waste of time (meaning colleges will think it was an “easy A” class) and that she should take AP English instead.
(She will be signing up for AP History and AP Economics also.)</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Mark, you did not give any background on your daughter. Is she a prospective music major? Has she had piano background? The dilemma is that college music programs do not pay too much attention to whether a student has had AP Theory or not. However, many of them give a theory placement exam along with the audition. So some knowledge of theory is advisable. If your D has had piano background she can probably study this on her own. If she has not had piano background you might want to consider having her take the AP Theory course or if she is very self-motivated she could still probably teach herself, if she has music background.
AP Theory looks much better on a transcript if a student is applying to a non-music program.
AP English however is a really important class and excellent preparation for college.
Best option IMHO if do-able for your family is take the AP English and find a way to study AP Theory outside of school, if she is a prospective music major.If she is going to be a senior next year, applying as a music major, she will need to allow plenty of time for practicing for her auditions and for school absences for auditions.</p>
<p>PS not everyone thinks of music theory as an “easy A”.</p>
<p>I too agree that if at all possible, she should take the AP English class. If her writing skills turn out good enough, she may even test out of the “freshman” English requirement at many schools. As a music major, most schools will require her to take Theory (she may test into a higher level, but she will still need to take it).</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>Ditto on the AP English. There are two different ones though and although Lit and Lang will count as a gen Ed credit for major, it’s Lang and Comp that most schools would consider for testing out of a required freshman English class. A silly technicality, but might be useful to know.</p>
<p>It really depends on where she ends up for school. At some places the AP English will help her test out of annoying Freshman comp, as MM pointed out, but at others it won’t do a thing (for example, Juilliard has their own writing test and does not consider any AP scores.) Since you can’t know in advance where she will be going, it could be useful and could not hurt to do the English AP. Conservatories have their own theory placement tests, so an AP score will not help her (but what she learns in the class could help her test into a higher theory section when she is a freshman, which could mean fewer semesters of required theory.)</p>
<p>In the end, if she is going to audition for performance programs, it’s most important that she has time to practice and prepare-- prescreenings in the fall and auditions in the winter. If the AP courses translate into so much homework that she has no time left for practicing, it might be useful to re-evaluate the strategy.</p>
<p>I doubt anyone is going to think AP Music theory is an easy “A”, music theory is a pretty rigorous subject, even taught in an AP course. My experience with AP English btw is that some schools might let you get out of a core course or two with it, but most still required students to take freshmen composition, though it could get them placed in an honors section. If going into a non music program AP music theory could get you out of an arts requirement but it depends on the school. </p>
<p>If going into a music program taking the AP test itself will mean nothing in terms of getting into the school. Having AP music theory in high school might place you into a higher level theory class in college, though to be honest, I wonder about if that is true. For one thing, schools have their own way of teaching theory, and there even can be different terminology and symbols used from program to program, so what you learn on the AP might not translate, and given the comprehensiveness of many music school theory programs, I would doubt the AP by itself would get you placed into a higher level course. </p>
<p>Taking the AP class itself might have value in getting comfortable with the basics and filling in holes in knowledge, and that isn’t a bad thing, but if taking the AP music theory class means taking on additional load, time that could be better spent practicing or taking care of the rest of the grueling load, I would say not to take it and perhaps do some work on your own, there are books like “Music theory for Dummies” and stuff that aren’t bad:)</p>
<p>Thanks guys!!!</p>
<p>Sorry, should have mentioned - my D sings and plays a little piano but, no, will not be a music major.</p>
<p>If she is not going to be a music major then why take AP THeory? If it is because she is truly interested in it, then there’s certainly no harm, but if she thinks it is a easy A or an easy 5 (especially since she is not a “musician”) then she is mistaken. Have her look at some of the online courses to get a better idea of what it involves.</p>