2024 AP Music Theory Exam Guide

Your Guide to the 2024 AP Music Theory Exam

We know that studying for your AP exams can be stressful, but Fiveable has your back! We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Music Theory exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day. Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions. FYI, something cool is coming your way Fall 2023! 👀

Format of the 2024 AP Music Theory Exam

Going into test day, this is the exam format to expect:

• 75 multiple choice questions with approximately 80 minutes to complete this section
  • There will be 10-12 stand alone questions and then 13 sets with 4-6 questions in each.
  • 41-43 questions will be based on an aural stimulus covering skills such as identification of an isolated pitch and rhythmic patterns or aural analysis of more complex clips of music. This section should take around 45 minutes.
  • Around 32-34 questions will require you to analyze a printed musical score. This section will take 35 minutes.
• 7 written free-response questions with around an hour and ten minutes of time allotted.
  • 2 questions about melodic dictation
  • 2 questions about harmonic dictation
  • 1 question about part writing from figured bass
  • 1 question about part writing from Roman numerals
  • 1 question about harmonization of a melody
• 2 free-response sight singing questions of around 4 to 8 bars that will take around 10 minutes to complete.
  • For each melody you are given 75 seconds to look it over and practice and then 30 seconds to perform it.
  • The melody can be sung in the original pitch or a pitch more in your range.

When is the 2024 AP Music Theory Exam and How Do I Take It?

**The exam will be on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 12:00 PM, your local time. Exams are on paper, at your school. **

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How Should I Prepare for the Exam?

• • First, download the AP Music Theory Cheatsheet PDF - a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
• • We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• • Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via Cram Mode. Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized.

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also, create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First, set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

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AP Music Theory 2024 Study Plan

🎶 Unit 1: Music Fundamentals I: Pitch, Major Scales and Key Signatures, Rhythm, Meter, and Expressive Elements

Unit Summary:

In order to read and understand this new language, you will be introduced to various symbols that have specific meanings. Like any new language, by learning these symbols and their meanings, you will be able to converse in the language of music.

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these Fiveable study guides:

• 1.1 Pitch and Pitch Notation
• 1.2 Rhythmic Values
• 1.3 Half Rests and Whole Rests
• 1.4 Major Scales and Scale Degrees
• 1.5 Major Keys and Key Signatures
• 1.6 Simple and Compound Beat Division
• 1.7 Meter and Time Signature
• 1.8 Rhythmic Patterns
• 1.9 Tempo
• 1.10 Dynamics and Articulation

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💻 Learn about the best prep books so you can start studying early:

• Best AP Music Theory Textbooks and Prep Books 📹 Review and Refer to this College Board Review Playlist:

• AP Music Theory

🎶 Unit 2: Music Fundamentals II: Minor Scales and Key Signatures, Melody, Timbre, and Texture

Unit Summary:

In unit one, you learned about major chord relationships and pitch patterns. Now, in unit 2 you will learn how to apply that knowledge to minor scales through analyzing their natural, harmonic, and melodic forms. 

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• 2.1 Minor Scales: Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic
• 2.2 Relative Keys: Determining Relative Minor Key and Notating Key Signatures
• 2.3 Key Relationships: Parallel, Closely Related, and Distantly Related Keys
• 2.4 Other Scales: Chromatic, Whole-Tone, and Pentatonic
• 2.5 Interval Size and Quality
• 2.6 Interval Inversion and Compound Intervals
• 2.7 Transposing Instruments
• 2.8 Timbre
• 2.9 Melodic Features
• 2.10 Melodic Transposition
• 2.11 Texture and Texture Types
• 2.12 Texture Devices
• 2.13 Rhythmic Devices

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💻 It is never to early to want to prepare for the exam:

• How to Get a 5 in AP Music Theory 📹Watch these videos from College Board

•  2.7-2.8 Transposing Instruments and Timbre

•  2.9-2.10 Melodic Features and Transposition Review Using Sight-Singing

• 2.11-2.12 Texture, Texture Types, and Texture Devices

• 1.8 and 2.13 Rhythmic Patterns and Devices Review Using Sight-Singing

🎻 Unit 3: Music Fundamentals III: Triads and Seventh Chords

Unit Summary:

Throughout unit 3, you will begin to get a complete understanding of pitch relations and become introduced to harmony through diatonic chords and 7th chords. You will also learn about chord inversions and figures.

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• 3.1 Triad and Chord Qualities (M, m, d, A)
• 3.2 Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals
• 3.3 Chord Inversions and Figures: Introduction to Figured Bass
• 3.4 Seventh Chords
• 3.5 Seventh Chord Inversions and Figures

🎹 Unit 4: Harmony and Voice Leading I: Chord Function, Cadence, and Phrase

Unit Summary:

Now that we have all the building blocks of notes, rhythms, and chords out of the way, we can start to analyze music and the rules of putting pitch combinations together. The way individual voices of a composition move from chord to chord is called voice leading. Back in the 17th and 18th-century, when writing music was becoming normalized, rules of voice leading came about to guide composers on how to create aesthetically-pleasing compositions. 

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• 4.1 Unit 4: Harmony and Voice Leading
• 4.2 SATB Voice Leading
• 4.3 Harmonic Progression, Functional Harmony, and Cadences
• 4.4 Voice Leading with Seventh Chords
• 4.5 Voice Leading with Seventh Chords in Inversions

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💻 Have a good laugh with some memes:

• Perfect Memes for AP Music Theory

🎸 Unit 5: Harmony and Voice Leading ii: Chord Progressions and Predominant Function

Unit Summary:

In unit 5, you will be introduced to the SATB voice leading and how it can be used in musical compositions to increase their complexity. Describing and analyzing these harmonic progressions are another key part of this unit. 

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• • 5.1 Adding Predominant Function IV (iv) and ii (ii0) to a Melodic Phrase
• • 5.2 The vi (VI) Chord
• • 5.3 Predominant Seventh Chords

• 5.4 The iii (III) Chord

• 5.5 Cadences and Predominant Function

• 5.6 Cadential 6/4 Chords

• 5.7 Additional 6/4 chords 💻 Review these articles:

• • Harmony and Voice Leading II: Chord Progressions and Predominant Functions 📹Watch this video from College Board:

• 5.6-5.7 Cadential and Other 6-4 Chords

🎺 Unit 6: Harmony and Voice Leading iii: Embellishments, Motives, and Melodic Devices

Unit Summary:

Building on the skills from units 4 and 5, you will look at harmonies and voice leading as well as melodic sequences. Motives and motivic transformation along with the types of embellishing tones are also key topics you will learn to master in unit 6. 

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• • 6.1 Embellishing Tones: Identifying Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones
• • 6.2 Embellishing Tones: Writing Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones
• • 6.3 Embellishing Tones: Identifying Anticipations, Escape Tones, Appoggiaturas, and Pedal Points
• • 6.4 Embellishing Tones: Identifying and Writing Suspensions; Identifying Retardations
• • 6.5 Motive and Motivic Transformation 📹Watch these videos from College Board:

• 6.4 Embellishing Tones - Suspensions 💻 Review these articles:

• Motivic Transformation: Definition, Methods & Examples

• 11.2 Melodic Alteration

• Harmony and Voice Leading III: Embellishments, Motives, and Melodic Devices

🎤 Unit 7: Harmony and Voice Leading iv: Secondary Function

Unit Summary:

This unit focuses on harmonic relationships and procedures. You will also learn more about keys, scale degrees, and chords. By the end of the unit, you should be skilled in part writing dominant and leading-tone chords.

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• • 7.1 Tonicization through Secondary Dominant Chords
• • 7.2 Part Writing of Secondary Dominant Chords
• • 7.3 Tonicization through Secondary Leading Tone Chords
• • 7.4 Part Writing of Secondary Leading Tone Chords 📹 Watch these videos from College Board:

• 7.1 Tonicization through Secondary Dominant Chords

• 7.2 Part Writing of Secondary Dominant Chords

• 7.3 Tonicization through Secondary Leading Tone Chords

• 7.4 Part Writing of Secondary Leading Tone Chords

• Unit 7 - Analysis of Secondary Dominants and Leading-Tone Chords 💻 Review these articles:

• Voice Leading Root Position Triads in Four Parts

• Harmony and Voice Leading IV: Secondary Function

🎷 Unit 8: Modes and Form

Unit Summary:

This unit takes a look at the conventions that affect the character of music. Some of those key conventions are the 7 types of modes, the melodic relationships between phrases, and forms. You will also be introduced to the sections of music such as introduction, verse, chorus, and codetta. 

Definitely do this:

📚 Read these study guides:

• • 8.1 Modes
• • 8.2 Phrase Relationships
• • 8.3 Common Formal Sections 📹Watch these videos from College Board:

• 8.1 Modes

• 8.2-8.3 Phrase Relationships and Common Formal Sections

• 8.3 Common Formal Sections 💻 Review these articles:

• Modes

• Musical Forms

• AP Music Theory Review-Scales/Keys/Modes

If you have more time or want to dig deeper:

💻 Make sure you’re reviewing with quality content:   

• Best Quizlet Decks for AP Music Theory