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Exam Format: Music Theory
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| | Format for the Exam
The AP Music Theory Exam is almost two and a half hours long and consists of two sections. In Section I, students are given 70 to 80 minutes to answer approximately 75 multiple-choice questions, some of which are based on aural stimulus. In Section II, students answer seven written free-response questions in approximately one hour, then perform two sight-singing exercises in approximately eight minutes.
The multiple-choice questions that are based on aural stimulus test students' listening skills and knowledge about theory, largely in the context of examples from standard repertoire. Some aural stimulus questions might test students' skills in score analysis. The remaining multiple-choice questions generally emphasize score analysis, although musical terminology, notational skills, and basic compositional skills may be tested as well. The written free-response questions cover melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, part-writing from a figured bass, part-writing from Roman numerals, and composition of a bass line. Finally, in the sight-singing portion of the exam, students sing two brief, primarily diatonic melodies of about four to eight bars. For each melody, they have 75 seconds to warm up and practice, then 30 seconds to perform it.
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% of Grade |
Number of Questions |
Minutes Allotted |
| Section I |
45 |
approximately 75 |
70-80 |
| Section II |
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| Part A |
45 |
7 |
60 |
| Part B |
10 |
2 |
8 |
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