AP Music Theory
Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory (also known as AP Music or AP Theory) is a course and examination offered in the United States by the
Course
Some of the material covered in the course involves low
Exam
The exam itself is divided into two broad sections: Section I, the multiple-choice section, and Section II, the free-response section. In turn, each section is divided into parts.
Section I – multiple choice
Section I of the exam consists of four-option multiple choice questions; the total number varies each year. The first half of the section is listening-based; the proctor will begin playing a provided CD, and the exam will begin. Each question or group of questions is based on a musical selection or an auditory stimulus. The selection or stimulus is played, and the student must answer as many of the questions as possible. Each musical selection or auditory stimulus is usually played two to four times for each question or group of questions, though the exact number differs from question to question.
Section II – free response
Section II of the exam consists of three parts, all of which require student-produced responses. One part of the section is listening-based, one part is part-writing, and one part is sight-singing.
The listening-based part of the section contains two types of questions. The first is melodic dictation, in which a one-part
The second type of listening-based question is harmonic dictation. A four-part texture, utilizing SATB, is played four times. The key, starting pitch for each part, and time signature are given on the answer sheet. The student must accurately notate only the bass and soprano lines, though the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano parts are all played in the recording. The student must also provide a Roman numeral analysis of the chords in the progression with correct chord inversions.
The part-writing part of section II requires that the student—using knowledge of "eighteenth century composition guidelines" (as indicated on
For questions with supplied figured bass notation and completed bass line, the student must write the Roman numeral notation of each chord and fill in the remaining tenor, alto, and soprano lines. For the question with the supplied Roman numeral notation, the student must write all four (SATB) parts of the texture. For the question with the supplied soprano line, the student must develop a chord progression based on the given soprano line and write only an accompanying bass part.
The
Grade distribution
The grade distributions for the AP Music Theory exam since 2010 are:
Score | 2010[2] | 2011[3] | 2012[4] | 2013[5] | 2014[6] | 2015[7] | 2016[8] | 2017[9] | 2018[10] | 2019[11] | 2020[12] | 2021[13] | 2022[14] | 2023[15] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 19.5% | 17.5% | 19.3% | 18.8% | 19.8% | 19.1% | 18.2% | 19.2% | 22.5% | 21.2% | 24.2% | 19.9% | 18.7% | 19.8% |
4 | 17.4% | 17.5% | 17.4% | 16.6% | 17.5% | 17.2% | 17.3% | 17.2% | 18.9% | 17.9% | 19.3% | 18.1% | 17.7% | 16.9% |
3 | 23.7% | 24.2% | 24.9% | 25.6% | 25.4% | 24.8% | 24.1% | 24.7% | 24.6% | 24.5% | 25.7% | 23.2% | 26.5% | 24.0% |
2 | 26.4% | 26.7% | 25.1% | 25.0% | 24.2% | 24.8% | 26.0% | 24.6% | 22.4% | 23.5% | 22.0% | 23.2% | 23.7% | 24.1% |
1 | 13.0% | 14.0% | 13.3% | 13.9% | 13.2% | 14.1% | 14.4% | 14.3% | 11.6% | 12.8% | 8.8% | 15.6% | 14.4% | 15.2% |
% of scores 3 or higher | 60.6% | 59.2% | 61.6% | 61.0% | 62.7% | 61.1% | 59.6% | 61.1% | 66.0% | 63.7% | 69.2% | 61.2% | 61.9% | 60.7% |
Mean | 3.04 | 2.98 | 3.04 | 3.01 | 3.07 | 3.03 | 2.99 | 3.02 | 3.18 | 3.11 | 3.28 | 3.04 | 3.03 | 3.02 |
Standard deviation | 1.32 | 1.30 | 1.31 | 1.31 | 1.31 | 1.32 | 1.32 | 1.33 | 1.32 | 1.33 | 1.29 | 1.35 | 1.32 | 1.34 |
Number of students | 17,267 | 18,124 | 18,161 | 18,192 | 17,856 | 18,642 | 18,971 | 19,215 | 19,018 | 18,864 | 16,550 | 16,271 | 15,594 | 17,834 |
See also
- Music
- Glossary of musical terminology
References
- ^ "AP Music Theory – AP Students – College Board". apstudents.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
- ^ "AP Music Theory Student Score Distributions – Global" (PDF). The College Board. 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions, AP Exams - May 2018" (PDF). The College Board. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved June 1, 2024.
- ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
- ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved February 2, 2024.