AP Music Theory
Course Overview: AP Music Theory is a rigorous course for students who wish to
develop their musical skills in composition and theory. Students who
plan to pursue a career in music performance, composition or music
education will benefit greatly from the skills learned in this course.
The course is not limited to these students, however, and any student
who wishes to better understand the language of music for their own
personal enrichment will find the course very beneficial. AP Music
Theory is, therefore, open to all students without pre-requisite
requirements though a basic background in reading music through
participation in piano, orchestra, choir or band is recommended.
Course Description: Introduction to diatonic harmony including the elements of pitch and
rhythm, major and minor scales, major and minor key signatures,
functional harmony of all diatonic chords in major and minor keys,
voice leading and root position part writing, diatonic harmonic
progression including inverted triads, cadences, phrases, periods,
non-chord tones, and diatonic seventh chords. Development of aural
skills including diatonic sight-singing, dictation, computer assisted
instruction in major and minor keys and in simple meters.
Course Objectives: Students will be able to –
*define basic musical terms and theoretical concepts
*understand and construct major, minor, chromatic, whole tone
and modal scales
*demonstrate the ability to construct and analyze major, minor,
augmented and diminished intervals and triads
*recognize, audiate, and sing or play scales, intervals, triads,
rhythms and melodies
*sing simple conjunct and disjunct diatonic melodies on sight
*construct compositions in four-part texture
*analyze harmonic structure utilizing Roman numerals and figured
bass
*identify basic form and cadences
Primary Texts: Ottman, Robert. Music for Sight Singing, 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2004.
Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony, 6th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Other resources: Ricci Adams’ Music Theory Web site: www.musictheory.net
Usama Minegishi & Hidetomo Katsura’s Phobia Bundle:
www.majorthird.com
Teoria.com music theory and ear training website and software.
Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory Software
Course Planner
Week 1-3
Introduction to the elements of music writing
Review of basic pitch and rhythmic notation including the staff, clefs, ledger lines, grand
staff, half steps and whole steps, intervals, chromatic alterations, enharmonic
equivalents,
accidentals, beat, tempo, meter and measure, time signatures, simple and compound
meters, syncopation, dots, ties, rests, dynamic and articulation markings
Text: Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory Vol. 1
Aural Skills
Introduction to solfege, melodic dictation of 3-5 note patterns, simple rhythmic dictation
without rests
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 1
Week 4-6
Written Skills
Notation, key signatures, time signatures, scales and modes
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 1 & 2
Aural Skills
Scale line melodies, intervals from the tonic triad in major keys
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapters 2 & 3
***Six-Weeks Exam***
Review Tonal Harmony Chapters 1-2 and Music for Sight Singing Chapters 1-3. Also
review all notes, discussions and exercises on dictation from weeks 1-3.
Week 7-8
Written Skills
Intervals including inversions, continue to drill scales and key signatures
Text: review Tonal Harmony Chapters 1 & 2
Aural Skills
Intervals from the tonic triad in major keys
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 4
Week 9-10
Written Skills
Triads and seventh chords
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 3&4
Aural Skills
Minor keys-intervals from the tonic triad
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 5
Introduce ear training exercises from Practica Musica and daily class participation on
exercises from Chord Phobia bundle
Week 11-12
Written Skills
Triad and chord identification, introduction to part writing and harmonic progression
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 5-6
Aural Skills
Intervals from the dominant triad in major and minor keys
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 6
***Six-Weeks Exam***
Review Tonal Harmony Chapters 1-6 and Music for Sight Singing Chapters 4-6
Week 13
Written Skills
Review triads, chord identification, part writing and harmonic progression
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 5-6
Aural Skills
Review intervals from the dominant triad in major and minor keys
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 6
Week 14-16
Written Skills
Writing short progressions with given soprano or bass using primary triads in root
position and good melody writing
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 6-7
Aural Skills
More extensive use of diatonic intervals
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 8
Continue on ear training exercises from Practica Musica and daily class participation on
exercises from Chord Phobia bundle
Week 17-18
Written Skills
Extended progressions adding some first inversion triads.
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 8
Aural Skills
Intervals from the dominant seventh chord
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 9
Continue ear training exercises from Practica Musica and daily class participation on
exercises from Chord Phobia bundle
***Six-Weeks Exam***
Review Tonal Harmony Chapters 5-8 and Music for Sight Singing Chapters 6-9
Week 19-20
Written Skills
Introduce second inversion triads
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 9
Aural Skills
Rhythmic dictation practice
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 10
Continue class participation on exercises from Chord Phobia bundle
Week 21-23
Written Skills
Introduce V7 and inversions
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 13
Aural Skills
Melody: Intervals from the tonic and dominant triads
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 11
Week 24
Written Skills
Review chapters 9, 10, & 13
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 9, 10, & 13
Aural Skills
Further use of diatonic intervals
Text: Music for Sight Singing Chapter 12
***Six-Weeks Exam***
Review Tonal Harmony Chapters 9, 10, & 13 and Music for Sight Singing Chapters 1012.
Week 25-26
Written Skills
Introduce secondary triads and their inversions
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 7
Aural Skills
Eight measure phrases from choral literature
Students compose 8 measure phrases for future use
Week 27
Written Skills
Introduce non-chord tones
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 11-12
Aural Skills
Eight measure phrases from choral literature and teacher composed 8 measure
phrases
Week 28-29
Written Skills
Review all triads and non-chord tones in given melodies, given bass lines with figured
bass, fragments of soprano and bass mixed, drill part-writing skills
Text: review Tonal Harmony Chapters 7-13
Aural Skills
Eight measure phrases from choral literature and teacher composed 8 measure
phrases
Week 30
Written Skills
Administration of the first AP practice exam
***Six-Weeks Exam***
Completion and review of the AP practice exam’s results will count as the six weeks
exam grade
Week 31-32
Written Skills
Introduce secondary functions and phrase structure
Modulation to closely related keys
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapters 16 & 19
Aural Skills
Begin individual student recordings of sight singing exercises for evaluation
Week 33
Written Skills
Small forms-binary, ternary, rounded binary, theme and variations
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 20
Administration of second AP practice exam
Week 34
Written Skills
Introduction to twentieth-century scales, chordal structures, and compositional
procedures
Text: Tonal Harmony Chapter 28
Student Compositions: Students will compose an original 32 measure piece for an
instrumentation determined by the members of the class and what instrument/voice they
perform on.