Hey-o! If you are starting to get just a little bit nervous about your upcoming AP® Music Theory exam, you have come to the right place! Here at Fiveable, we want to make sure all of your exams are, well, Fiveable, and we are going to start here with Music Theory by tackling the first portion of the exam: the multiple-choice.

If you have taken an AP exam before, you are probably familiar with the overarching format of exams: the multiple-choice section (often referred to as MCQ) and the free-response questions (FRQs for short). The AP Music Theory exam is also like this but has subsections for each half. Right now, we are only going to cover the multiple-choice questions, but if you want some advice on how to ace the free-response portion of the exam, you can find some of that info here.

The multiple-choice section for AP Music Theory is split into two parts: aural-stimulus questions and non-aural stimulus questions. Let’s go in-depth for what some of these questions might look like before we tackle how you can outsmart the exam and do your absolute best!

If you are otherwise unfamiliar with how the AP Music Theory exam works, the concept of aural stimuli may seem intimidating or completely foreign or possibly even some combination of both. A large part of success within music theory is a strong foundation in “ear training”, or understanding what you are listening to when listening to a piece of music. The aural stimuli is how the exam assesses your personal “ear training” skills.

To assess aural skills, the four answer options will be a musical phrase or scale notated on a staff, and the correct answer will be whichever corresponds to the audio sample. Here’s an example of what this might look like:

Example AP Music Theory Aural-Stimulus Question
Image Courtesy of

There will also be questions with only an audio stimulus, and no written score available for reference. Don’t worry, this exam does not assume that you have perfect pitch! These kinds of questions will be less oriented around pitch and rhythmic accuracy and more about overall understanding, such as form and texture of any given piece.

This is the section of the multiple-choice that is less about skills and more on your understanding of content through score-study and analysis. Most stimuli within this section will be some sort of musical score; instrumentation can range anywhere from a solo instrument, piano accompaniment, a string quartet, etc. (Pro tip: You will definitely want to be comfortable reading in treble, alto, and bass clef, You will be expected to read all three, and having some familiarity with tenor clef can’t hurt, either.)

How to Ace the AP Music Theory Multiple Choice

The absolute best thing you can do for yourself is to take a lot of practice tests. This way, you will begin to understand what aspects of the content and skills are most difficult for you, and you will only get better through further practice. Keep these tips in mind and develop your own system, and we are completely confident that you will destroy that exam and get that 5!

AP Music Theory Multiple Choice Help (MCQ)

Hey there! Are you stressing about the AP® Music Theory exam? You shouldn’t be because our team here at Fiveable has you covered! We have all the study guides and test prep content you could ever need!
If you’re worried about the exam itself (which definitely seems a bit overwhelming at first), then you have come to the right place. This discussion will be focusing solely on the AP Music Theory Free Response Questions (or FRQs) and how you can ace them!

Before we get into some top tips on how to do your absolute best on this portion of the exam, let’s take a look at what the Free-Response Question section includes. (Spoiler alert: it’s a lot!)

The AP Music Theory FRQ section is comprised of 7 questions, in which you will have 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. These 7 questions will be worth 45% of your overall score. After the FRQ (written) section, there will be two passages that you will have to sight-sing. You will have 10 minutes to submit both (more info on that later).

The first two FRQs you will encounter will involve melodic dictation. This is when a short, simple melody is played, and you will have to accurately write the corresponding notes and rhythms. One example will be in treble clef, and the other will be in bass clef. The concept of melodic dictation may sound overwhelming, but with some practice and our top tips, you will be an expert in no time!

Harmonic dictations will be the third and fourth questions within the FRQ section. It is similar to melodic dictation, but instead of listening to a melody, you will listen to a four-part chorale, and be expected to fill in the soprano and bass lines. The roman-numeral chordal analysis (including inversion) will be included, as well.

Need a little midway freakout? Me too. Don't worry, we'll get through this! 
Image courtesy of

The fifth FRQ is figured bass. Using part-writing rules, you will fill in the tenor, alto, and soprano lines based off of a given bass line and (roman-numeral) chord progression. There is no aural stimulus, so you are able to take your time within each line. Keep in mind that the entire section is timed, however.

Here’s some top tips for how to succeed on figured bass:

The sixth question within the FRQ section takes figured bass to another level. Based on only a roman-numeral chord progression, you will have to write all four lines; bass, tenor, alto, and soprano.

For the final FRQ, you will be asked to write a bass line based off of a given melody. You will also want to write in the chord symbols to show the harmonic structure and cadences.
It might be easier to start out by writing chord stacks and identify the given cadences. From there, fill in the cadences for the rest of the section based on the melodic phrases. Before you start writing out the bass point, remember to consider an appropriate harmonic rhythm, and to pay attention to chord inversions!

Once you have all your references ready, start to write out a counterpoint bass line. Beware of parallelism, and remember that contrary motion is a safer bet than similar motion. When you have finished this and double-checked your work, then you’re all done with the written FRQ section!

Last, but certainly not least, you will have to submit a recording of yourself sight-singing two melodies. One will be in a major key, the other in a minor key. Similarly, one melody will be in treble clef, and the other will be in bass clef. Note that you do not have to sing either melody at the written pitch; if the melody is properly transposed (i.e. all intervals are sung correctly), you can still receive full points.

The free-response section of the AP Music Theory exam is a beast. There are a lot of different skills you are expected to master, and it can definitely be overwhelming. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT, freak out. The best thing you can do is practice, practice, and then practice some more. Make some mistakes and learn from them, so by the time you get to the exam you know what to do and what not to do. Use these tips to guide you, and you’ll figure it out in no time. You got this!

AP Music Theory Free Response Help - FRQ/LEQ

Remember those rules of part-writing we need to follow? Introducing seventh chords into the harmonic mix requires us to follow three main rules:

➡️ Chordal sevenths should be approached by common tone OR by step
When the voice-leading context doesn’t allow this, chordal sevenths may be approached by ascending leap or, rarely, by a descending leap of a 3rd.

➡️ All chordal sevenths should resolve by a descending step, to avoid an unresolved seventh. The chordal seventh in a V-4/3 chord may move up by a step when appearing in a I-(V-4/3)-I6 progression. In some cases, the chordal seventh may stay in the same voice before resolving down by a step.

➡️ The fifth of a root-position dominant seventh chord may be omitted if it helps the voice leading. When the fifth is taken out in a root position 7th chord, the root should be doubled. All inverted 7th chords, however, must be spelled completely in writing the chord.

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: how do you resolve a seventh chord?  

Voice Leading with Seventh Chords

4.3: Harmonic Progression, Functional Harmony, and Cadences

For the AP test, all of our work with harmony will assume that our music is 

What does it mean for music to be tonal? All pitch content is organized around a central pitch that we call the 

It might sound complicated, but all it means is that your tonic note is a focal point to the music. Usually, it's also the end "goal" for the melody. All the other pitches function in relation to that tonic pitch. For example, B-flat major and B-flat minor both share B-flat as the tonic pitch, but the other pitches in relation to the tonic are different (major vs. minor scale).

Tonality got really popular in music right around 1650—and it's still a big hit with modern pop artists. Western classical music veered away from tonality for a while around 1900, but tonal organization is still central to other genres such as folk and jazz.

? These diatonic chords usually occur in a predictable sequence called a 

Harmonic progressions can be described in writing using Roman numerals with appropriate markings for inversions as previously explained in

. The pace at which these harmonies change is called 

Harmonic progressions give music a sense of direction and help it arrive at a harmonic goal. In tonal music, this goal is the 

, which is built on the first degree of the scale for the key. For example, in the key of E major, the tonic would be an E major chord. The tonic chord is labeled with the Roman numeral I.

All other diatonic chords play a role in helping music arrive at the tonic. There are two main functions that these chords can have: dominant and predominant.

function usually immediately precede the tonic, and movement from a dominant chord to a tonic chord often creates a feeling of resolution. There are two chords that typically have a dominant function: the V and the vii. 

(Note: even in a minor key, dominant chords will only be V and vii, not v or VII.)

Why do these two chords lead to the tonic with such a sense of finality? Consider the pitches that make up each chord. 

The V chord has scale degrees 5, 7, and 2, and the vii chord has scale degrees 7, 2, and 4. Scale degrees 7 and 2 can both resolve to the strong tonic note (scale degree 1) by a step, so we call them tendency tones. Scale degree 7 is a 

The V chord is a stronger dominant than the vii chord because of a physics phenomenon called overtones. You won't need to know this for the AP exam, but you 

 need to know that scale degree 5 wants to resolve to scale degree 1, which also makes the V chord want to resolve to the I chord.

The V chord also resolves to the I chord especially well because it shares a pitch. The root of a V chord is the fifth of a I chord, so the voice leading from V to I is often very smooth and aesthetically appealing.


chords usually appear—you guessed it—before dominant chords. Lots of different chords can serve a predominant function in different cases, and they're a bit more complicated than dominant chords. We'll learn more about these in Unit 5. <hyperlink to unit 5.1> For now, though, it's useful to know that IV and ii chords often act as predominant chords.

The most basic harmonic progression in the CPP is tonic-dominant-tonic. Usually, this looks like I-V-I or i-V-i (depending on whether you're in a major or minor key). 

Take the Happy Birthday song, for instance. 

The harmonic progression over each phrase is I-V-V-I-IV-V-I. Since some of these are repeated, you could also simplify it to I-V-I-IV-V-I. In one case, the predominant briefly sets up the dominant, but the song mostly alternates between I and V.

This is super common across tonal music, and you'll find it in everything from Bach to Taylor Swift. 

In the wild west of music, you'll find tonal music with lots of different harmonic progressions, but most will be some variation of tonic-predominant-dominant-tonic. Movement in the opposite direction (for example, tonic to dominant or dominant to predominant) is called a 

At the end of a musical phrase, the harmonic progression is called a 

. There are four main types of cadences: half cadence; deceptive; plagal; and authentic.

 occurs when a musical phrase ends on a V chord. Because the V chord has a dominant function, the half cadence usually feels unresolved or unfinished. Phrases that end in a half cadence sound a bit like a question, which is then answered by another phrase that ends with a stronger cadence.

 has a V chord that sounds like it should resolve nicely to a I/i chord, but instead progresses to a different chord. In many cases, deceptive cadences move to a vi/VI chord or a IV/iv chord, but any non-tonic chord can end a deceptive cadence.

(sometimes also called an "amen" cadence, since it is common in hymns) moves from the IV/iv chord to the tonic I chord. Although there is no dominant chord, plagal cadences are usually considered pretty strong resolutions.

 (IAC). Both involve the dominant V chord (or dominant-functioning chord, such as a vii chord) resolving to the tonic I chord, but the PAC is stronger because both chords are in root position (where they are more stable), and the soprano voice ends on scale degree 1. If either the V chord or the I chord are inverted or if the soprano ends on a non-tonic pitch, then the cadence is an IAC.

Here is the Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC):

Here is a Perfect Authentic Cadence (PAC):

You can categorize these cadences as either 

based on their strength and finality. Inconclusive cadences are usually followed by more music, while conclusive cadences are often reserved for the end of a piece, movement, or other large music structure. Half, deceptive, and inauthentic perfect cadences are inconclusive, while plagal and perfect authentic cadences are conclusive.

Some cadences are so iconic that they have their own special name. The most common of these is the 

 quality of the tonic chord) in a musical work that is in a minor key. 

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: In Roman numerals, what are the four possible harmonic progressions that follow the tonic-dominant-tonic convention? (Hint: don't forget both major and minor!) 

Harmonic Progression, Functional Harmony, and Cadences

Don't know yet? Not a problem. However, it will be helpful to get to know your voice range if you haven't already. On the AP Music Theory test, you 

 be able to transpose a written piece of music into your range. If you haven't done much singing before, it's time to start clearing out those cobwebs in your vocal chords!

Musical lines, whether in instrumental or vocal pieces, may be described using the vocal parts: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. 

When we examine a composition in four-part harmonies, we will be using the SATB texture to complete a Roman-numeral Analysis <hyperlink to unit 3.3>.

(aka analyze) the figured bass of a composition, all chords must be spelled correctly, with all necessary accidentals, and have a correct Roman-numeral analysis. 

When filling in the chord tones of a Roman-numeral analysis, 

, there are certain chord tones that are good to double, and those that are 

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: Which voice part is typically a higher male voice? Which voice part is typically a lower female voice?  

SATB Voice Leading

Hey, what’s up! Welcome to Fiveable! Are you frantically looking for a way to study for AP Music Theory? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We have compiled a list of 5 carefully chosen AP Music Theory textbooks/prep books that will be 

 in your success on the exam. (See what we did there?)

Some of these books align with the AP Music Theory course and exam material and are designed to help you succeed on that specific test. That being said, there are a lot of music theory textbooks, typically designed for an entry-level college course (in which AP Music Theory is the equivalent), that can help you learn and master the content that will be tested, just maybe not in the same format. Don’t be fooled; these are all awesome options that are going to help you learn and succeed!

This book is one of the most popular among all AP prep books, but especially for AP Music Theory. It includes a detailed content review for the entire course, completed with practice problems, and 2 full-length practice exams. The book even comes with a CD with audio content to aid in your practice and development of aural skills! The best part is that this book is pretty affordable, and a great resource to either supplement a class or for self-studying. You can purchase this book from Amazon 

2. Julie Johnson’s Guide to AP Music Theory

This is a great option if you’re looking for a text that is specifically aligned to the AP curriculum. This book is more up-to-date than Barron’s and is designed alongside what the exam will ask of you. The main features of this book are progressive sight-singing examples as well as ear-training. This book is a bit more expensive than Barron’s, but it is hefty at over 500 pages! This would be a great resource if you are self-studying for the exam and would like practice and reference material! You can purchase this book from Amazon 

Actual footage of you practicing sight-singing 
Image courtesy of

This textbook is not aligned to the AP course, but it is specifically designed for musicians to self-study music theory. Its goal is to build up aural skills through ear training. There are numerous lessons split into units, with tests completing each one. All the answers to the questions are included so that you can correct yourself in preparation for the exam. This is another great option for anyone planning on self-studying the course, especially if you’re looking for a reference book or just some extra practice. You can purchase it on Amazon 

Designed for undergraduate music theory courses, 

 focuses more on the content of music theory than on the skills. More specifically, it focuses on all aspects of music theory. Instead of just teaching how to analyze a piece of music, it delves into writing and how developing skills connect to written theory. This is not the most updated version of this textbook, but the content is still relevant and accurate, and it’s a cheaper option than the most recent edition. You can purchase this book on Amazon

While this text is the most expensive of the options listed here, the quality is worth the cost! This textbook is also more content-driven and perfect for anyone brand new to music theory. The content is super in-depth, so if you are in need of a book to be used for learning content and/or content reference, this is a great option. You can buy it on Amazon 

Hopefully, you are feeling a lot more confident about finding resources to help you succeed in AP Music Theory! Look through these options to see what might be best for you depending on your needs, whether it’s to improve aural skills, content knowledge, or both! Don’t worry, though, no matter which book you decide to go with, you are going to do great! (Even if it’s no textbook at all!)

Best AP Music Theory Textbooks and Prep Books

Welcome to the AP Music Theory gang! This is one of the more notoriously difficult exams, but that does not mean that a 5 is unattainable! Students often get lost or frustrated within the material or building skills, but through hard work and dedication, AP Music Theory can be Fiveable! Here are some top tips on how to do so below: 

In order to be successful in understanding and applying the course material, students must know their scales. Scales are the foundation for everything within music theory. Understanding concepts like 

Music theory is all about harmony and how to make it function effectively. All musical harmony is rooted in relationships laid out in scales. The best thing any student can do is to 

 understand scales (even though they are debatably one of the more boring parts about music 😔)

Once scales start to feel more comfortable, focus on some chords as well. This includes the basic buildup of chords (e.g. knowing that an augmented chord is 1-M3-#5) and knowing how that applies to C major (C-E-G sharp). Know the buildup of different chords (including triads, sevenths, and all of the inversions). Once the more “basic” concepts of music theory can click instantaneously, the more abstract rules of composition and analysis will become easier and generally make more sense as well.

The best way to study and truly understand scales is simply to 

 Music theory is a very hands-on concept, which is why the exam tests listening and sight-singing. Here are some suggestions on ways to build this skill:

This will help you learn to hear and understand the differences. Make sure to play the modes as well as part of ear training.

On that note (see what we did there?), play out some chords/arpeggios. It helps to hear chord qualities (major, minor, diminished, augmented, etc.) as well as to physically build the chord on an instrument. For visual learners, it can be helpful to do this on a piano to see the chord in full. However, for those who are not as comfortable with piano, this can be done on any instrument.

Not only is it super important to be able to recognize different types of scale and chord qualities, but also to be able to identify intervals. This comes in handy in any aural testing portions, including the sight-singing.

Practicing ear training intervals is quite easy. Find a friend and have them play various intervals at a piano/any instrument. With your back turned, guess what interval is played just from hearing it. Be sure to practice with both ascending and descending intervals, in a variety of ranges as well! Doing so can feel so tedious, but it does pay off!

The other important thing is to practice sight singing! Any time a new piece of music appears, try to get an idea of what it might sound like before it is played. It does not have to be anywhere near perfect, but to be able to recognize patterns and intervals will be incredibly useful upon the sight singing portion of the exam.

The AP exam will feature plenty written excerpts. They will be formatted in various ways. There may be a grand staff (a single treble and bass clef together, like a piano might read off of), a solo line with accompaniment, or a score of various instruments and clefs. Looking at a full score can be overwhelming at first, but becomes much more intuitive after a lot of practice!

For example, music scores very rarely show transposing instruments in concert pitch, and it would not be ideal to come across this instance for the first time during the AP exam. Also, it can be difficult to analyze chord progressions over multiple, simultaneous lines of music.

Even better would be to listen to a piece of music while following along in the score. The aural stimulus forces you to follow along faster instead of studying the minute details of each line. The exam will likely test this as well, and it helps to quickly pick out the important things - rhythm, tone, and expression within each line

(Also, this is usually a pretty fun thing to do, which is a bonus!)

You might want to familiarize yourself with all of the instruments' names, too. 
Image courtesy of

The AP Music Theory Free Response Questions often are not easy. The types of skills tested do not sprout from memorization but instead from application and overall understanding. Because of this, the best way to improve is to simply keep doing it.

This has been a common theme throughout this guide. The best way to truly improve skill and gain confidence is to simply keep doing it. There will be times where doing so is incredibly difficult and/or frustrating, which is totally normal. However, instead of giving up at that point, it is better to push through in order to be as successful as possible in understanding the material and nailing the test.

Because AP Music Theory is a skills-based course deeply rooted in a strong foundation of the content, it is important to thoroughly understand the basics and to practice the application as much as possible. Ear train /everything/, and try to visualize as much as possible as well. Practice makes perfect, so keep going even when it gets hard. Most importantly, however, is to have confidence. Second-guessing answers is the worst possible thing to do during an exam. Go with your gut! A 5 on AP Music Theory is attainable through practice and confidence!

How to Get a 5 in AP Music Theory

3.5: Seventh Chord Inversions and Figures

Just like the triads, the seventh chords can also appear in inversions. We also have specific figured bass notation for the seventh chords, indicating which note is in the bass. 

In the key of E Major, here are the following seventh chords and their respective inversions in the closed position.

When the seventh chords are written in an open position, such as in the SATB texture <hyperlink to unit 4.2>, a figured bass can be used to determine the bass note of a harmony.

Here are the figured bass Arabic numerals for seventh chords:

With a Roman-numeral analysis, you can see the following bass notes that indicate the types of seventh chords used. To understand the following image, can you spell a V7 chord in the key of Bb Major? F is the V of Bb. We spell an F7 chord F-A-C-Eb. 

Here you can see that the V-6/5 chord has the 3rd in the bass, which in the F7 chord, is an A. The V-4/3 chord requires a C in the bass. 

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: What would be the bass note of a V-4/2 chord in the key of d minor?   

Seventh Chord Inversions and Figures

3.3: Chord Inversions and Figures: Introduction to Figured Bass

All the notes of a chord can be rearranged so that the order from bottom to top may be different. The most important note is the bass note. When the root of the chord appears in the bass, we consider this to be in 

. If a different chord member appears in the bass, we have was is called a chord 

We can see above that when the third of the chord is in the bass, the chord is considered to be in 1st inversion. When the fifth is in the bass, the chord is considered to be in 2nd inversion. During the Common Practice Period (CPP), chord inversions were labeled using 

 (the numbers you and I normally know and use: 1, 2, 3, etc.) to denote the intervals seen above the bass note. We call this 

No, not that type of bass 🙄, but keep reading! 

When we are looking at a composition through a harmonic lens, these Arabic numerals are used to signify the corresponding inversions to each chord.  

What do these figured bass numbers mean? 

They indicate the exact interval between the bottom note and the top note when an inversion is in a closed position. In 1st inversion, the interval between the bottom note and the top note in the closed position is a 6th. There is sometimes indicated that it is a 6/3, but almost all the time the 3 is omitted. The number below (such as when we use it in the 2nd inversion) refers to the distance between the bottom note and the next note up, in a closed position. In the case of the 2nd inversion, the outer interval is a 6th, and the distance between the bass note and the next interval up is a 4th. Hence, 6/4. 

When we also analyze the harmonies of a composition through Roman numerals, we can attach the Arabic numerals to the side of Roman numerals to provide information about the inversion (Arabic) of the chord in the key (Roman). It would look a little something like this:

In figured bass, a figure with a slash (/) or a plus sign ➕ indicates the pitch denoted by that figure is to be raised a half step. 

An accidental appearing alone, (without an Arabic numeral) indicates that the third above the bass should be altered according to the accidental.

Another system of labeling chords takes the root and uses a capital letter-name (such as G) and attaches the quality of the chord (Major, minor, etc.) with its abbreviation. For example a G-Major chord would look like: GM. A minor chord would have a lowercase m, such as the chord Dm. You might see E+ for an augmented E chord, or F#° for an F-sharp diminished chord. 

You can find this system of labeling chords in lead sheets, and in genres ranging from jazz, to rock, to musical theater. 

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: For a 2nd-inversion subdominant chord in the key of F, what would its figured bass symbols be? How do you spell that chord?

Chord Inversions and Figures: Introduction to Figured Bass

By using the triads we have just discovered, we can build seventh chords on top of them. Let's see how they all work!

Just like building triads, we stack thirds on top of one another to be able to build various qualities of seventh chords. 

First, let's take the base of a major triad and build seventh chords upon it. Let's use a C Major triad for now. 

Reminder, a major chord is built by combining a major 3rd and a minor third above it. To make this triad into a Major 7th chord (MM or M7), we add a major 3rd on top. To make the triad a Major-minor 7th chord (Mm or dominant-7th), we add a minor 3rd on top.

The breakdown of 3rds within the above seventh chords:

This minor triad can add a minor 3rd on top to create a minor 7th chord: mMm

The last type of commonly used 7th chords contain the diminished triad base. 

This base also can add a major or minor triad on top.

Here is the diminished triad with a major 3rd on top. We call this a 

If we add a minor triad to a diminished triad base, we have a 

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: Can you spell a gø7 chord (G half-diminished 7th chord)? 

Seventh Chords

There is, indeed, a rhyme and reason to all the various chords that are possible in all keys. Triads and seventh chords are built on the scale degrees of a given key. 

 means within the key, or from notes of the scale of the key. 

Using the key of C Major, let's construct all the diatonic chords of C Major. First, we write the C Major scale:

Now, let's use the two lines or two spaces above each of the notes of the scale to construct the triad for each scale degree.

The next step is to discover the quality of each of these chords. Are they Major, minor, diminished, or augmented (M, m, d, A)? Remember, we look back to the quality of the triads within each triad to distinguish each type of chord. 

The beauty of finding out the chord-quality patterns of one major scale, is that it applies to 

Minor scales take on a different pattern. Let's use the example of a G minor scale.

Now let's build the chords on top of each scale degree:

Note: For the V-chord, we actually make it into a major chord by altering the third of the chord. In a minor key, the V chord is naturally minor, but to keep it always as a major chord, we raise the third by a half-step. Look at the image below to see what that looks like. 

And finally, let's discover what the quality of those chords are by identifying their triads.

Note that the second to last chord, the VII chord, is considered Major when built from the natural minor scale. When the scale is a harmonic minor or melodic minor scale, the F natural becomes an F# (hence, why the Dominant takes an F# in the triad). This will also makes the VII chord turn into a diminished chord. For this reason, the seventh chord in minor can be both Major or diminished, based on which type of minor the composer uses. 

Chords of any key can also be identified using the scale degree names of each chord's respective root <hyperlink to unit 1.?>


*Take note, there are no naturally occurring augmented chords based on the diatonic scale. Augmented chords must be altered from a Major chord!



For example, we can refer to the "5" chord of any key as the dominant. If we have built a seventh chord on that 5-chord, we can refer to it as the "dominant seventh", which is a very common chord in music. This doesn't change whether it is in major or minor. The same is true with the "2" chord. We can refer to it as the "supertonic", which can infer a diminished chord if we are operating in a minor key.  

Ingrain this information into your skull! You will need it for the rest of the material on the AP Music Theory test!

🦜 Polly wants a progress tracker: Can you spell all the diatonic triads in the key of B Major? How do you spell a dominant chord in the key of A Major?

Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals

Unit 3: Music Fundamentals III (Triads and Seventh Chords)

3.1: Triad and Chord Qualities (M, m, d, A)

When we listen to music, it is the chords that make up a 

 are defined by having at least 3 pitches and are played (or sung) at the same time. Chords can also be implied if pitches are played in a group, such as an 

Here is an example of a chord played simultaneously:

In the tradition of Western music, there are two basic types of chords:

 chords that consist of 3 distinct pitches, a combination of two thirds (intervals) stacked on one another 

 chords that consist of 4 distinct pitches, a combination of three thirds (intervals) stacked on one another. 

Triads and seventh chords look distinct, in that when all the thirds are stacked on top of one another, they use all spaces or all lines on the staff.

To construct a triad, we use two thirds on top of one another. The type of third (major or minor) and the location of that third within the triad will determine the quality of the triad. They can be 

The way to create the following triad qualities is by stacking the two types of thirds on top of one another. M = Major and m = minor. Remember, a minor third is 3 half-steps, and a major third is 4 half-steps. Take note of the symbols they use in reference to their quality type.

From right to left: C Major, C minor, C diminished, C augmented

All the above chords, no matter their quality, consider this to be in the 

 when the tonic of a chord is at the bottom of the triad. The tonic here is C.

🦜Polly wants a progress tracker: How do you spell a Bb major chord? How do you spell a 7th chord in E minor? 

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Unit 1

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

Unit 2

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

Unit 3

Music Fundamentals III: Triads and Seventh Chords

Unit 4

Harmony and Voice Leading I: Chord Function, Cadence, and Phrase

Unit 5

Harmony and Voice Leading II: Chord Progressions and Predominant Function

Unit 6

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

Unit 7

Harmony and Voice Leading IV: Secondary Function

Unit 8

Modes and Form

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AP Music Theory Exam Prep 2020-21🎶

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Study by Unit

Unit 1﻿

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

Unit 2﻿

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

Unit 3﻿

Music Fundamentals III: Triads and Seventh Chords﻿

Unit 4﻿

Harmony and Voice Leading I: Chord Function, Cadence, and Phrase﻿

Unit 5﻿

Harmony and Voice Leading II: Chord Progressions and Predominant Function﻿

Unit 6﻿

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

Unit 7﻿

Harmony and Voice Leading IV: Secondary Function﻿

Unit 8﻿

Modes and Form﻿