VHS Course Catalog

AP® Music Theory Section CMA

Prerequisites
Computer with external speakers or headphones, audio CD playback capability, and an external microphone for recording audio.
Experience in reading basic musical notation (with the voice or a band/orchestra instrument) is required.

* Web access to Noteflight
Students need access all three of the following URLs:
http://muparcma1112.vhs.noteflight.com
http://instruments.noteflight.com
http://assets.noteflight.com

* Flash
Flash Player 10.0.32.18 or greater is the recommended version for all Noteflight users. You can download the current version of the player from Adobe by visiting: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Description
This course is designed to give the student an understanding of music theory, sight reading, and aural skills that is equivalent to that of a first-year college music student. It is also designed with the explicit purpose of preparing the student for the AP exam in Music Theory. The course content and presentation will adhere to the guidelines set forth by the College Board in the Music Theory Course Description for 2010-2011.

Students: You have elected to take an AP course due to (a) your desire to receive college credit for your current educational experience, and/or (b) your interest in music and its fundamentals. Whatever your interest or previous experience, be prepared to work at an accelerated pace. As an AP student, I will expect the highest level of responsibility and effort from you toward the course objectives. By the conclusion of the course material, you will be well prepared to take (and pass) the AP exam in May. Having passed the exam, you will have the opportunity to receive credit from your future college or university (depending on the school’s AP policies).

**Please Note: This course may not be appropriate for students with specific accessibility limitations as written. Please refer to the VHS Handbook policy on Special Education/Equity for more information on possible modifications. If you need additional assistance, please let us know at service.goVHS.org.

Students enrolled in Advanced Placement VHS courses are expected to take the AP exam, and are required to report their AP examination scores to VHS (note: students who are failing their AP class are not required to take the exam). Upon receipt of the student's exam score, each score will be recorded by VHS and assigned an anonymous tracking number to ensure student anonymity and confidentiality. By enrolling in an AP VHS class, the student authorizes their school site coordinator and school administration to report AP examination scores to VHS. Exam results will not affect the student's VHS grade or future enrollment in VHS courses.

Course Objectives
This course will give students introduction, practice, and mastery of the following topics in Music Theory:
1. The fundamentals of tone, including pitch, intervals, pitch organization (scales and keys), and pitch combination (chords).
2. Advanced chord vocabulary, including dominant, nondominant and leading-tone seventh chords.
3. The fundamentals of rhythm, including notation, duration, metric organization, and rhythmic patterns.
4. Comprehension and fluency in common-practice harmony, including chord quality and positioning, voice leading (up to four parts), and counterpoint.
5. Advanced harmonic understanding, including common harmonic progressions, common bass line movement, harmonic rhythm, and modulation techniques.
6. Fluency in the basic symbolic and analytical language of music, including figured bass realization and Roman numeral analysis.
7. The basic components of musical form, including motives and phrases, and their combinations into larger musical structures.
8. An understanding of the historical developments in music theory, from the modes of the medieval era through the popular, folk, and jazz music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
9. An introduction to twentieth-century scales, chordal structures, and compositional procedures, through a basic analysis of the components and their use in modern music.
10. The many connections between music and other disciplines in the humanities (visual art, literature, etc.).

Written course materials are supplemented with a rigorous course of sight singing and ear training exercises.