AP Music Theory

Department: Fine & Performing Arts
Open to: Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors
Length: 2 Semesters

This course introduces the student to the basic skills involved in both listening to and writing music. The fundamentals of the reading and writing of music to be studied include: Elementary Theory: notation, clefs, key signatures, major and minor scales, intervals; Harmony: simple triads, choral progressions, melodies; Ear-Training: intervals, melodies, triads, melodies, some chord patterns; Composition: melodic structures and simple chord progressions. The basic performance instruments used throughout the course are voice, computer, and keyboard. Musical examples from the works of the major composers will be studied. In part, the examples will be used to exemplify those music fundamentals being studied. The examples will also be analyzed, using the same fundamentals to reach a more complete understanding of musical structure and meaning. Discussion and reflection upon various approaches to aesthetics will allow the student to discover possible approaches to a philosophy of music (and of the arts, in general) and to consider the possibilities of musical meaning. Instructor’s permission is required for enrollment.