Unit-by-unit · free
AP Music Theory Study Plan
A five-phase plan that follows the eight units of the AP Music Theory Course and Exam Description, ending with timed practice before the exam on Monday, May 10, 2027. Stretch or compress phases to fit your calendar; build ear training in daily from the start, because aural skills improve slowly.
Phase 1 — Fundamentals (Units 1–2)
Key signatures, major and minor scales, meter and rhythm, intervals, melody, texture and timbre.
Daily habit: 10 minutes of interval ear training (ascending first), plus key-signature and interval spelling drills.
Phase 2 — Chords (Unit 3)
Triad and seventh-chord qualities, inversions and figured bass, and identifying chords by ear.
Daily habit: Chord-quality ear training (triads, then sevenths), and spelling chords from any root.
Phase 3 — Harmony and voice leading (Units 4–5)
Roman numerals, cadences, phrase and period, chord function and progressions, predominants, 6/4 chords, four-part voice-leading conventions.
Daily habit: Hear and name cadences; write short I–IV–V–I and I–ii6–V–I progressions in four parts and check them against the voice-leading rules.
Phase 4 — Embellishment, motive and chromaticism (Units 6–8)
Non-chord tones, motivic development, secondary dominants and leading-tone chords, modulation, modes and form.
Daily habit: Identify non-chord tones in short passages; spell V/x and vii°7/x chords in several keys.
Phase 5 — Timed practice and review
Full Section I simulations, review of every miss by unit, plus dictation and sight-singing practice with your teacher or released free-response questions on AP Central.
Daily habit: One timed practice exam per week; re-quiz your two weakest units between attempts.
Use: Timed practice test
Don't skip the free-response and sight-singing sections
Per College Board, written free response is 45% of the score and sight-singing is 10%. Our tools build the underlying skills but don't grade handwritten part-writing or singing; practice those with your teacher and the released free-response questions and scoring guidelines on AP Central.
AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse OpenExamHub. All questions are original practice items written by OpenExamHub, not released exam questions. Audio is synthesized in your browser and is simpler than the recorded performances used on the real exam.