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Free AP Music Theory Study Guide

AP Music Theory · All 8 Units

Master AP Music Theory from pitch and rhythm through harmony, voice leading, modes, and form. Flashcards, cheat sheets, essential terms, practice questions, and visual reviews for all 8 units, all completely free.

8 units covered
45% multiple choice
45% free response
10% sight-singing
100% free

Choose your unit

Each unit has 6 study resources: flashcards, cheat sheet, essential terms, practice questions, visual review, and FRQ practice.

Unit 1
Music Fundamentals I
Pitch, Major Scales, Rhythm & Meter
Pitch notation and clefs, half and whole steps, major scales and key signatures, rhythmic values, meter, and expressive elements.
Music Fundamentals
Start Unit 1 →
Unit 2
Music Fundamentals II
Minor Scales, Melody, Timbre & Texture
Minor scales and key signatures, intervals, melodic transposition, timbre, and the textures of music.
Music Fundamentals
Start Unit 2 →
Unit 3
Music Fundamentals III
Triads & Seventh Chords
Building and identifying triads and seventh chords, chord qualities, inversions, and figured bass.
Music Fundamentals
Start Unit 3 →
Unit 4
Harmony & Voice Leading I
Chord Function, Cadence & Phrase
Soprano–bass counterpoint, harmonic function, cadence types, and how phrases are built and closed.
Harmony & Voice Leading
Start Unit 4 →
Unit 5
Harmony & Voice Leading II
Chord Progressions & Predominant Function
Common harmonic progressions, predominant chords (ii and IV), and voice-leading rules in four parts.
Harmony & Voice Leading
Start Unit 5 →
Unit 6
Harmony & Voice Leading III
Embellishments, Motives & Melodic Devices
Non-chord tones, melodic embellishments, motives, sequences, and how composers develop musical ideas.
Harmony & Voice Leading
Start Unit 6 →
Unit 7
Harmony & Voice Leading IV
Secondary Function
Tonicization, secondary dominant and secondary leading-tone chords, and analyzing chromatic harmony.
Harmony & Voice Leading
Start Unit 7 →
Unit 8
Modes & Form
Modes & Form
The diatonic modes, phrase relationships, and common formal structures like binary, ternary, and rounded forms.
Modes & Form
Start Unit 8 →

About AP Music Theory

AP Music Theory is a college-level introductory music theory course that develops your ability to read, write, hear, and analyze music. The course builds from the fundamentals (pitch, rhythm, scales, and meter) through the construction of chords, the rules of harmony and voice leading, and finally the analysis of modes and musical form.

This page covers all 8 units: Music Fundamentals I, II, and III; Harmony and Voice Leading I, II, III, and IV; and Modes and Form.

Unlike most AP courses, the College Board does not assign a fixed percentage of the exam to each unit. Instead, the exam is weighted by section: 45% multiple choice, 45% free response, and 10% sight-singing. Content from all eight units, organized around the four big ideas of pitch, rhythm, form, and music design, appears throughout every section. In practice, Units 4–7 (harmony and voice leading) carry the most weight because part-writing and harmonic analysis dominate the free-response section.

Every page on this site is aligned to the College Board's official AP Music Theory Course and Exam Description and completely free. Use what works for your study style: flashcards for active recall, the cheat sheet for a one-page overview, or practice questions to test yourself before the exam.

What's included in each unit

Every unit has the same 6 study resources, designed for different learning styles.

Flashcards
Interactive cards per unit
Cheat Sheet
One-page visual summary
Essentials
Key terms and big ideas
Visual Review
Slide-by-slide walkthrough
Practice MCQ
Exam-style questions
FRQ Practice
Free-response practice

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