AP Music Theory- super hard class?

[Anonymous]

Coming from 8 years of piano + ABRSM testing, DD took AP music theory exam without a class (just self studying) and got a 5. She did not find it hard at all, but ABRSM is pretty rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Heh. My kid thinks it's super easy. He's also a cellist playing at RCM grade 10/ARCT levels and has perfect pitch. Everyone's mileage will vary, but from what I've seen, kids who already know how to read music and who have a very good sense of pitch do fine in the class.

Maybe your kid only found the exam easy because he has perfect pitch. Mine also has perfect pitch and got a 5 on the aural part of the exam. The other kid she knows who got a 5 on aural also had perfect pitch. Makes me wonder how many kids can get 5 aural if they DON’T have perfect pitch. The other kids she knows who are very good musicians got 3’s and 4’s on the aural. I don’t think you can say it’s easy just because you have perfect pitch because that’s almost like having a built in cheat that lets you bypass a lot of the work.

Absolutely! The aural part can range from really easy to almost impossible depending on how good of an ear the kid has. I agree that my kid has a massive advantage from the perfect pitch. If OP’s kid has good pitch, they’ll probably be fine. If they don’t, it’s a really tough class.

[Anonymous]

DD did a lot of theory through piano lessons and did not find the class to be too hard. 5 on the AP test.