AP Music Theory UNIT 1 Practice Test 2026

Last Updated on March 13, 2026

AP Music Theory UNIT 1 Practice Test 2026: Try The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory exam UNIT 1 (Music Fundamentals I: Pitch, Major Scales, and Key Signatures, Rhythm, Meter, and Expressive Elements) questions and answers online quiz.

Music is sound and silence in time. Throughout the history of Western music, composers have represented sounds with symbols called notation. It is our written musical language. Music notation does not indicate the exact duration of the sound. Instead, it shows how long one note last about others.

AP Music Theory UNIT 1 Content:

Topics may include:

Pitch and pitch notation
Notes and rests
Major scales
Major keys
Beat division and meter type
Tempo
Dynamics

AP Music Theory UNIT 1 Practice Test 2026

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AP Music Theory Practice Test -Unit 1

AP Music Theory Exam

AP Music Theory Practice Test
Unit 1: Music Fundamentals I: Pitch, Major Scales and Key Signatures, Rhythm, Meter, and Expressive Elements
Total MCQs: 25
Time Limit: 35 Minutes

1 / 25

This Question refers to the excerpt below from the hymn tune Woodworth by W. B. Bradbury.

Because the first two eighth notes are the anacrusis, the last measure of this hymn tune will contain what durational value?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

2 / 25

This Question refers to the excerpt below from the hymn tune Woodworth by W. B. Bradbury.

The note that gets one beat in this meter is the

half note

dotted half note

quarter note

dotted quarter note

3 / 25

This Question refers to the excerpt below from the hymn tune Woodworth by W. B. Bradbury.

What is the meter of this hymn tune?

Compound triple

Simple triple

Simple duple

Compound duple

4 / 25

This Question is based on an excerpt from the hymn tune Blessed Assurance.

Compound meter always

has three beats per measure

has a dotted note as the beat

has complicated rhythms

subdivides into two equal parts

5 / 25

This Question is based on an excerpt from the hymn tune Blessed Assurance.

The first three notes are

equivalent to a beat and a half

equivalent to a quarter note

an anacrusis

considered the downbeat

6 / 25

This Question is based on an excerpt from the hymn tune Blessed Assurance.

The note that receives one beat in this meter is the

dotted half note

half note

dotted quarter note

eighth note

7 / 25

This Question is based on an excerpt from the hymn tune Blessed Assurance.

The meter of this piece can best be described as

compound duple

simple quadruple

simple triple

compound triple

8 / 25

There is a half step between which two pairs of white notes on the piano keyboard?

E-FandB-C

C-DandF-G

E-F and G-A

D-E and B-C

9 / 25

This question is based on the following excerpt from a Mozart string quartet.

If this piece were performed by a woodwind quartet, what would be the primary change you would hear?

Amplitude

Pitch

Timbre

Envelope

10 / 25

This question is based on the following excerpt from a Mozart string quartet.

The accidentals found in the first two measures of this excerpt are

D# and F#

FjlandG#

C# and A#

D# and G#

11 / 25

This question is based on the following excerpt from a Mozart string quartet.

The notes played by the violin II and viola on the downbeat of measure 2 are

unison

the same pitch name (pitch class), but the viola plays an octave lower

the same pitch name, but the viola plays an octave higher

different pitch names

12 / 25

This question is based on the following excerpt from a Mozart string quartet.

The first note in the viola part is

13 / 25

If A# is the raised submediant in minor, what would be the key signature of the relative major key?

seven sharps

four sharps

two sharps

No sharps or flats

14 / 25

The notes D#, A, and B are all contained in which of the following pairs of scales?

E Major and C# harmonic minor

B Major and D melodic minor

D Major and B harmonic minor

E Major and E harmonic minor

15 / 25

Which of the following pitches is NOT diatonic in B Major?

16 / 25

The relative key of A Major is

A minor

F minor

F# minor

(D) C Major

17 / 25

Look at the following excerpt and answer the Question.

All of the following are true about the meter of this selection EXCEPT the

meter represents the subdivision of the beat

meter is compound triple

duration that receives one beat is the sixteenth note

duration that receives one beat is the dotted eighth note

18 / 25

Look at the following excerpt and answer the Question.

The bass line in measure 5 is all of the following EXCEPT

an imitation of the first phrase that was played by the right hand

syncopated

it includes a leading tone

an octave lower than the melody in measure 1

19 / 25

Look at the following excerpt and answer the Question.

Which scale is used in this excerpt?

F Major

A harmonic minor

D harmonic minor

D melodic minor

20 / 25

This Question is based on English Suite II: Gigue.

The anacrusis and downbeat are what scale degrees?

5-1

1 -4

1-1

1-5

21 / 25

This Question is based on English Suite II: Gigue.

This example features all of the following EXCEPT

an anacrusis

scalar variance

a passage in A melodic minor

hemiola

22 / 25

This Question is based on English Suite II: Gigue.

The meter of this selection by Bach is:

compound duple

simple duple

simple triple

compound triple

23 / 25

This Question is based on the string section parts from this concerto grosso by Corelli.

This excerpt is in what key?

D minor

G minor

B♭ Major

C Major

24 / 25

This Question is based on the string section parts from this concerto grosso by Corelli.

This excerpt features all of the following EXCEPT

a form of syncopation called hemiola

an anacrusis

alto clef

note values lengthened by the use of dots and ties

25 / 25

This Question is based on the string section parts from this concerto grosso by Corelli.

Noting the change of time signature at the end, the meter of this passage changes from

simple triple to simple quadruple

compound triple to simple duple

simple triple to compound triple

simple triple to simple duple

Your score is

See also