It is MIDTERM SEASON! As a music theory teacher, here are my advice on preparing for your exam.
1) Redo All Incorrect Assignments
Your mistakes reflect the gaps in your understanding of music theory. Therefore, correcting these mistakes is crucial.
Just looking at your incorrect assignments is NOT enough. The best way to grasp your mistake is to redo the actual question. If you have truly understood your issue, then you should be able to redo the question perfectly.
2) Memorize Whatever You Can Before the Exam
Please memorize your theory fundamentals such as, key signatures and figured-bass for chord inversions. Memorization helps you save time and so you can then allocate this extra time to other time-consuming tasks, such as four-part writing.
3) Practice Sample Questions with a Time Limit
During an exam, the time limit can be stressful. To prepare for that stress, recreate that stress during your practice by setting a time limit.
Practicing exam questions with a time limit pushes you to think faster. Your goal is to complete questions as QUICKLY and ACCURATELY as possible
4) Strategize Your Time During the Exam
If you know what types of questions and/or how many questions are on the exam, you can strategize your time on the test.
Complete questions that require the least amount of time. Then, use the remaining time to do time-consuming questions.
For example, four-part writing could be more time consuming for you than analyzing musical excerpts. Therefore, you should first complete the musical analysis, so you will receive full credit for that section. Then, spend the remainder of your time on the four-part writing.
If the exam contains questions that are equally time-consuming, plan out the amount of time you would use on each question. Let us say, your exam contains a figured-bass realization and a melody harmonization, which are equally time consuming. You can allocate 30 min to each question and aim to finish the questions in its time frame.
If you're still working on the first question after the first 30 minutes, you should stop and start the next question so you wouldd get some credit for both sections.
If you have extra time left after completing the second question, you can always go back to the first question.
5) Practice Your Sight Singing
Sight singing helps you to hear sections and components within melodies and pieces, which can help you complete questions faster.
For example, identifying sequences and/or cadences can be time consuming if you analyze chord-by-chord. But, with sight singing you can quickly know where they are and orient yourself in the music.
6) Review with a Teacher or a Tutor
Ultimately, if you have any concepts that you don't understand, ask your teacher or find a professional tutor. Asking professionals saves you time from googling online and you won't feel alone in this battle.
7) Relax, You've Got This!
Nothing is worst than panicking on the exam. Trust the hard work that you have invested, and treat yourself before the exam. If you are prepared, then you are prepared. If you are not prepared, no last-minute panic can help.
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