Week 8 · Study guide

Week 8 — Midterm Study Guide · Foundations, Certified

Music Theory I · MUS 156 Fictional sample

Course: MUS 156 Music Theory I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 8 of 16 (Week 8) · two sessions per week
Covers: Units 1–7 (Foundations) · SLO 1, 2, 3, 7
The exam: Week 8's exam session, in class — 50 items · 2 points each · 100 points · 75 minutes · proctored · closed to AI and devices · Midterm exam group (8% of the course grade)
This guide: ungraded, open since week 6, built from the exam's actual blueprint

Everything on the midterm is something you've already done out loud in class. This guide tells you exactly what's on the paper, unit by unit, with the traps named and a review plan sized to a one-meeting week. Every practice question in it is a fresh example — never a live exam item. Working this guide cannot leak the exam; it can only prepare you for it.

What the exam is, exactly

50 items, 2 points each, 100 points. Multiple choice, true/false, and a few matching sets. Every item is answerable in text — no staff-drawing. Notation answers use the course convention you've typed all term: F#4, Bb3, "dotted quarter," "1 la li."
75 minutes, in the room, on paper. That's a comfortable 90 seconds per item — most take 30. Closed to AI, devices, and notes; two pencils and an eraser is the whole kit.
Graded promptly and returned — the exam is designed to give you real information while the term can still use it.
Its partners: the practice exam (40 items, same blueprint shape, unlimited attempts, 0 points, full feedback) and the exam-prep tutorial (your AI coach, which diagnoses all seven units and drills where you wobble). This guide points at both; it doesn't duplicate them.

The blueprint — where the 50 items come from

The table below is the exam's actual per-unit allocation. More items where the course spent more time; nothing outside Units 1–7.

Unit	Focus	Items	Points	SLO
Week 1	The map — addresses, keyboard, staff, accidentals, enharmonics	6	12	1, 7
Week 2	Pulse and page — values, dots, ties, simple meter, counting	7	14	1, 7
Week 3	Dividing the beat — compound meter, tuplets, syncopation, shuffle	7	14	1, 7
Week 4	Major — 15 scales, signatures, orders, circle of fifths	8	16	2, 7
Week 5	Minor, three ways — relative/parallel, three forms, degree names	8	16	2, 7
Week 6	Intervals I — size, quality, inversion, above and below	7	14	3, 7
Week 7	Intervals II — compound, tritone, consonance, enharmonic intervals	7	14	3, 7
Total		50	100	1 · 2 · 3 · 7

Read the table the honest way: Week 4 and Week 5 carry the most weight (16 points each), Week 2/Week 3/Week 6/Week 7 sit just behind (14 each), and Week 1 anchors the floor (12). If your time is short, spend it in proportion.

Unit-by-unit: can you do these cold?

Each unit below gets three things: a skill checklist (every line is a doable, not a topic — test yourself by doing it, out loud, no notes), the trap the exam's distractors are built from, and where to go if a line wobbles. The worked micro-examples are fresh; their answers are verified against the course's anchor set (THEORY_PACK §§2–11).

Week 1 — The map (6 items)

Can you…

[ ] give any key its full address — letter + accidental + octave number — knowing the number changes only at C? (One key below middle C: B3, never B4.)
[ ] name both white-key half steps (E–F, B–C) and explain why E♯4 is played on a white key?
[ ] produce both spellings of any black key, with octave numbers?
[ ] read all five accidentals, doubles included — 𝄪 up two half steps, 𝄫 down two?
[ ] place C4 on the grand staff (its own short ledger line between the staves)?

Micro-examples (worked): A half step up from B3 lands on C4 — and the octave number ticks over mid-step, because the odometer rolls at C. The black key between F4 and G4 spells two ways: F♯4 and G♭4 — one sound, two written notes, never interchangeable on paper.

The trap: "same piano key = same note." Enharmonic means sounds alike, never equals — the written spelling is the answer.

If it wobbles: Week 1 chapter (the address system, the twins), Deck 1, your own grand-staff card.

Week 2 — Pulse and page (7 items)

Can you…

[ ] rank the values — whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth — and say how many of each fill a 4/4 bar?
[ ] apply the dot rule — half the note's own value — to any value? (Dotted half = 3 beats; dotted quarter = 1½.)
[ ] check a bar against its meter and spot the one that doesn't add up?
[ ] tell a tie (joins same-pitch notes into one sound; the only way across a barline) from a slur?
[ ] classify 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 (simple duple / triple / quadruple) and count divisions "1 & 2 &…"?
[ ] name an anacrusis and say where its missing time lives (the final bar)?

Micro-example (worked): In 3/4, does dotted quarter + eighth + quarter fill the bar? Add in beats: 1½ + ½ + 1 = 3 — exactly full. Bar math is addition, nothing more.

The trap: "the dot adds a beat." It adds half the note's own value — the dot is a percentage, not a fixed amount.

If it wobbles: Week 2 chapter (the value tree, bar math), Deck 2.

Week 3 — Dividing the beat (7 items)

Can you…

[ ] hear and state the difference between simple (beats split in two) and compound (beats split in three)?
[ ] classify 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 — compound duple, triple, quadruple — and name the beat unit (the dotted quarter)?
[ ] count compound divisions ("1 la li 2 la li") and subdivisions ("1 ta la ta li ta")?
[ ] explain why 6/8 and 3/4 are different meters even though both hold six eighths?
[ ] read a triplet (three in the time of two) and recognize syncopation and shuffle feel in words?

Micro-examples (worked): Classify 9/8: nine eighths bundle 3 + 3 + 3, so it's compound triple — three dotted-quarter beats, counted "1 la li 2 la li 3 la li." And the beat unit's arithmetic: a dotted quarter = a quarter (two eighths) plus half its value (one more) = exactly three eighths.

The trap: "6/8 is 3/4 with different clothes." Same six eighths, different bundles: 3 + 3 rolls in two; 2 + 2 + 2 steps in three. Your body already knows — the count makes it official.

If it wobbles: Week 3 chapter (the 6/8-vs-3/4 section especially), Deck 3.

Week 4 — Major (8 items — the exam's joint-heaviest unit)

Can you…

[ ] spell any of the 15 major scales — W W H W W W H, every letter exactly once?
[ ] write and read every signature, sharps arriving F C G D A E B, flats B E A D G C F?
[ ] name the key from a signature (last sharp + half step; next-to-last flat), and the signature from a key?
[ ] walk the circle of fifths both directions and say what makes it go (the perfect fifth)?
[ ] name the three enharmonic major pairs (B/C♭, F♯/G♭, C♯/D♭) — same sound, different spelling, both fully real?

Micro-examples (worked): Spell D♭ major: D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C D♭ — five flats, every letter once, and the five arrived in order: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭. Signature of A major: three sharps — F♯ C♯ G♯, the first three off the sharp list. One stop flatward from F major on the circle: B♭ major (F's ^4 becomes the new home).

The trap: a spelled "scale" that repeats a letter (…A♭ B♭ B…). Every letter exactly once — if a spelling doubles a letter, one note is wearing its twin's name.

If it wobbles: Week 4 chapter (the order of sharps/flats, the circle), Deck 4's circle slide.

Week 5 — Minor, three ways (8 items — joint-heaviest)

Can you…

[ ] find any major key's relative minor (shares the signature) and parallel minor (shares the tonic) — and never confuse the two relationships?
[ ] spell all three forms — natural (the signature's own scale), harmonic (raise ^7, written as an accidental, never in the signature), melodic (raise ^6 and ^7 up, revert down)?
[ ] identify which form a passage uses from its accidentals alone?
[ ] call every degree by name — tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant — and split ^7 correctly: leading tone a half step under the tonic, subtonic a whole step under?
[ ] sing do-based minor — do re me fa sol le te, harmonic's ti, melodic's la ti up and te le down?

Micro-examples (worked): Relative minor of E major: count down three half steps and three letter names from E — c♯ minor, same four sharps. Spell e harmonic minor: E F♯ G A B C D♯ E — the D♯ is ^7 raised by accidental. In d natural minor, ^7 is C, the subtonic (a whole step under D); harmonic minor's C♯ is the leading tone. Natural minor's ^6 sings le; melodic ascending lifts it to la.

The trap: "relative and parallel are the same thing." Relative = same signature (E major / c♯ minor). Parallel = same tonic (E major / e minor). Two different handshakes.

If it wobbles: Week 5 chapter (three forms, subtonic vs. leading tone), Deck 5.

Week 6 — Intervals I (7 items)

Can you…

[ ] run the two rulers in order — size from letter distance FIRST, quality from half steps second?
[ ] apply the two quality ladders — perfectable {1,4,5,8}: d→P→A; the rest: d→m→M→A?
[ ] spell intervals above and below a given note, letters first both directions?
[ ] invert any interval — sizes sum to nine; M↔m, A↔d, P↔P?
[ ] name the intervals the major scale hands you above its tonic (P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8)?

Micro-examples (worked): G3 up to B3 — letters G–A–B make a third; four half steps make it major. A major sixth below E5 — six letter names down, E–D–C–B–A–G — lands on G4 (nine half steps confirms it). Invert a minor third and you get a major sixth: 3 + 6 = 9, m flips to M.

The trap — the course's most famous one: C4 up to E♯4 is an augmented third (A3), never a perfect fourth. Three letter names commit it to being a third before any counting starts; five half steps stretch the third to augmented. Counting piano keys instead of letters is exactly how chatbots blow this — and exactly what the distractor is fishing for.

If it wobbles: Week 6 chapter (two rulers, the E♯ section), Deck 6.

Week 7 — Intervals II (7 items)

Can you…

[ ] convert compound ↔ simple — simple size + 7, quality unchanged (a M2 plus an octave is a M9)?
[ ] spell the six-half-step sound both ways above any note and name each spelling (A4 = four letters, d5 = five)?
[ ] sort consonance from dissonance — and state the perfect fourth's honest status (context-dependent; against the bass it leans and resolves)?
[ ] show that enharmonic intervals share a sound but not a name or a job (m3 ≠ A2 on paper)?
[ ] leap-map: trust a note, name the leap, spell the landing?

Micro-examples (worked): Six half steps above G4, both ways: C♯5 — letters G–A–B–C, four names, an augmented fourth; D♭5 — letters G–A–B–C–D, five names, a diminished fifth. Same piano key, two intervals. And the enharmonic-interval pair: D4 up to F4 is a minor third (three letters); D4 up to E♯4 is an augmented second (two letters) — identical sound, different spelling, different job.

The trap: "every six-half-step interval is an A4" (or "A4 and d5 are the same interval"). The sound is one; the intervals are two, and the letters decide which one is on the page.

If it wobbles: Week 7 chapter (the tritone, leap-mapping), Deck 7.

The seven traps, one table

The table below collects each unit family's favorite wrong answer — the same wall the in-class review ran. If you can supply every right-hand cell from memory, the distractors have nothing left to catch.

The trap	The cure
C4→E♯4 called "a perfect fourth"	Letters first: three names = a third; five half steps = A3
Enharmonic treated as "equal"	Sounds alike, never equals — the spelling is the answer
"The dot adds a beat"	The dot adds half the note's own value
"6/8 = 3/4"	6/8 = compound duple; 3/4 = simple triple
A scale that repeats a letter	Every letter exactly once, all thirty keys
Signature accidentals out of order	Sharps F C G D A E B · flats B E A D G C F
Interval size counted in keys	Size comes from letters; half steps only set quality

The review plan — sized to a one-meeting week

Exam week has no second class session to lean on — the plan below replaces it. Three short passes beat one long night, every time.

Right away (this weekend opens): one cold pass through the practice exam — no notes, no studying first. Its job is diagnosis. Every item's feedback names the unit to revisit.
Weekend, session one (~40 min): this guide, but only the units the practice exam flagged. Do the "can you…" lines out loud — production, not recognition.
Weekend, session two (~40 min): the exam-prep tutorial. Tell the coach what wobbled; it diagnoses across all seven units and drills your weak spots first, with the miss-handling rules the course always uses. AI is allowed and encouraged here — it is banned in the exam room, which is exactly why the drilling happens now.
The evening before (~25 min): one more practice-exam attempt if you want the number to prove it; the trap table above, out loud, once; pack two pencils and an eraser. Then stop — sleep consolidates more theory than a midnight reread ever has.
Exam day, before class: arrive early, hum a major scale on the walk in, and remember what this is: certification, not audition. You already speak the language; the paper just writes it down.

How the exam is graded — and how to take it

Scoring is flat and honest: 50 items × 2 points, no penalty for a wrong answer beyond the missed points — so answer everything; a considered guess beats a blank.
Do the letter arithmetic on paper. For any interval item, write the letters in the margin and count names before you count anything else. Thirty seconds of margin work defeats every enharmonic distractor on the page.
Count rhythm items out loud in your head — "1 la li 2 la li" — and write the bar math as addition when values are in play. If a bar doesn't sum, you'll see it.
Check signatures against the orders. Any signature answer must be a prefix of F C G D A E B or of B E A D G C F. If it isn't, it's a distractor.
Trust the spelling on the page, not the piano in your head. When two answers "sound the same," the exam is testing whether you know they aren't the same — the written letters decide.
Budget: ~60 seconds per item leaves you 25 minutes to review. Flag anything slow and come back; the exam rewards steady more than fast.

One more time, because it's true: nothing on the exam paper is new. It's seven units of your own out-loud voice, written down and certified. Bring your ears.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Page
title            = "Midterm Study Guide — Foundations (Units 1–7)"
grading_type     = not_graded
published        = true
module           = Week 8 (midterm module)
available_from   = releases with week 6 — two weeks
                   ahead of the exam, alongside the prep tutorial and practice exam
# The cumulative in-class review runs in Week 7's second session; this guide,
# the tutorial (N) and the practice exam (O) are its at-home partners.

~ Professor Hemsworth's edition · Kenosis College · built with thecoursemaker.com