AP Music Theory Practice Quiz: Tonicization through Secondary Dominant Chords
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 9 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 9
All Questions (9)
A) To permanently change the key of the music.
B) To make a non-tonic chord sound like a temporary tonic.
C) To eliminate all accidentals and chromaticism.
D) To create a final, conclusive cadence at the end of a piece.
Correct Answer: B
The provided text defines tonicization as 'the process of making non-tonic scale degrees or chords sound like temporary tonics.' It is a local, not a permanent, key change.
A) It establishes a new primary key for the remainder of the piece.
B) It is a fleeting event that does not change the primary key.
C) It weakens the primary key by introducing unrelated chords.
D) It confirms the primary key by using only diatonic chords.
Correct Answer: B
The content explicitly states that tonicization 'is a local harmonic event that is fleeting and does not change the primary key of the music.'
A) A primary tonic chord (I)
B) A subdominant chord (IV)
C) A secondary dominant chord (V/X)
D) A mediant chord (iii)
Correct Answer: C
According to the text, 'Tonicization is most commonly effected through a secondary dominant chord (V/X or V⁷/X).'
A) A change in the key signature.
B) The presence of accidentals that alter diatonic scale degrees.
C) A sudden change in tempo or dynamics.
D) The exclusive use of chords from the primary key.
Correct Answer: B
The text explains, 'Diatonic scale degrees are altered to achieve tonicization; these altered scale degrees are shown with accidentals in notated music.'
A) The tonic (I)
B) The dominant (V)
C) The subdominant (IV)
D) The submediant (vi)
Correct Answer: B
The notation V⁷/X means 'the dominant seventh of X'. Therefore, V⁷/V is the dominant of the V chord and resolves to it, as shown in the example '(e.g., V⁷/V resolving to V).'
A) They are always minor in quality.
B) They are built exclusively from notes within the primary key.
C) They nearly always require accidentals in their spelling.
D) They must always resolve directly to the tonic (I) chord.
Correct Answer: C
The provided content states, 'Secondary dominants nearly always require accidentals in their spelling.' This is because they introduce non-diatonic notes to create a dominant function for a chord other than the tonic.
A) V/ii
B) V/iii
C) V/IV
D) V/V
Correct Answer: C
The text explains that a secondary dominant (V/X) precedes the chord it tonicizes (X). To make the subdominant chord (IV) a temporary tonic, it would be preceded by its own dominant, notated as V/IV.
A) It only occurs in folk music from a specific locality.
B) It is a brief event that does not cause a long-term change of key.
C) It can only happen at the beginning of a piece.
D) It involves altering every chord in a progression.
Correct Answer: B
The text describes tonicization as 'a local harmonic event that is fleeting.' This means it is a temporary, short-lived effect, not a permanent or large-scale structural change.
A) The secondary dominant is the tonic of the chord that follows it.
B) The secondary dominant is the subdominant of the chord that follows it.
C) The secondary dominant is the dominant of the chord that follows it.
D) The secondary dominant has no specific harmonic relationship to the chord that follows it.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that the tonicized chord is 'preceded by its own dominant, the secondary dominant.' This establishes a dominant-to-tonic relationship, where the secondary dominant functions as the dominant of the chord it resolves to.