Music Therapy Exam Secrets Study Guide: MT-BC Test Review for the Music Therapist, Board-Certified Examination

I intended to read this before taking the board exam, but didn't get around to it. I made it thru most of the theory section, but found myself irritated by the convoluted writing. It was clearly not written by someone that understands music therapy or music theory, but just someone that tried their best. I think the book would be vastly improved by A) Editing by a music therapist, and B) Charts, diagrams, images, any sorts of changes in formatting to assist with the information given. As a visual learner, I found it very hard to digest the information presented. Everything is presented in block paragraph format, with occasional bullet points. These big block paragraphs and sections after sections of info made it very difficult to remember or distinguish information, due to minimal change in formatting or categorization. And the fact that the theory section doesn't include a single diagram or image is a little ridiculous. Also, I know this is a petty thing, but there wasn't even any formatting for things like "Bb" in subscript or superscript, so at times it was confusing to read. It felt like the whole thing was written in one go with minimal editing or formatting.That being said, I do think it could be helpful for an overview of information. Do not rely on this as your main mode of studying. But, after you have already studied everything you can think of to study, this could be helpful as a more condensed version of a lot of that info. The theory section was a little helpful for me, instead of having to look back through the entirety of my theory notes. And some of the strategies at the end were helpful for me to make more of a game plan going into the exam. I personally only had time to read the theory section and the strategies.So if you're on a budget, I'd probably pass on this and just spend your time studying your textbooks and official documents and notes and things. Definitely do not choose buying this over taking the practice exams. Take both practice exams if possible, those are 10x more helpful than this. In conclusion, if you're feeling overwhelmed by everything you're trying to study, or have studied everything you could think of, this could be helpful as a general overview of more condensed information. If you're on a budget or don't digest info well in blocks, or will get annoyed that the writer is clearly not a music therapist, then pass on this.

While beginning to prepare for my exam, I found myself lugging around numerous textbooks and printed articles. This book provides much of the information that I found myself being asked on the exam, but in one small, easy to transport book for study. While this book is hardly an exciting read (very formal) it certainly was a useful, comprehensive study guide.

I thought that the brief overview of information was helpful, direct, and straight to the point. I also really appreciated the helpful hints and secrets to taking the exam found at the back of the book. I am hoping that the suggestions made will be helpful to me on the day of my exam.

I’ve purchased Secrets Study Guide and Flash and Study System. I like both of my purchases, study book and flash cards. I didn’t start studying yet, but just looking through material I already can tell it’s going to be very helpful. Flash cards are really awesome. I very much recommend this products!

The items in this book did not completely prepare me for the exam

The study book is very well written and very detailed covering music education and what music therapy can expect in thier practice.

Hope this is the trick for all those little questions that are open to interpretation. A wonderful field that needs more respect.

This study guide helped me very little when taking the boards. In fact, I have spoken to a member of the exam committee personally and they do not suggest this a dependable resource. The best thing to do is to stick with the Scope of Practice, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, and Professional Competencies established by both CBMT and AMTA. However, the book did give me a little bit of an idea of some information on what to study as far as musical terms and music theory goes.