Taking the CBMT Exam

I have been meaning to take the time to write a post about my experience taking the CBMT (Certification Board for Music Therapists) exam and hopefully can offer any pointers to those seeking to take the exam in the near or distant future.

In order to be certified through CBMT, you need to take the exam.  Once you meet requirements, you can register for the exam through the CBMT website.  When you are approved they will contact you letting you know and you will have a window of three months to make an appointment at your nearest testing site.  Finally, once you pass the exam, you will hold the MT-BC (Music Therapist-Board Certified) credential.

Making the appointment once you receive approval is very simple and takes a brief amount of time.  You go to the AMP website and select the "Schedule an appointment" link on the left hand side and follow the directions.  You will receive an email confirmation including directions to the site and what to bring (Two forms of ID- I brought my driver's license and social security card).

The test is 150 questions and 20 of them are "pretest questions" and are thrown out before scoring.  In order to pass, you need about 73% or 95 correct answers.  You have 3 hours to complete the test.  At my center, the test was on a computer and I had the option to return to previous questions and double check my answers.

Preparation for the Exam

The CBMT has a self examination you can purchase.  I highly recommend taking advantage of this tool.  I've heard it is an easier version of the exam, however, it helps you to get used to the language they use in the actual exam.

Another thing I made sure to look over was the CBMT Self Examination Bibliography, it has readings that is very helpful when studying for the exam. The AMTA code of ethics, professional competencies, standards of clinical practice, and the CBMT Board Certification Domains are important to look over.

Another source I took advantage of was the Music Therapy Exam Secrets Study Guide and the flashcards which are sold seperately. This source is published by Mometrix and not associated with CBMT.

On Amazon the book and flashcards are $39.99 each,  I purchased both.  The flashcards are essentially the Study guide book but written out onto flashcards, so it was not worth the extra money.  If you are interested in purchasing this book, I would either choose the book OR the flashcards depending on your learning style.  

Overall, I felt this book was very similar to the Suzanne Hanser's The New Music Therapist's Handbook.  The text language was different to what I was used to reading in the required music therapy text books from class. However, it's slogan is that it guarantees to "raise test scores." All in all, I think it was helpful to read the text because it helped me absorb the material from the Hanser book better even though the language was different.

Music Theory- Some key factors I made sure I reviewed were: a blues progression, transposition between instruments, scale degrees (ex. supertonic, sub mediant, mediant, etc.), and the types of scales (dorian, lydian, etc.).

If I could choose the top two books I thought were important to study from I would choose: 

1. Hanser, S. B. (1999). The new music therapist's handbook. Boston: Berklee.

2. Darrow, A. (2004). An introduction to approaches in music therapy (1st ed.). Silver Spring, MD: American

I felt it was really important to understand all of the different approaches to music therapy.  For example, if you were asked a question in a Psychodynamic model, to answer the question in accordance with that aproach.

Other Helpful Information

I attended a session at AMTA's 2011 National Conference in Atlanta, GA about taking the exam. It was extremely helpful. If you attend a conference keep your eyes out for a session about taking the exam.

If you are preparing for the exam- make sure to check out Michelle Strutzel's blog! She has a post about Taking the test!

I hope this is helpful to you, if you have any questions please comment below!