Online Course

Fundamentals of Music Theory

University of Edinburgh via Coursera

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Coursera
Free Online Course (Audit)
English
Paid Certificate Available
6 weeks long, 5-8 hours a week

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Overview

Class Central Tips

This course will introduce students to the theory of music, providing them with the skills needed to read and write Western music notation, as well as to understand, analyse, and listen informedly. It will cover material such as pitches and scales, intervals, clefs, rhythm, form, meter, phrases and cadences, and basic harmony.

This course covers the fundamentals of Western music theory, from the absolute basics to some more advanced concepts and, as such, is the perfect course for beginners and more experienced musicians alike.

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Syllabus

Pitches, Scales, Modes and Chords

Keys, Minor Scales, Intervals and Clefs

Rhythm and Form

Harmony 1: Functional Harmony

Harmony 2: Inversions, Cadences and Sequences

Final Exam

Taught by

Michael Edwards, Zack Moir and Richard Worth

Charts

#3 in Subjects / Music / Music Theory

Related Courses

Reviews

4.0 rating, based on 22 reviews

Start your review of Fundamentals of Music Theory

Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

Very challenging for complete beginners. The taught material is minimal for the complexity of the subject matter, and the quizzes/assignments often go beyond what has been adequately taught, so you're forced to resort to Google and Wikipedia. Quizzes...

Very challenging for complete beginners. The taught material is minimal for the complexity of the subject matter, and the quizzes/assignments often go beyond what has been adequately taught, so you're forced to resort to Google and Wikipedia. Quizzes with a time estimate of between 20 and 30 minutes have taken me hours and hours, and were impossible without additional research. Unfortunately, for some reason, the version of the course I sat (Nov. 16) had absolutely no tutor engagement - no tutor has been seen on the forums. It's the pre-recorded videos and associated text summaries, and that's it - no tutor feedback about anything. At first, I liked that it was more intellectually rigorous than some music theory courses, but in the end, I felt it had been too ambitious, trying to cover too much too quickly, and definitely not for the fainthearted. Weaknesses compounded by technical issues - no way to save quiz progress, and if you're nearly finished when your browser hangs, you lose the lot.
Craig L

Craig L is taking this course right now, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

The teachers do not teach well. One example is the section using Ami to build triads from. A girl and a guy are teaching. The girl says they will use " A relative natural minor of C major ". However, at the third degree the guy says they will use the...

The teachers do not teach well. One example is the section using Ami to build triads from. A girl and a guy are teaching. The girl says they will use " A relative natural minor of C major ". However, at the third degree the guy says they will use the harmonic minor scale for the third degree. Is that not the correct scale at the third degree using the relative natural minor scale of C major ? He did say different minor scales could be used but where is the explanation for this substitution ? I maybe have not gotten far enough to find the reason for it but if you could stay on one thing at a time would make more sense to a beginner.
Another example is the guy who teaches note duration. He tells a lot about the subject but there are very few examples he demonstrates. I think he clapped his hands twice throughout that entire section. He also mentions 64ths are not used that much and did not elaborate on them at all, but the quiz has them...?
I am learning but finding the details of their teaching elsewhere because of the communication gap.
Pam Gould

Pam Gould completed this course, spending 10 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be very hard.

This is fundamentals, not an introduction. My music knowledge was not good enough to complete the course this time, but I've downloaded it and I'm still making progress. A fabulous course. I'll do it again for sure - and perhaps be able to finish it this time.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

Intense course, from scratch to total analysis of a classical piece of music. Great course, but absolutely not for starters in music theory.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

This class has much going for it. Lectures are interesting. Good organization. Links to sites that would further explain topics. Unfortunately there appears to be little or no instructor interaction on the discussion page, and corrections or clarifications that could have been made after the course was beta-tested were not made, ( except for an additional video on modulation) so questions are sometimes confusing. However, the worst thing is that, as far as I can see, they teach to one level and then base the final test, especially the second, peer-reviewed part, to a substantially harder level. I would not recommend this class for a total beginner, especially if they are paying for it. Suggest taking a more basic class first.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I found this incredibly frustrating. The lectures were great and easy to follow, I felt I was really developing a deeper understanding. BUT then the exams at the end of each lecture consistently required you to use these obscure cleffs that only people singing in large classical choirs need. Seriously. This course does not set itself out to be the intro to choral works of the great masters so why do we need to use these to demonstrate fundamentals like diminished chords? I found this too frustrating to complete the exams. Sorry Coursera this also means I won't pay to get the certificate and I am onto udemy now. Hopefully I get something a bit less oriented to the obsscure.
Marianne

Marianne completed this course.

Fantastic course ... Phenomenal teaching team. They are intensely engaged and very helpful over the tough patches. Hang in there and you will have a foundation that will support any further pursuits in music. I plugged along and learned heaps. Did not take the final, but will take the class again and go for it because those that tried for it seemed like they were having a blast .
Anonymous

Anonymous is taking this course right now.

Excellent course. Teaching is of a high standard. The community ecosystem on FB, Twitter and Coursera Forum brings the whole course alive. Humorous posts from around the world, side by side with in depth analysis by both staff and more experienced students. I decided to pay Coursera for the Signature Track, which involves using a webcam and type on a PC keyboard. The webcam was also useful on a Google Hangout on Air tutorial I attended in week 2. A really good course.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I entered this course with a minimal knowledge of scales, pitches, and dynamics. Can I lie? No. This course is not for the faint of heart! However, I pushed hard, finishing with a deeper—almost philosophical—understanding of the structure, expression, and notation behind music theory. If you're willing to brave a challenge, I highly recommend this course.
Anonymous

Anonymous is taking this course right now.

Needs an introductions course as this one comes a bit out of nowhere, and the lectures are a bit too short for someone looking to get started with it, and things are emphasized enough for a person that's potentially going to be doing the test.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I really like this course. It was a bit intense for my knowledge so I did not do my final test however I learnt a lot and would take it again !
Anonymous

Anonymous is taking this course right now.

Loving this course! I'm finding it really challenging, as it introduces a lot of new concepts and information, and I've never had any formal training in music, but the staff are helpful, engaged and approachable.
Jos Gysenbergs

Jos Gysenbergs completed this course, spending 6 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

Excellent! Never learned so many fundamentals about music in such a short time. Never boring but needs a bit of perseverance though.
Michael Steel

I'm pretty much a beginner in music and I learned an awful lot from this course. I found it very difficult though and spent a lot more time on it each week than is suggested. The weekly exams made you think very hard about what you had been taught, but...

I'm pretty much a beginner in music and I learned an awful lot from this course. I found it very difficult though and spent a lot more time on it each week than is suggested. The weekly exams made you think very hard about what you had been taught, but I found them a good challenge and felt I had achieved something at the end of them. You definitely need to read the additional materials (when the links work, otherwise get on Google) and I'd recommend you have a print out of the circle of fifths and have a layout of the notes on a piano handy.

Up to the end of the regular weeks I'd say it's a really worthwhile course if you want to understand basic music theory. Don't attempt it though if you're not going to take detailed notes and put in more time than suggested each week.

The final exam though. Wow! It's so much harder than any of the weekly ones. I attempted the first part of the exam twice and didn't score above 50% despite passing the weekly ones without too much trouble (had one re-try).

I may go back to it in future as I feel I have some unfinished business here, but probably won't.
Stephen Root

Stephen Root completed this course and found the course difficulty to be hard.

I go through the first 4 weeks of this course. The tests each week were esoteric and by week 4 would have required me to practice the materials for many, many hours in order to truly understand and implement the materials. Obviously, since one can retake the qualifying tests repeatedly, one can find a way to move on to the following week, but what for?
Dog Person

Dog Person completed this course, spending 3 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be hard.

I didn't like how teachers presented the topics. Was very hard to follow and ended up quitting the course frustrated.
Stella Mendonça

Stella Mendonça is taking this course right now.
Marat Minshin

Marat Minshin completed this course, spending 8 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.
Tiina

Tiina completed this course.
Mieke De Bruijn

Mieke De Bruijn completed this course.

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Online Course

Fundamentals of Music Theory

Overview

Class Central Tips

Syllabus

Taught by

Charts

Tags

Related Courses

Getting Started With Music Theory

Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys

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Reviews

SEO Content Strategy Demystified: Coursera, MasterClass, and edX

Overview

Class Central Tips

Syllabus

Taught by

Charts

Tags

Getting Started With Music Theory

Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys

Music Theory Level 1: Part Two

Music Theory Level 1: Part Three

Write Like Mozart: An Introduction to Classical Music Composition

Developing Your Musicianship

Never Stop Learning!