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Fundamentals of Music Theory

Found in Music

Provider Coursera
Cost Free Online Course (Audit)
Session Upcoming
Language English
Certificate Paid Certificate Available
Effort 5-8 hours a week
Start Date
Duration 6 weeks long
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Overview

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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

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Reviews for Coursera's Fundamentals of Music Theory
4.0 Based on 21 reviews

5 stars 52%
4 stars 14%
3 stars 19%
2 stars 14%
1 star 0%

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Anonymous

3.0 3 years ago

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 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…

3 people found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Pam G

5.0 4 years ago

by Pam 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.

6 people found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Craig L

2.0 9 months ago

Craig 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 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 …

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

3.0 3 years ago

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

2.0 2 years ago

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

5.0 4 years ago

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.

1 person found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Marianne M

5.0 5 years ago

by 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 .

3 people found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

5.0 4 months ago

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

4.0 5 years ago

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.

4 people found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

3.0 10 months ago

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

5.0 5 years ago

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 !

3 people found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Anonymous

5.0 4 years ago

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.

1 person found
this review helpful

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Jos G

5.0 3 years ago

Jos 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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Stephen R

3.0 a year ago

Stephen 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?

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Dog P

2.0 3 months ago

Dog 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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Mak T

5.0 3 years ago

by Mak completed this course.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Mieke B

5.0 4 years ago

Mieke completed this course.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Tiina T

4.0 4 years ago

Tiina completed this course.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Stella M

4.0 4 years ago

Stella is taking this course right now.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Marat M

5.0 4 years ago

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

Was this review helpful to you? Yes

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Reviews for Coursera's Fundamentals of Music Theory
4.0 Based on 21 reviews

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Fundamentals of Music Theory

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