Approaching Music Theory: Melodic Forms and Simple Harmony
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Approx. 22 hours to complete
Course Summary
Learn how to create melodic forms with simple harmony in this course. Explore unorthodox techniques to make your music stand out.Key Learning Points
- Discover new ways to create melodic forms with simple harmony
- Learn how to use unorthodox techniques to create unique music
- Get tips and tricks from experienced musicians
Job Positions & Salaries of people who have taken this course might have
- Music Composer
- USA: $49,000 - $136,000
- India: INR 240,000 - INR 2,400,000
- Spain: €22,000 - €65,000
- Music Producer
- USA: $31,000 - $99,000
- India: INR 120,000 - INR 1,200,000
- Spain: €16,000 - €45,000
- Music Teacher
- USA: $29,000 - $84,000
- India: INR 120,000 - INR 600,000
- Spain: €15,000 - €35,000
Related Topics for further study
Learning Outcomes
- Create unique and interesting melodic forms
- Use unorthodox techniques to make your music stand out
- Understand the principles of simple harmony
Prerequisites or good to have knowledge before taking this course
- Basic knowledge of music theory
- Access to a music composition software
Course Difficulty Level
IntermediateCourse Format
- Online
- Self-paced
- Video lectures
Similar Courses
- Advanced Music Production Techniques
- Introduction to Music Theory
Related Education Paths
Related Books
Description
This course is about how music works. It is about the relationship between the technical and aesthetic details of music. It is also about how developing a meaningful theoretical vocabulary can help you think and talk about musical style, and how learning that vocabulary can expand your appreciation for music.
Knowledge
- Analyze the relationship between the technical details and aesthetics of music.
- Explore how culture, psychology, physics, formal context, and a sense of play all shape musical language.
- Discover ways in which music theory may be relevant to enjoying, communicating a love for, and performing music.
- Demonstrate confidence in the kind of musical self-analysis that can help you develop your own musical ideas.
Outline
- Course Overview
- Welcome to the Course
- Is this course right for you?
- How to Pass This Course
- Accessing Music in the Course
- Instructor Presence and Staff Support
- Forum Guidelines
- Requesting Peer Reviews
- Academic Integrity
- About Performing
- About CalArts and the School of Music
- Melodic Structures: Lines, Shapes, and Simple Modes
- Let's Talk About Music
- The Richness of Simplicity, part 1
- The Richness of Simplicity, part 2
- Context and Discrete Function
- Neighbor Notes and Passing Tones
- Context Gives Notes Function
- Cadences
- How to Grade: Write a Gregorian Chant
- An Utterly Different Aesthetic, part 1
- An Utterly Different Aesthetic, part 2
- Leaps vs. Steps
- Chromaticism: Outside Notes
- The Next Chromatic Note
- Sequence
- How to Grade: Write a Slow Jazz Song
- How to Grade: Write a Folk Song
- Week 1 Glossary & Playlist
- Optional Practice: Medieval Notation
- Optional Practice: Modern Notation
- Optional Practice: MIDI Notation
- Some Lessons Learned
- Optional Practice: Antiphon
- Optional Practice: Improvise a Melody
- Optional Practice: A Little Musical Idea
- Some More Lessons Learned
- Talking About Folk Music
- Examples of Folk Music
- Reinforce Your Knowledge: Remember New Terms
- See it then Hear it: Over the Rainbow (Required)
- Hear it then See it: White Christmas (Required)
- See it then Hear it: The Riddle Song (Required - Honors)
- Melodic Structures: Simplicity, Repetition, and Change
- Complex Simplicity: Repetition and Expectation
- Repetition
- How to Grade: Write Like a Classical Composer
- Less is More: Chopin
- Less is More: Ives
- Some Lessons Learned
- Brahms Rhapsody
- Schoenberg's Piano Concerto
- Single Ladies / It's a Small World / Your own personal nightmare earworm
- Three Expansive Tunes
- How to Grade: Write Like a Romantic Composer
- How to Grade: Write like an Early 20th Century Composer
- How to Grade: Write an Earworm
- Boulez, Selon Pli
- John Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis
- How to Grade: Write Like a Mid- to Late 20th Century Composer
- How to Grade: Write Like a Wombat
- Week 2 Glossary & Playlist
- Some Lessons Learned
- Listen First: Chopin, Withers, Ives
- Less is More: Withers
- Optional Practice: I Want You
- Optional Practice: One Note Samba
- Optional Practice: Musica Ricerata
- Listen First: Brahms & Schoenberg
- See it then Hear it: Diaphonic Suite #1 (Required)
- Hear it then See it: Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix (Required)
- See it then Hear it: 1- (Required - Honors)
- Combining Pitches: Consonance and Dissonance
- Introduction to Consonance and Dissonance
- The Physics Of It All
- The Culture & Context You Swim In
- The Functional Relationship
- A Three-Minute History of Medieval Music
- A bit more about medieval music—and meter
- Introduction to 'The Rules'
- A Simple Explanation of Counterpoint, part 1
- A Simple Explanation of Counterpoint, part 2
- Adding Dissonance
- How to Grade: Counterpoint, Part One: A&B
- How to Grade: Counterpoint, Part Two: C&D
- Josquin in two voices, part 1
- Josquin in two voices, part 2
- Creatively Breaking Rules
- Breaking the Rules In Order To Make New Rules in Order to Figure Out What Rules Are
- How to Grade: Counterpoint, Part Three: E&F
- Week 3 Glossary & Playlist
- Optional Practice: Meter
- Optional Practice: An informal analysis of Josquin
- Optional Practice: Two Beautiful Pieces
- Physical Consonance (Required)
- See it then Hear it: Broken Rules (Required)
- Hear it then See it: Broken Rules (Required)
- Cadences and Basic Harmonic Function
- More Than Two Voices at a Time: The Beginnings of Harmony
- Demonstration: 3-part voice leading
- Cadences, part 1
- Cadences, part 2
- Melodic Aspect to Cadences
- Tonal Function
- More about the Leading Tone: A diversion into Rock and Country
- Rock/Pop vs. Country
- Getting back to Tonal Function: Subdominant
- Some simple examples
- Subdominant Feelz
- Recap of Harmonic Function
- All Triads in a Key
- Mozart Piano Concerto, Part 1
- Mozart Piano Concerto, Part 2
- Mozart Piano Concerto, Part 3
- How to Grade: Complete the Cadences (Final Assignment)
- Conclusion
- Week 4 Glossary & Playlist
- Listen to Haydn and Pärt
- Listen First: Stairway to Heaven & Coal Miner's Daughter
- See it Then Hear it: Piano Sonata #1 (Required)
- Hear it and See it: Dove Sono (Required)
Summary of User Reviews
Discover the beauty of melodic forms and simple harmony with this course on Coursera. Users have given this course glowing reviews, praising its engaging content and knowledgeable instructor. Overall, users highly recommend this course for anyone interested in music theory.Key Aspect Users Liked About This Course
Many users appreciated the instructor's ability to explain complex concepts in a way that was easy to understand.Pros from User Reviews
- Engaging and informative content
- Great instructor who explains complex concepts clearly
- Course materials are well-organized and easy to follow
- Good pacing and structure of the course
- Great for beginners who want to learn more about music theory
Cons from User Reviews
- Some users felt that the course could have gone into more depth on certain topics
- A few users found the course to be too basic for their level of knowledge
- Some technical issues with the platform
- No quizzes or assessments to reinforce learning
- Limited interaction with other students
Marc Lowenstein
4.7 Raiting
Approaching Music Theory: Melodic Forms and Simple Harmony
- 4.7
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This course is about how music works. It is about the relationship between the technical and aesthetic details of music. Course Overview...
The Canon Project
- 4.4
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Learn to improvise on this magical chord sequence. The simple key chords repeat predictably under melodic figures, providing the ideal opportunity for learning about harmony, melody writing and improvisation....
