Music Made Easy

About This Course

If you enjoy music and would like to know more about what makes it work, this is the course for you. You'll gain a complete understanding of rhythm, melody, and harmony, and you'll be able to recognize pitches on the musical staff and on the keyboard.

Each lesson will build on previous lessons, while also introducing new musical concepts. Your course begins with an introduction to rhythm and the various aspects of rhythm; including beat, meter, note, and rest values.

You'll then learn about the role of melody in music, and you'll gain proficiency in identifying pitches by octave, building major scales, and understanding the role of keys in creating melodies.

You'll explore the keyboard in full detail, with an emphasis on the structure of major scale and the signatures of major keys. And you'll understand the many significant contributions early music theorists made to our understanding of music.

You'll also be able to build intervals, major scales, and chords. By the time you complete this comprehensive and full-featured course, you'll be able to read, write, and even play simple musical pieces on a keyboard.

About The Instructor

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Marianne Murawski.

Marianne Murawski earned her Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Maryland, her M.M (master of music) in Music Theory, and her B.A. in Music. Her dissertation, Theory through World Music, focused on developing an introductory music theory course that used world music examples. She has been teaching courses in music fundamentals, music appreciation, history of rock music, and world music at several colleges and universities. She is an active member of the College Music Society, giving presentations at Conferences including an International Conference in Vienna, Austria.

Syllabus

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week 1

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In this first lesson, we'll go through an overview of the major elements of music—melody, harmony, and rhythm. It's important that you understand these general terms because we'll explore each of them in detail in the coming lessons.

Friday - Lesson 02

Today is your introduction to the concept of rhythm. We'll explore its various components: beat, meter, and time signatures. You'll also learn how to read and apply time signatures to music.

Week 2

Wednesday - Lesson 03

We'll continue exploring meter in this lesson, and we'll look at aspects of rhythm such as syncopation and tempo. You'll learn how and why syncopation is used.

Friday - Lesson 04

Today, we'll delve into the musical concept of melody. You'll learn to read the treble and bass clefs. You'll find out how to read notes found in musical compositions and how to notate pitches to create music.

Week 3

Wednesday - Lesson 05

For many compositions, pitches are used that do not fall within the pitch range of the musical staff. With this lesson, you'll discover how to notate these pitches through the use of ledger lines.

Friday - Lesson 06

If you've wanted to learn how to play piano, you'll love this lesson. The focus is on learning the names of the keys on the keyboard. We'll match the pitches from the staff to the keyboard, so you'll be learning to read and play at the same time. By the end, you'll be able to read and play simple songs.

Week 4

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Today, you'll learn how to build major scales. The scale is the building block for composing a piece of music. You'll find out how to construct a scale on any pitch.

Friday - Lesson 08

This lesson introduces you to the names of each member of the scale. Knowing these names will enable you to discuss the functions and roles of each pitch in any key. These concepts have roots in ancient Greece, so you'll learn a little about those who have influenced how we create music.

Week 5

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Having covered major scales, today we'll examine the names of the major keys. You'll learn how to recognize the name of a key by the key signature. You'll also find out how to recognize a scale from the name of the key.

Friday - Lesson 10

In this lesson, we'll discuss the last musical element, harmony. We'll focus on creating more than one pitch at a time—the layering of musical pitches. We'll begin by looking at two simultaneous pitches, known as intervals.

Week 6

Wednesday - Lesson 11

We'll continue to explore intervals today, learning how to invert them, which is helpful when you work with chords. You'll also discover how to build three note chords, which are called triads.

Friday - Lesson 12

In this final lesson, we'll examine some of the simple relationships between triads. You'll learn how to identify which chord should be used for harmony in simple two chord progressions.

Requirements

Internet access, e-mail, and the and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and a computer equipped with speakers or headphones. This course is geared towards those who have no musical background, those who play but do not read music, or anyone who is interested in understanding the fundamentals of music.