Delve into the inner workings of Western tonal music through 18 enjoyable and revealing lessons taught…
Most music follows a similar set of rules. Itâs the grammar of musical language.
Institution: Texas Christian University School of Music
Alma mater: Florida State University
Music has a phenomenal power to move, transport, and delight us. Across numerous styles and formsâfrom the iconic masterpieces of the classical tradition to genres such as jazz, rock, pop, and folkâgreat music expresses the inexpressible, speaks across time and cultures, and galvanizes audiences across the world. And the more we understand about music, the more we appreciate it, and a knowledge of music theory is the best place to start.
Music may be the most abstract of the arts, as its sonic language is a spectrum of tones, but it has a highly organized structure, a structure that allows for both its form and its meaning. In fact, the great expressive capacity of music and its ability to captivate us and to deeply communicate is rooted in its organized structure and how that structure is used creatively by composers, as well as by performers.
A clear knowledge of the theory of musicâthe âhowâ of musicâoffers you insight into:
In Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music, youâll delve into the inner workings of Western tonal music through 18 enjoyable and revealing lessons taught by Professor Sean Atkinson of Texas Christian University. Professor Atkinson, an eminent music theorist and teacher, makes music theory refreshingly clear and accessible, demystifying the skill of reading music as well as the principles of musical analysis. Using a highly interactive approach, he orients the lessons to an understanding of how music creates its remarkable effects, both formally and expressively, and how this understanding benefits us as listeners and players.
At the heart of these lessons lies the ability to read music as a tool for understanding what you hear and for deepening your enjoyment in listening, as well as for playing music. As you learn, step by step, to read and understand the written score, youâll see the structure of the music and how the music unfolds on the page. Youâll also see how musical tones are written down in the form of notes, with each note having a rhythmic value, showing how long the note lasts in time. And youâll study how rhythm and meter work in music, how the key element of musical harmony functions, how a musical score is performed, and much more. With highly valuable insights for both listeners and instrumentalists, these 18 engaging lessons will teach you to become literate in the language of music.
Discover the Inner Structure of Musical Expression
As you develop your skills in reading and understanding the score, youâll explore the essential elements of musical form, structure, and composition, such as:
Enjoy Literacy in the Language of Music
Throughout the course, Professor Atkinsonâs spirited and approachable teaching style makes for a thoroughly compelling and fun excursion into music theory and its applications. He illustrates the elements of musical form and structure with recorded examples from great works by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Robert and Clara Schumann, as well as excerpts from jazz, rock, and other musical genres, showing how the principles of tonal music apply within different musical forms. Extensive onscreen graphics clearly illustrate the musical elements under discussion, making the material easy to follow and directly graspable. A special course workbook provides many additional resources for study and practice.
A particularly special feature of this course is a live session with a working jazz pianist, who plays several jazz classics, interpreting the songs using only chords and a melody line. Here you witness musical improvisation in action, and its relevance to understanding musical form and expression.
Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music offers you an adventure in listening, a richly insightful inquiry that will deepen your appreciation and enjoyment of one of our worldâs most sublime art forms.
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