SS
22. Aug. 2017
It was a very nice course. We were able to understand the basics of music theory and how the notations and chords work. Thank you so much to the entire staff of Edinburgh University and Coursera..:-)
GE
1. Apr. 2021
Very good course which hammers home the essentials.
Good enthusiastic lecturing and importantly on completion progressed onto Coursera Musicianship Specialisation which I have now almost completed
von Ruarai M
•29. Jan. 2019
Excellent!
von Daniel W
•23. Aug. 2018
Very nice.
von Eugene E
•16. Mai 2018
Excellent!
von JAVIER R A
•6. Nov. 2022
Genial!!
von Vicente B
•26. Apr. 2022
excellent
von Emmanuel c o
•21. März 2018
i love it
von Guillermo Á M C
•26. Okt. 2017
¡Gracias!
von Wam R
•3. Juli 2017
Loving it
von Yvonne C
•30. März 2017
仔细、认真、全面。
von Sarah G d S
•24. Feb. 2019
Exelent!
von Stella K
•21. Dez. 2017
Thank yo
von Антон Ю
•24. Juni 2017
Perfect!
von Pyro
•4. Nov. 2021
Amezing
von Maria V C
•19. Sep. 2018
amazing
von Nomit N
•14. Juni 2017
superbb
von andres b
•19. Jan. 2017
Gracias
von Marlena B
•9. Sep. 2016
Super!
von Akhil18 V
•28. Juli 2019
good
von Hai y
•8. Juni 2018
TQ
von Gregor M
•5. Jan. 2021
What began as a passing interest in improving my scant knowledge of music theory became a full on obsession by the end of this course. I was staying up until 9pm over my Christmas break, taking and re-taking quizzes and studying cadences, secondary dominants and modulation. Who would've known? Certainly not me when I began!
For me, playing music is a hobby. I've never studied it, taken graded exams or anything of that sort. I saw 'fundamentals of music theory', free of charge, and thought it would be a good place to start. A word of advice: this is certainly not for beginner musicians.
My only criticism of the course would be that the end of unit quizzes, and final exam, are a VERY steep climb from the comparatively pedestrian level of instruction (barring the rhythm section, which required a lot of further study to get my head around).
The formula seems to go: crawl (teach concept), baby steps (watch demonstration of concept), Olympic 100-metre sprint (answer university level questions). If you have the time and dedication to put into this course the rewards are plenty. You can take end of unit quizzes as many times as you would like, meaning the challenge just about meets the pace of learning.
I am thoroughly pleased with the time I put into this course, and I am excited to go back to my instruments (saxophone and guitar) armed with a greater understanding of these fundamentals, and indeed more complex concepts, of music theory.
von Alison C
•6. Juli 2020
Most of the course was delivered at a suitable pace, with plenty of examples. The one week where my eyes glazed over was week 3 (I think) which was all about time values of notes, etc. Fortunately, I already read music, and so managed to pass the assessment. Otherwise I think I'd have struggled. Even so, some of the questions really stretched my brain - many of them were NOT normal rhythms!
I felt that one or two of the questions in the final exam were quite complicated - cases where we were to disregard "passing notes" for instance, which was something I felt wasn't really covered in the course, and the one about "phrasing structure" (but that may have been in week 3).
In short, I'm not sure it's the FUNDAMENTALS (which to me means the basics) of music theory, but after well over 40 years of being able to read music, and over 20 singing in choirs, I finally understand the structures and names of chords, and simple progressions, and can work out an accompaniment for a simple tune, which was absolutely what I wanted to achieve. Thank you!
von Răzvan M
•27. Nov. 2016
I am absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to study the fundamentals of music theory from a prestigious university such as The University of Edinburgh for free online. I extend my most sincere gratitude to Coursera and the professors teaching the course for making this possible. The course makes it very easy to build knowledge going from week to week. The assignments are all challenging. In this way this course encourages studying to understand the concepts. I have attended the course as a beginner in music theory, having encountered only some very elementary concepts earlier. I have found all the teachers to be very pleasant and very clear in their explanations. I have given 4 stars to this course because I would have liked to learn more from the professors on some topics which were very briefly mentioned. Some of the courses have external links to Wikipedia instead of a more clear explanation. This are however the exception and not the rule. The majority of the course is well taught and presented.
von Neil S
•14. Nov. 2018
I have played rock guitar for years, but have a gap in basic theory. This course was a good choice for me - it starts with real basics such as what pitch and duration are and how they are noted, but moves very quickly to multiple staves, chords, harmonies, cadences and chord progressions.
A couple of the video lectures are very informative and worth watching more than once. The added "home" video made by one of the instructors working through various chord progressions and added later stands out as worth watching more than once.
I would have liked more support for understanding chord progressions, modulation and cadences in the written materials. The examples given are useful, but I didn't feel quite ready for the analysis skills expected of me in the final exam. Still, I learned a lot, and very happy that I took this course. I haven't magically gained ability to sight read, but the extra practice made me feel that it would be in reach if I wanted.
von Carolyñea L
•5. Aug. 2021
I found the course very challenging, it started off very exciting still challenging but by the 2 week the work became very inundated. I was very grateful for for the ability to extend your deadline datesand having former knowledge & music experience . Be cautious with using your extentions also because then at the end with part 2 of your final, you run the risk of not having someone to grade your final leading you to have to wait for the next group. Keep in mind you have to complete the course in 180 days. This course you must have some knowledge of music and an instrustrament, I disagree that this course is for beginners,especially if you never took music intro. Other wise course was very exhilarating when it came to challenge, well at least for me. The instructors were very clear with their instruction with exception of 1
von Elizabeth T
•10. Apr. 2020
Excellent course.
Less than excellent quizzes and final exam. There is an enormous gap between the material presented in the lectures, both in terms of format and information, and the various assessments.
I am an advanced-level amateur pianist and read music easily. I recognized the Beethoven sonata movement which was used for the final exam, and could play it as I considered the exam questions. It would certainly be helpful for students to know which composition they are analyzing. Perhaps the instructors might consider providing the title? (The choice of this sonata for the final exam is a little puzzling, though, since the musical examples in the lectures were mostly simple popular songs.)
Still I want to stress that this is a high-quality course on a complex subject. The professors are knowledgeable and articulate.