Online Courses > Music > Music Fundamentals > Have fun learning music basics! No-Anxiety Music Theory.
4.4 out of 5
4.4
11 reviews on Udemy

Have fun learning music basics! No-Anxiety Music Theory.

Learn to understand the elements of music theory and how they fuse, unite and partner to become the music we love.
Instructor:
William Neely
662 students enrolled
English [Auto-generated]
Section 1 includes a short history of Rock and Roll and relates these component elements to the styles that make up rock and roll and its predecessors.
In 25 lectures, you will learn the component parts of music—rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, form, etc.

If you would like to be able to look at sheet music without feeling intimidated, understand how guitar chords work, learn your choral music more quickly, this course will help you. This course is a detailed primer in music basics. Taught by Bill Neely, who developed the Udemy course, Adventures in Classical Music, a comprehensive history of classical music.

Beginning with a short history of Rock and Roll, this course first identifies the component elements of music—rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, tempo, dynamics, and form. Then, it goes on to show how those elements come together to create music—any music whether a pop song or a classical symphony.

The Elements of Music: Introduction

1
1.1 Introduction

Learn music basics: Look at sheet music without feeling intimidated, know how to read music, improve your choral comprehension, understand how guitar chords work...

2
1.21 History of Rock and Roll, part 1 (1 of 3)

Part 1 of 3: a brief history of Rock and Roll, presented to illustrate how key elements of music contribute to the song's musical language and overall style.

3
1.22 History of Rock and Roll, part 2 (2 of 3)

Part 2 of 3: a brief history of Rock and Roll, presented to illustrate how key elements of music contribute to the song's musical language and overall style.

4
1.23 History of Rock and Roll, part 3 (3 of 3)

Part 3 of 3: a brief history of Rock and Roll, presented to illustrate how key elements of music contribute to the song's musical language and overall style.

The Elements of Music: Rhythm, Meter and Melody

1
1.41 Elements and Rhythm (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2: The first of the musical elements to be discussed is rhythm. What is rhythm?

2
1.42 Elements and Rhythm (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2: The first of the musical elements to be discussed is rhythm. What is rhythm?

3
2.1 Rhythm, part 2

What is meter and how is it related to rhythm? Simple meter is discussed first.

4
2.2 Compound Meter

Continuing our discussion of meter: compound meter

5
2.31 Additive meter and misc (1 of 3)

Part 1 of 2: Additive meter and miscellaneous rhythmic devices.

6
2.32 Additive meter and misc (2 of 3)

Part 2 of 3: Additive meter and miscellaneous rhythmic devices.

7
2.33 Additive meter and misc (3 of 3)

Part 3 of 3: Additive meter and miscellaneous rhythmic devices.

8
2.41 Characteristics of Melody (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2: What makes up a melody?

9
2.42 Characteristics of Melody (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2: What makes up a melody?

10
2.51 Melody and Notation (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2: Preliminaries on how music is notated.

11
2.52 Melody and Notation (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2: Preliminaries on how music is notated.

The Elements of Music: Melodic structure; Harmony and Texture

1
3.11 Melody Structure and Harmony (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. There is a structure to every melody. Here we look at melodic structure in greater depth.

2
3.12 Melody Structure and Harmony (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. There is a structure to every melody. Here we look at melodic structure in greater depth.

3
3.21 Harmony and Phrase Structure (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. Here we look at how harmony and melodic phrases work together.

4
3.22 Harmony and Phrase Structure (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. Here we look at how harmony and melodic phrases work together.

5
3.31 Harmonic Progressions (1)

Part 1 of 2. What is functional harmony and how does it relate to phrase structure?

6
3.32 Harmonic Progressions (2)

Part 2 of 2. What is functional harmony and how does it relate to phrase structure?

7
Texture (non-musical)

What is Texture?

8
3.41 Musical Texture (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. How the idea of “texture” applies to music.

9
3.42 Musical Texture (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. How the idea of “texture” applies to music.

Musical Timbre

1
4.1 Timbre and the human voice
2
4.2 Instruments of the orchestra

in which we explore the colors of the orchestral instruments.

3
4.3 The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Composer Benjamin Britten wrote a set of orchestral variations on a theme written by Henry Purcell, in which he highlights the instruments of the orchestra.

4
5.11 Musical Form (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. How music can be structured.

5
5.12 Musical Form (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. How music can be structured.

6
5.21 Building Blocks of Form (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. Musical devices used in constructing a musical form.

7
5.22 Building Blocks of form (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. Musical devices used in constructing a musical form.

8
5.3 Bringing all the elements together
9
5.4 Ravel’s Bolero

Reading Music

1
S1 Pitch and Notation

An in-depth look at how pitch is notated.

2
S2.1 Accidentals and Key Signature (1 of 2)

Part 1 of 2. accidentals and key signatures made easy

3
S2.2 Accidentals and Key Signature (2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2. accidentals and key signatures made easy

4
S3 Rhythmic Values of Notes

How the lengths of notes are notated.

5
S4.1 making Music—Pitch and Rhythm come together (1 0f 2)

Part 1 of 2. Synthesis of the elements to create the music we love.

6
S4.2 making Music—Pitch and Rhythm come together (2 0f 2)

Part 2 of 2. Synthesis of the elements to create the music we love.

In Conclusion

1
Wrap-Up

What have we learned?

You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.
Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don't have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That's up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!
4.4
4.4 out of 5
11 Ratings

Detailed Rating

Stars 5
8
Stars 4
1
Stars 3
0
Stars 2
2
Stars 1
0
a2dd4456b07ca5e24645cc39f09ad9cb
Get on Udemy
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Includes

5 hours on-demand video
Full lifetime access
Access on mobile and TV
Certificate of Completion