Hello everyone,

Richard and I got together today and made a quick extra video to talk through the peer review marking.  Hopefully this will be useful as an extra resource to help you as you mark your allocation:

*** CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO ***

Or view on Youtube (smaller file size) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7HLXvrCdqo

You know where we are if you need us.

Good luck!

Sun 13 Sep 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello,

I have just posted some extra Google Hangout recordings.  These were made last year however, the content will hopefully be useful to some.

https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/wiki/Google_Hangout_Recordings 

Hope all is going well with the final assessment.

All the best,

Z

Thu 10 Sep 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

Believe it or not, we are now into the 6th week of the course and the final assessment is now open.  To get to it, just click on 'FINAL ASSESSMENT' in the menu bar.  The assessment for this course takes the following form (NB, this is different to last year):

1. End of Course Exam - Part 1 (to be completed by the 14th of September). 
This is a number of multiple choice questions related to specific elements of a given piece of sheet music. You will be permitted 3 attempts at this part of the assessment and your best attempt (i.e. highest grade) will count towards your exam score. 

2. End of Course Exam - Part 2 (to be completed by the 14th of September) 
This is a number of questions that require discursive answers to questions about the same piece of sheet music. These answers will be peer reviewed and your mark for this part of the exam will be the median score awarded by your peers.

3. Evaluate the work of three of your peers (to be completed by the 21st of September) 
This is a mandatory component of the assessment and you will not receive a grade if you fail to complete this element of the exam.  You will be provided with detailed exam criteria in order to complete your reviews.

Good luck everyone!

The Fundamentals of Music Theory Team

Mon 7 Sep 2015 12:31 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

I have posted an extra video that may be useful for thinking about modulations.  Hopefully it'll be useful to some of you.

https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/lecture/165

You ou know where we are if you have any questions.

good luck.

z

Wed 2 Sep 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello Everyone,

The material for week 5 is now live. We cant believe that we are entering the final week of lectures - time flies when you're having fun!

Remember that, in addition to the excellent forums, the community is also very lively on Twitter (@musictheorymooc) and in the Facebook group.  The course team are also very actively involved in these areas so please feel free to use us as a source of support.

We're looking forward to week 5 and hope you are too.

All the best,

The Fundamentals of Music Theory team.

Sun 30 Aug 2015 11:30 PM CEST

Mon 24 Aug 2015 11:41 AM CEST

Mon 24 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Sat 22 Aug 2015 12:24 AM CEST

Wed 19 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

Some people have suggested that they might like to hear how some of the rhythms sound.  So, here's an extra video that provides some audio examples along with a visual representation of the rhythms so you can listen and follow at the same time.  Again, this is a quick rough screen-capture video but it should be perfectly suitable for you to get an idea of the note durations and how they sound when played:

https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/lecture/155

Hope this is useful to some of you!

Tue 18 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

We hope you have had a good weekend and that you are looking forward to week 3 of the 'Fundamentals of Music Theory'.  It is hard to believe that we are entering the 3rd week already.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Please remember to get involved with your fellow learners in the course forums and social media for the course (Facebook group and Twitter page).  These are all wonderful places to discuss ideas, share interesting findings, ask for help and, indeed, to develop your knowledge in this area.

Also, we would like to remind you to take our survey if you haven't already done so.  This is a short questionnaire relating to this course and your own background in this area and the results are completely anonymous.  We'd love to hear from you if you have some time - it will only take a couple of minutes.

Good luck with this week's materials.  We hope you enjoy it and we look forward to chatting with you in the forums and on social media.

All the best,

The Fundamentals of Music Theory Team

Mon 17 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

Hope you're enjoying week 2 of the course.  

After the positive feedback last week, I think it may be helpful to hold another Google Hangout to cover the week 2 material.  The event page is here: http://bit.ly/fomtweek2hangout

I think it would be really useful if people joined in live (i.e. To appear on screen in a live tutorial) so if you would like to participate this way then please let me know.  Also, if you have any specific questions that you would like answered or topics that you want me to cover then get in touch.

All the best,

Zack

Thu 13 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello,

For those of you who would like some more information on how to work out key signatures, I have posted another wee instructional video:

https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/lecture/151

Hope it helps but just let us know if you need any further clarication.

Thu 13 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello,

I have noticed that people are thinking about intervals and either looking for some clarification on how to identify them or, indeed, just looking for some practice in doing so.  If you are looking for ways to practice then I would suggest http://www.musictheory.net as it has some exercises that are great for this.  In the mean time, I have posted an extra video that is essentially just me talking through the process and providing some examples.  It is just a quick screen recording tutorial but it may be useful for some people to see some intervals and hear some thoughts on how to identify them.  It is in the week 2 video materials but here is a direct link:

https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/lecture/153

Hope you're all enjoying week 2 and that this video is useful.

Tue 11 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

Welcome to week 2 of the 'Fundamentals of Music Theory'!

We hope you enjoyed week 1 and that you are looking forward to this week's material, which is now available for you!  Remember that all the videos and lecture notes from week 1 will still be available on the course page so please remember to go back to these if there are any areas that you would like to revise.

If you have been engaging with the forums and the social media for this course you will, no doubt, have noticed that there is a wide range of ability and experience amongst the students on this course.  This is wonderful and we are very pleased to be working with such a diverse group of learners.  If you are one of the students who has less experience and completely new to this subject then please don't worry, you are not alone and there is a great deal of resources and support for you on the site, in the forums and the lively social media (Facebook group and Twitter).  As you know, more videos and lecture notes will be released each week so take things step-by-step.  Remember, you can watch the videos as many times as you like.

We look forward to working with you this week!  

All the best,

The Fundamentals of Music Theory Team

Mon 10 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

I have been dipping in an out of the forums today and have noticed that some people want more practical demonstrations of the modes and how they sound in relation to each other.  Last year, Richard and recorded a wee video to show this and it struck me that it may be helpful for people this year too.  The sound quality isn't great and the playing is a bit off but hopefully it will be useful.

You can find the video in the 'Video Lectures' tab in the menu but here is a direct link: https://class.coursera.org/musictheory-002/lecture/149

Just get in touch if you have any questions.

Zack

Thu 6 Aug 2015 1:00 AM CEST

Hello everyone,

We are very excited about the Fundamentals of Music Theory course and looking forward to its launch on Monday. Here's a few points of interest:

1. When the course opens on Monday (this will happen at 10am UK time), you will have access to the videos and supplementary material for the first week of the course. The videos and supplementary materials for each subsequent week will become available each following Monday by 9am UK time.
2. We have noted some suggested reading for this course (click here for information). We would like to underline that these are simply suggested texts that may be useful to you while undertaking this course. These are not required for the course and are not 'companion texts'. Everything you need to complete this course is contained within the videos and the supplementary materials.
3. We've been chatting with many members of the class on Twitter already, feel free to join the conversation if you wish - tweet using hashtag #edmusictheory or contact us: @musictheorymooc 
4. Finally, we'd like to ask you to add yourself to our map so we can all see the geographical spread of the people taking part in this course. This is a fun way to see where people are participating from and it may be useful to you to see if there are any fellow learners working near you - you may even way to arrange a meet-up or study group, for example.
   
   When the course opens on Monday, we'd like you to click 'Add yourself to our map' in the menu on left hand side of the screen.  From there you will have some further instructions and will be able to add yourself to our interactive map.  Please provide as much information as possible.

You'll receive another email once the Fundamentals of Music Theory course opens on Monday at 10am UK time.

All the best and good luck with the course.

The Fundamentals of Music Theory Team

Wed 29 Jul 2015 2:00 PM CEST

Hello everyone,

We are delighted to announce that the Fundamentals of Music Theory course is now live so you can start watching this week's lecture and getting involved with the forums etc.  You're part of a group of learners that now numbers approximately 70,000 people and keeps rising! A couple of things to bear in mind:

1. Please take a moment to add yourself to our map. You'll see this option in the menu on the left hand side of the screen and instructions are on the same page. This is a great way for us all to start engaging with each other and to see the geographical spread of all the learners.
2. You can get to know us a bit by clicking on 'meet the team'.
3. We will be monitoring the forums and social media as well as adding more information to the course and other pages as we progress.
4. Remember to read the Grading and Logistics page to familiarise yourself with the way that the assessed elements of the course work.
5. Finally, please remember that one hugely beneficial aspect of this online course is the fact that you are part of a massive community of learners from all over the world. Take the opportunity to get involved in the forums and the social media. Your peers and the community that you are a part of will be extremely useful for support, sharing knowledge, discussing tests, having fun, and maybe even meeting up offline for study groups.

Join the Facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/MusicTheoryCoursera/

Follow us on twitter: @musictheorymooc
Join the conversation: #edmusictheory

We are really excited about this course and delighted by the number of people who have signed up. We are looking forward to working with you all.

Good luck with the course.

All the best,

The Fundamentals of Music Theory Team

Mon 14 Jul 2014 1:00 AM CEST