Description
Welcome to the series of MOOCs: Solfege at your fingertips.
This series of free and online courses focuses on music theory and its practical application through solfege.
Music theory is often perceived as difficult to understand, and solfege is seen as a complex learning process. These courses aim to change this perspective by proposing a dynamic method that, from the start, associates music theory to the sounds it represents. The many video presentations will be accompanied by activities and exercises that will allow you to develop the skills needed to read musical texts.
High school music programs often focus on ensemble playing with less emphasis on music theory. Moreover, with many available music software options, it is easier to create music without mastering and understanding the mechanics of tonal music. This leads to losing out on all the richness of colors and the possibilities that it brings. Whether you want to pursue studies in music or you are an amateur musician, you can take your game up a notch by fully mastering the language of music!
- The first MOOC in this series will focus on writing the pitch of sounds, the names of notes and accidentals, as well as understanding intervals, i.e. the relationship between two notes.
- The second MOOC will focus on tonality, the major scale and the different minor scales.
- In the third MOOC, we will see the construction of 3 tone chords, 4 tone chords and tonal harmony.
- In the fourth MOOC, we will discover the writing of rhythms, simple and compound meters as well as simple and compound beats.
Preparation for music theory and dictation:
Throughout these courses, we will also offer you many solfege video capsules during which you can work on your sight reading with our students, as well as a series of video capsules where you will be guided step by step during musical dictations. These video capsules were prepared by Sylvie Ouellette, who has been teaching ear training for more than 20 years at Cégep Marie-Victorin. Each capsule will be accompanied by exercises. Thanks to this incredible tool, you will be able to put into practice all the theoretical notions learned and be ready for your auditions at CÉGEP or university.
We hope that this series will help you demystify music theory so that you can read a music sheet with as much pleasure as you might have in reading a good novel!
Course runs
MUSEN4
- Enrollment
- From Jan. 12, 2023 to ...
- Course
- From Jan. 12, 2023 to ...
- Languages
- English
Course team
Target audience
This series of courses is designed to prepare students for pre-university or university music programs, so that they can begin their studies with a solid foundation.
This course is designed for music enthusiasts as well. Whether they play an instrument, sing or compose music, they will learn to read and write music while mastering the mechanisms that structure it.
Course area
- Music
- Jazz and classical performance
- Composition
Content
Module 1 – The basics
The basics: Note shapes, rest shapes, the direction of stems, dotted notes and ties, pulse and the three types of meter
Module 2 – Time signature and the bar
Time signatures, simple and compound meters, the bar
Module 3 – Simple meters and simple pulsee
Time signatures in simple meters, division levels simple pulse, different divisions of a simple pulse, rhythmic patterns simple
Module 4 – Compound measures and compound pulse
Time signatures in compound measures, division levels compound pulse, rhythmic patterns compound
Module 5 – Odd meters, the triplet, the duplet
Credits
Project design
Matthieu Van Vliet I Music teacher
Department of Music, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Consultation, content review and validation
Sylvie Ouellette | Music teacher
Department of Music, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Caroline de Coninck | Coordinator
Centre de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Translation
Ron Rosenthall | Translator
Techno-pedagogical support
Fabien Brinjean | Education consultant
Centre de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Video production and offline editing
David Blain | Specialist in teaching methods and techniques
Audiovisual Department, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Design of interactive exercises
Alex Soucy I Master’s student in music performance
Faculty of Music, Université de Montréal
Media coverage – Centre de pédagogie universitaire team
Cédric Joyal | Media coverage designer
Video editing, programming and integration
David Baltazar | Graphic designer
Logo and preview
Quality control
Vincent Laberge | Techno-pedagogical assistant
Centre de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Acknowledgments
Luce Beaudet | Associate professor
Faculty of Music, Université de Montréal