Welcome to the MOOC series: Music theory at your fingertips.
This series of free, online courses focuses on music theory and its application through music theory.
Music theory is often perceived as difficult to understand, and music theory as complex to learn. These courses aim to change this perspective by offering a dynamic method that links music theory to the sounds it represents from the very beginning. In addition to the many animated videos that will be presented, activities and exercises will allow you to develop the necessary reflexes to read musical texts.
High school music programs are often focused on ensemble playing with less emphasis on music theory. Furthermore, with the numerous music software programs available, it is easier to create music without mastering and understanding the mechanisms of tonal music. It is thus to deprive oneself of all the richness of the colors and the possibilities that this one can bring. Whether you want to study music or are an amateur musician, you can take your playing to the next level by fully mastering the language of music!
This first MOOC of the series will focus on writing pitch, note names and accidentals, as well as understanding intervals, the relationship between two notes.
The second MOOC will cover tonality, the major scale, the different minor scales and tonal harmony.
The third MOOC will deal with the rhythmic writing of binary and ternary time.
The fourth and last MOOC, (to come) will be a synthesis of all the theory seen previously and its practical application by reading and writing complete musical texts integrating melody and rhythm.
We hope that this series will help you demystify music theory and bring you to read a score with as much pleasure as you would have reading a good novel!
Welcome to the first MOOC in the series: Music theory at your fingertips
This course is designed to prepare students for admission to a pre-university or university music program, so that they can begin their studies with a solid foundation.
This course is designed for those who are passionate about music. Whether they play an instrument, sing or compose music, they will learn to read and write music while mastering the mechanisms that structure it.
Matthieu Van Vliet | Professor
Department of Music, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Alex Soucy | Student at the Master of Music Interpretation
Faculty of Music, Université de Montréal
Caroline de Coninck | Pedagogical Advisor
Center de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Sylvie Ouellette | Music teacher
Music Department, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Luce Beaudet | Associate Professor
Faculty of Music, Université de Montréal
David Blain | Specialist in teaching aids and techniques
Audiovisual Service, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Cédric Joyal | Media Designer
Center de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
David Baltazar | Graphic Designer
Center de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Jean-Christophe Schaffner | Graphic designer
Center de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Robert Gérin-Lajoie | EDUlib Coordinator
Center de pédagogie universitaire, Université de Montréal
Thanks to Jonathan Ménard and the students of Cégep Marie-Victorin for their precious collaboration
The contents of this course are available under the Creative Commons license "CC BY-NC-ND".
This course is a collaboration between the Music Department of Cégep Marie-Victorin and the Faculty of Music and the Centre de pédagogie universitaire of the Université de Montréal.