Understanding the Fundamentals of Music - Great Course

Another one of the Great Courses is complete.


Course: Understanding the Fundamentals of Music
Instructor: Professor Robert Greenburg - San Francisco Performances

I have learned a smattering of "music theory" over the course of my life. I've been in one choir or another for most of my years since Grade 7, so I was bound to pick up some things. Then I took a couple years of piano from Ann while my kids were learning, so I got a bit more. But I had the opportunity to buy two courses for less than the price of one, and I really wanted the next course, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, so I bought this one, too.

I'm certainly glad I did.

Once again, limited by listening only, there were some aspects of music "theory" which were hard to pick up, but Dr. Greenburg designed his course knowing that many would be listening and not watching, so he stayed away from musical notation, and was still able to communicate Timbre, Pitch, Beat, Tempo, Meter and much more. I also heard about the history of western music, the birth of the orchestra, the tie to Pythagoras and mathematics, and the circle of fifths.

Oh, by the end, I was getting a bit lost with modulations because I didn't have the picture of the Circle in my head, and because the terminology does get quite technical, but I know I can go back to it and pick up the rest if I ever need it. In fact, Dr. Greenburg even suggested early on that he actually designs the courses to be heard multiple times. Personally, I think the early lectures stood well enough on their own I could probably skip them the second time (though I really did like the history that showed up there) but that might just be because I had picked up enough basic music knowledge before I ever started this course.

And, finally, I have to mention that the course is filled with marvelous examples of the concepts being taught. I felt tempted, at times, to stop the car and write down the name of the piece of music being used as an example, but I never did. I hope most of those will be used in the follow-on course, and then I can develop a wish-list of music I need to own.