Free Music Classes

Online College Courses in Music

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Free music classes cover any musical subject you might hope to study: the history of music, genres, song lists, pop tunes, world music, or classical compositions. Whether you have no background in music, had a few piano lessons as a child, was in the high school band, or even was a music major at some time in the past, you can find free online music courses to stimulate your mind and increase your knowledge of the musical field.

Free Music Classes on the InternetIntroduction to Music Theory is an 8-hour course which gives you the basics of rhythmic metre, rhythmic values, pitch values, musical staves, clefs, and time signatures. This is equivalent to Grades 1 through 3 of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music theory exams and requires simple multiple choice answers.

Musical Composition teaches the composing of music for both instruments and voices. The original course presented at MIT required students to create one musical composition for a grade, so this should give you some idea how advanced this course is.

Introduction to Anglo-American Folk Music 

Schubert to Debussy is the history of classical music from the end of the Napoleonic Era in 1815 until 1915, when the 19th-century culture and attitudes that had lingered into the 20th century were shattered by the onset of World War I. This course covers some of the greatest music ever produced, from the bittersweet Austrian tunes of Franz Schubert to the turbulent, modernist tones of Claude Debussy. Included in the course are 35 composers, including Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, and Verdi.

Music 1900-1960 is a survey of Western concert music over a 60 year period of change in both musical forms and social conventions. The concert music of this period, with its atonality and dissonance, is often seen as alien compared to much older music like Beethoven and Mozart, so this course explores why that is. You'll also be exposed to mostly excellent examples of the music, so while it's not the main focus of the class, you'll build up a repository of music that you've studied.

Music Since 1960 covers the development of Western classical music from 1960 to the present. Among the subjects covered are the various influences of modern pop culture on concert music of the period, from rock to music videos to digital recording to video games to the Internet. Not only does this class study classical composers from many places around the globe, but it also studies how the composers, performers, and listeners have changed over that time.

More Free Online College Music Courses

You'll find a litany of no-charge online college classes that teach about music and musicians. It's hard to give the full scope of the various musical subjects you can cover on your computer at the house for free, but I wanted to point out a handful of other classes you can take to fill out your understanding and comprehension of great musical traditions from around the world.

  • Introduction to World Music
  • Music of India
  • Music of Africa
  • Early Music to 1680
  • Symphony and Concerto
  • The Supernatural in Music, Literature and Culture

In other words, if you can think of a musical subject, I can point you to a college course somewhere on the Internet you can take for free. Don't sit at the house wondering what it would be like to learn a little more about all the wonderful music that's been made in this world. Log onto a free online education program and take a musical course, instead.