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You too can learn music!
Jan. 11th, 2014 11:11 amWell, it's that time again... The Berklee College of Music in Boston is offering, free through Coursera, a set of music related courses, all starting on January 27th, 2014:
Introduction to Guitar ("no musical experience or ability to read music is required")
Songwriting ("no prior songwriting or musical experience is necessary")
Introduction to Music Production (software will be provided, some experience with audio software is helpful, but he goes over the basics anyway)
Jazz Improvisation (with Gary Burton! ... you need to be able to play an instrument, read some music, and have done a bit of basic improvisation)
So, if you've ever wanted to learn, the only investment you need to make is your time (well, and a guitar if you want to take the guitar course)... all the classes on Coursera are completely free (although you can pay them to participate in the "signature track" on certain courses that will provide you with an "identity verified" certificate if you complete the course to prove that you did it yourself... otherwise, you will only get a personalized "statement of accomplishment" if you finish).
As an important note to anyone who has taken an online course before (but not a Coursera course), Coursera is a completely different beast. The courses are not "canned", but taught "live" with recorded lectures with definite start and end dates, massive multi-user online forum discussions as one of the key ways of learning, participation by the professor and TAs in the forums to answer questions that can't be solved with peer interaction, submission of your work for calibrated peer assessment (you will also have to assess the work of others during the assessment phase), etc.. I've taken many dozens of online courses over the years, and the Coursera courses are the first that have ever managed to engage me in the learning process. All this to say that if you have done online courses before and suffered cataclysmic boregasms, Coursera is something new and interesting (and revolutionary, imho) that is worth getting in on while it's still fresh.
P.S. I have signed up for the Songwriting class, and I have already completed the Introduction to Music Production class and loved it: the prof is dynamic and enthusiastic and knows how to leverage digital content channels (e.g. forums, Twitter, etc.) and teach an online course.
P.P.S. For anyone who wants to learn music theory, including reading music, chord structures, etc., this site has free lessons: musictheory.net.
Introduction to Guitar ("no musical experience or ability to read music is required")
Songwriting ("no prior songwriting or musical experience is necessary")
Introduction to Music Production (software will be provided, some experience with audio software is helpful, but he goes over the basics anyway)
Jazz Improvisation (with Gary Burton! ... you need to be able to play an instrument, read some music, and have done a bit of basic improvisation)
So, if you've ever wanted to learn, the only investment you need to make is your time (well, and a guitar if you want to take the guitar course)... all the classes on Coursera are completely free (although you can pay them to participate in the "signature track" on certain courses that will provide you with an "identity verified" certificate if you complete the course to prove that you did it yourself... otherwise, you will only get a personalized "statement of accomplishment" if you finish).
As an important note to anyone who has taken an online course before (but not a Coursera course), Coursera is a completely different beast. The courses are not "canned", but taught "live" with recorded lectures with definite start and end dates, massive multi-user online forum discussions as one of the key ways of learning, participation by the professor and TAs in the forums to answer questions that can't be solved with peer interaction, submission of your work for calibrated peer assessment (you will also have to assess the work of others during the assessment phase), etc.. I've taken many dozens of online courses over the years, and the Coursera courses are the first that have ever managed to engage me in the learning process. All this to say that if you have done online courses before and suffered cataclysmic boregasms, Coursera is something new and interesting (and revolutionary, imho) that is worth getting in on while it's still fresh.
P.S. I have signed up for the Songwriting class, and I have already completed the Introduction to Music Production class and loved it: the prof is dynamic and enthusiastic and knows how to leverage digital content channels (e.g. forums, Twitter, etc.) and teach an online course.
P.P.S. For anyone who wants to learn music theory, including reading music, chord structures, etc., this site has free lessons: musictheory.net.
