In this course we will learn about and discuss the essentials of music theory. Our primary goal in the course is to thoroughly explore basic music theory so, as an aspiring musician, you will be able to easily progress to more advanced theory. Music history and the physics of sound are included to the extent that they shed light on music theory. Remember, the main premise of this course is that a better understanding of where the basics come from will lead to better and faster comprehension of more complex ideas.

It also helps to remember, however, that music theory is a bit like grammar. Languages are invented by the people who speak them, who tend to care more about what is easy and what makes sense than about following rules. Later, experts study the best speakers and writers in order to discover how they use language. These language theorists then make up rules that clarify grammar and spelling and point out the relationships between words. Those rules are only guidelines based on patterns discovered by the theoreticians, which is why there are usually plenty of "exceptions" to every rule. Attempts to develop a new language by first inventing the grammar and spelling never seem to result in a language that people find useful.

Source: Schmidt-Jones, Catherine. Understanding Basic Music Theory. Connexions. 10 Jan. 2007 (http://cnx.org/content/col10363/1.3/).

This Week's Video

We're using interactive video in this class! Your task: view the video embedded below and provide at least a few questions or comments as the video plays. Please be sure to complete this task prior to Wednesday's lecture.

Note: When re-watching the first video, you might skip ahead to approximately 4:45 to avoid introduction stuff and get straight to heart of the materials!