Chevron Left
Back to Fundamentals of Music Theory

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Fundamentals of Music Theory by The University of Edinburgh

4.5
stars
1,775 ratings

About the Course

This course, revised in 2022, will introduce you to the theory of music, providing you with the skills needed to read and write Western music notation, as well as to understand, analyse, and listen informedly. It will cover material such as pitches and scales, intervals, clefs, rhythm, form, metre and time signatures, phrases and cadences, and basic harmony. This course covers the fundamentals of Western music theory, from the absolute basics to some more advanced concepts. As such, it delivers material for beginners and offers much to experienced musicians alike....

Top reviews

GE

Apr 1, 2021

Very good course which hammers home the essentials.

Good enthusiastic lecturing and importantly on completion progressed onto Coursera Musicianship Specialisation which I have now almost completed

SS

Aug 22, 2017

It was a very nice course. We were able to understand the basics of music theory and how the notations and chords work. Thank you so much to the entire staff of Edinburgh University and Coursera..:-)

Filter by:

426 - 450 of 570 Reviews for Fundamentals of Music Theory

By David G

Apr 10, 2018

Really helpful for getting a basic grasp of concepts that I've struggled with without really learning in other places. The final exam is somewhat of a departure from the course material though and requires a fair amount of self-learning to complete. But I'm thankful for the free course!

By Conor F

Jun 6, 2020

On the whole a good level of detail and introduces concepts nicely, however i think particularly in week 3 a lot is thrown at you with not much explanation. An addition I think would be useful is explaining how knowing certain things in music theory can help us make music.

By don e

Oct 18, 2020

The final exam seemed to be about things not covered in the course, but peer review of other students contributed to dispelling the ambiguity. What was covered provided a great over-all look at music theory and sets up a sound model for development of concepts.

By Lucia V

Nov 15, 2020

It's really difficult for the beginners. And you will have to search a lot on the Internet. I suggest students go straightforward to the final exam task, download the pdf-file and look at it carefully to get the idea of what is waiting at the end.

By George Z

Apr 22, 2022

The course for being Fundamental is challenging, so if you are a true beginner you have to review many times or even search for more information about the material to clarify a little bit more what they are explaining mainly after the first week.

By Mohammad A

Dec 16, 2022

The topics of the course was good, the course gives the basics of music theory but it was very difficult though. I have been playing the piano for 4 years , I had previous knowledge and I think if I hadn't that knowledge I wouldn't succeeded.

By Danila G

Oct 24, 2018

The explanations were not always clear nor sufficient for beginners in the part of Functional Harmomy (week 4), which probably should have been preceded by the (brilliant) explanation of Chords, Inversions and Cadences (week 5).

By Véronique G

Mar 4, 2021

Very interesting! A lot of theory but also practical examples for the harmony topic.

A lot of stuff in a very short time. And not always explained in the course.

The difficulty increases suddenly: stay motivated until the end!

By Grace C

Nov 5, 2021

The course material is not in depth or comprehensive enough. A lot of times I have to rely on other sources to understand some materials. The quizzes are quite useful because they show me there are gaps in my understanding.

By Gervasio G

Dec 23, 2019

Course was great. The main challenge seemed to be the big gap between the first 4 or 5 weeks and the analysis of a musical piece expected for the final exam. It would be nice to have a more guided path for that final task.

By Beryl O

Jul 15, 2017

More dfficult than i thought it would be especially week 5 and 6 which moves to complex concepts very quickly. A lot of content in week 5 which may be easier to digest if split? Otherwise a good challenging course!

By Donato P

May 3, 2021

An excellent and very challenging course for beginners like myself. I found the additional on-line recourses helpful to gain the understanding needed to successfully complete the course. Well worth the effort!

By Ishaan K

Oct 3, 2016

Very informative course. Teaches all the fundamentals till they're painfully obvious. It has helped me understand the skeletal structure of the music I listen to and has helped answer many questions. Thank you.

By Yasmine A M

Jul 21, 2017

Wow! The course is very rich! I never knew that music is so complicated.

The professors are really amazing, and they teach us verbal cues to memorize the complicated parts (Every good boy deserves fun!!)

By Iktan D l V

Oct 22, 2019

You need some knowledge on music before starting the course, some of the lectures and quizzes are too hard but it’s definitely worth it. I learned a LOT and I’m happy that I took this course!

By abdulrahman e

Nov 14, 2024

the course is good and the instructors are good, but the tests and exams are not compatible with the course material ( some questions in the exams are not mentioned in the course material )

By KARL K

Sep 9, 2023

Quite basic to start out, but got to reach by week five.

Basic introduction then interpret Beethoven was challenging.

Thr instructors, broken the material well.

Enjoyed, the course overall.

By Aristarkh T

Sep 27, 2020

Great course! Felt like a good overview of important basics. Most of the lectures are quite clear and descriptive. The parts on form and structure felt a bit rushed and condensed, though.

By Joshua H

Jan 7, 2018

This course moves just a little bit too fast for beginners. I think it needs to be spread out a little bit with further explanations for people who don't understand what they are saying.

By Alejandro G

Jul 23, 2020

I had no musical background and this was a challenging experience. I've learnt a lot in this course, I recommend it. I'm not giving it 5 stars because one of the weeks must be improved.

By Fabio S C

Nov 17, 2020

The course is quite challenging, since you have to complete the learning topics by investigating by the student. However this teach you not to give up, which brings great experience.

By Enrique H

Nov 19, 2020

This course has a lot of very interesting and useful information. I like the way the instructors handled it.

Looking forward for courses that can be like a continuation to this one.

By Aziz A

Oct 18, 2020

It was a fantastic course. I was introduced to the basic concepts and ideas in music theory. Even though the course was hard to keep up, it was a good experience overall. Thanks

By Chloe A G

Oct 17, 2016

This was a great class, but some of the information could have been more comprehensive, and some of the questions on the tests did not match the information from the lectures.

By 黄薇

Oct 12, 2016

Good for beginners, introduced basic theory systemly. But a few mistakes appeared, though corrected in the videos too, but better to clear them in the future shifts.