Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Music of the Beatles by University of Rochester

Excellent

Amazing!

Very fun

TQ

U

E

I was 17 in 1963 and had just started playing guitar in a band with friends in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Before the release of Love Me Do we pretty much copied Cliff Richard and the Shadows who were the big thing in the UK at that time. Love Me Do smouldered in the charts but Please Please Me led to an explosion. We were in the 2nd front row of the stalls at the Glasgow Odeon for the Beatles 1964 winter tour which consisted of a number of acts culminating with the Beatles who were on for about 20 minutes. I've never experienced anything like it -- pure hysteria and that was just the men!! We couldn't hear a thing above the screaming -- they could have been singing anything.I enjoyed this course having lived through the times myself. I enjoyed John's style and found him to be thoughtful, informative and pretty accurate for an American who presumably only became aware of the Beatles after the Ed Sullivan Show. The only real weakness is no music and no lyrics. Now Beatles music is freely available on iTunes surely Universities can negotiate the ability to include this in their courses.

Best wishes from Bill Murray

Hi, first of all thanks to Prof. Covach for your actions towards spreading knowledge about The Beatles and his contribution to human culure. As a mexican that always lived in Mexico , i grew up listening to then and, such as Prof. KOvach said, when someone ask me how or where i learnt english my answer always is " John Paul, George and Ringo". I know some maybe dissapointed about a lack of a deeper analysis on the music but for me, as a begginer musician with basic knowledge it was great, opened my eyes and expanded my ears to understand how songs and album are constructed. Wonderful experience

The instructor was clearly enthusiastic, but was sometimes difficult to follow; so, I usually read the transcriptions as he spoke. I found him to be jumping from one topic to another often enough that I found it distracting and disruptive to the flow of the lesson (i.e., saying, something such as "but I'll come back to that later" and so on). Despite this, I found this to be a really interesting course and enjoyed learning things I did not know, and being reminded of those things and the songs, that I did know. Thanks!

I enjoyed the course although the lack of being able to listen to the actual songs because of copyright was a bit disappointing. I did find the transcripts contained many spelling errors - Beetles, The Monkeys (Monkees), ten pan alley (Tin Pan Alley etc). Overall though a very enjoyable discussion on the music of the Beatles and side notes on the roles of Brian Epstein, George Martin etc.

The pacing of the course is uneven. It is quite light in the beginning to get you going and then get much heavier near the end. The quizzes are simple and very difficult to fail. As long as you keep notes that you can review you'll be fine. I do have a better understanding of Beatles music after taking this course. It would be nice to have media included but I understand why it isn't.

I didn't think that a course whitout any music could be insteresting and actually the main reason to continue was "The Beatles". How wrong I was.

Mr. Covach let me say congratulations it's a beatiful course. You're very sensible about all "The Beatles" atmosphere. Thank you so much.

I'm recommend this course for anyone who wants to get deep in The Beatles Music and life.

Always a pleasure learning with Professor Covach. I learned a lot and I'm even hungry to learn more with this awesome instructor! The sound quality was a bit rusty in some sessions and Professor Covach was a bit concerned about the copy right issues more than usual. But in the end I don't regret a second spending on this course and learning.

An excellent overview of the Fab Four's career, with a focus on the songwriting. It would be better if the real music and lyrics could be used and if there were more video and anecdotes incorporated into the storytelling (even if it wasn't the Beatles themselves, but other voices lending their thoughts).

Un curso sobre la música de THE BEATLES sin apartes musicales o de video se torna aburrido en algunas lecciones ya que tiene el estudiante que cambiar de página web (sea you tube, spotify etc.) para escuchar las canciones y entender las explicaciones que el profesor detallaba.

En contenido excelente.

I would have loved to see pictures or accompanying video (but I understand there are copyright laws as discussed in the beginning... It is a shame that it couldn't be used for educational purposes though hehe. Good thing I have all the Beatles music at hand anyways.)

Muy buen curso, aprendí bastante y logré dimensionar el avance la música a través de la experiencia de los Beatles. Me hubiese gustado oír un poco más en cuanto al trabajo de George Martin o Geoff Emerick, pero en general el curso está genial!

The course is definitely impacted negatively by the complete absence of Beatles music and by the inability of the instructor to state any of the lyrics. But the instructor is very good.

Very good history of the Beatles and their style of music.

A little more about the Beatles lives and their travel dates over the years would have been added interest.

Excellent course, maybe it should go deeper in composition, beside the analysis of form. Harmony for instance. Thanks a lot, it was a thrill.

Had lots of fun, great course. Good insight into the history of the Beatles, now I can enjoy the albums in a new light, Thank you Professor.

Some information does get complicated. While I understand about copyright laws, it's a shame we couldn't listen to examples. Thank you.

The course is great and it helps me in understanding and appreciating their music.

Muy interesante, en especial para quienes amamos la música de los Beatles.

Very interesting course, especially if you are interested in the Beatles.