Develop your skills as a musician . Deepen your understanding of music theory to develop your skills as a musician.

4.9

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1,176 ratings

George W. Russell, Jr.

Top Instructor

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Offered By

Developing Your Musicianship SpecializationBerklee College of Music

What you will learn

Aurally identify musical intervals, chords, and chord progressions
Write and practice major and minor scales in a variety of keys
Compose a 12-bar blues with a melody
Define and discuss harmonic function and modal interchange

Skills you will gain

Scales
Music
Chord
Jazz
Music theory
Aurally identify chords
Piano
Read lead sheets
Aurally identify musical intervals
Read music notation
Music Performance
Music composition

About this Specialization

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Nurture your love for, and understanding of, music with this specialization. Learn the fundamentals of music theory, including major and minor tonalities, chord scales, song forms, and chord qualities. You’ll also practice training your ear to hear and recognize various intervals, chord progressions, and chord qualities. For the Capstone project, you will directly apply the knowledge you’ve gained to write and perform a short musical composition. This specialization begins with the basics of music and builds to more advanced concepts, providing you the knowledge you need to improve your skills as a musician.

Applied Learning Project

In the capstone course, you will write and perform a 24-measure musical composition in A A B A song form. This culminating project will combine the skills and knowledge you learn and provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your growth as a musician.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Beginner Level

Students may want to have some knowledge of basic music notation and will need access to an instrument, preferably a keyboard or piano.

Approximately 5 months to complete

Suggested pace of 3 hours/week

English

Subtitles: English, Ukrainian, Portuguese (European), Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Lithuanian, French, Catalan, German, Russian

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Beginner Level

Students may want to have some knowledge of basic music notation and will need access to an instrument, preferably a keyboard or piano.

Approximately 5 months to complete

Suggested pace of 3 hours/week

English

Subtitles: English, Ukrainian, Portuguese (European), Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Lithuanian, French, Catalan, German, Russian

How the Specialization Works

Take Courses

A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.

Hands-on Project

Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.

Earn a Certificate

When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization

Course1

Course 1

Developing Your Musicianship

4.8

stars

1,214 ratings

Learn the basic concepts and approaches needed to understand, create, and perform contemporary music.

If you have a passion for music and are curious about how it works, or if you are a musician who learned to play by ear without formal study, this course will provide you with an engaging introduction to key concepts and approaches needed to understand, create, and perform contemporary music. Taught by Berklee College of Music professor George W. Russell, Jr., the course includes six lessons that delve into harmony and ear training—two areas of intensive focus for every entering Berklee student. The course will teach you the major scale and minor pentatonic scale, and how they are constructed. You will learn what intervals are, how to sing them, and how to find them in music. The course explores tonal centers and how to find the key a song is in, in addition to common time signatures such as 4/4 and 3/4. You will learn how to build chords—major and minor triads, and major and dominant seventh chords—and how to build a common chord progression—the I IV V. You will also learn how to recognize the blues and AABA song forms, and write a basic chord sheet to express your song ideas. In addition to the video lectures, each lesson features Berklee student performances and interviews. The students share their musical journey and offer advice for those wanting to study music. The course culminates with an assignment that asks you to compose and perform a riff blues tune using the minor pentatonic scale. Above all, the course is designed to share the joy of creating music and sharing it with others. Samy Elgazzar, a graduate of Berklee College of Music and a successful composer, will be your Teaching Assistant (TA) for the course.

Course2

Course 2

Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys

4.9

stars

524 ratings

After a tremendous response from learners on Coursera, Berklee Online has created a Developing Your Musicianship specialization, and this course is the second course in the series. If you have a basic knowledge of music theory or if you have completed Developing Your Musicianship I, this course will continue to help you understand key musical concepts, enabling you to create and perform contemporary music. Taught by Berklee College of Music professor George W. Russell, Jr., the course includes four lessons that delve into the next level of harmony and ear training.

The course will introduce you to new key signatures, including minor tonalities, and how they are constructed. You will train your ear to hear minor intervals and 7th chords. You will learn how to build 7th chords, and how to build common chord progressions. You will also learn the major pentatonic scale and how to construct melodies using this scale. The course culminates with an assignment that asks you to compose and perform an 8-measure composition using popular chord progressions and the Major pentatonic scale. Just like Developing Your Musicianship I, the course is designed to impart the joy of creating music and sharing it with others.

Course3

Course 3

Musicianship: Tensions, Harmonic Function, and Modal Interchange

4.9

stars

381 ratings

After a tremendous response from learners on Coursera, Berklee Online has created a Developing Your Musicianship specialization, and this course is the third course in the series. If you have a general understanding of music theory or if you have completed Developing Your Musicianship I and II, this course will continue to help you understand musical concepts, enabling you to create and perform contemporary music. Taught by Berklee College of Music professor George W. Russell, Jr., the course includes four lessons that delve into an intermediate level of harmony and ear training.

The course will introduce you to new key signatures, and explore how they are constructed. You will continue to train your ear, learning to differentiate between the various intervals and chords that were explored in Developing Your Musicianship I and II. You will learn how to borrow chords from parallel tonalities (modal interchange), and how to write more common chord progressions. The course culminates with an assignment that asks you to compose and perform a composition using popular chord progressions. As with Developing Your Musicianship I and II, this course is designed to share the joy of creating music.

Course4

Course 4

Developing Your Musicianship: Final Project

4.9

stars

106 ratings

This course will guide you through the final project for the Developing Your Musicianship Specialization. This course will continue to help you apply the musical concepts you learned throughout the specialization, enabling you to create and perform a 36-measure composition. Taught by Berklee College of Music professor George W. Russell, Jr., the course includes four videos in which George models each stage of the project. Through peer feedback and discussion, practice, and applying what you’ve learned, this final project will hone your skills as a musician.

Instructor

George W. Russell, Jr.
Top Instructor

Offered by

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. Berklee serves distance learners worldwide through its award-winning online extension school, Berklee Online.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the refund policy?
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Can I take the course for free?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
The whole specialization will take 18 weeks to complete. The breakdown is as follows:
Developing Your Musicianship - 6 weeks
Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys - 4 weeks
Musicianship: Tensions, Harmonic Function, and Modal Interchange - 4 weeks
Developing Your Musicianship Final Project - 4 weeks
The specialization may be completed sooner or later than the recommended 18 weeks depending on your pace of learning.
What background knowledge is necessary?
While it would be helpful to have some familiarity with musical notation (such as the staff, note values and names, etc.) it is not required. Developing Your Musicianship I provides resources for students who are not familiar with musical notation at the start of the course.
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
Yes, we recommend taking them in order. Each course builds on the knowledge you learned in the last.
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
No. Berklee does not offer university credit for massive open online courses at this time.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.