Οnline Course: Developing Your Musicianship Specialization
Deepen your understanding of music theory to develop your skills as a musician.
Starts 5 February
About This Specialization
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.
Projects Overview
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.
Course 1
Developing Your Musicianship
Upcoming session: Feb 5
Commitment: 7 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week
Subtitles: English, Ukrainian, Portuguese (European), Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Lithuanian
About the Course
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. You can choose to take this course only. Learn more.
Week 1
Welcome to Developing Your Musicianship
Welcome to the course! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you’ll need to know to get the most out of your experience.
Video · Welcome to the Course
Reading · A Note From Your Teaching Assistant
Reading · Connect with Your Classmates
Reading · Getting To Know You
Practice Quiz · What Are Your Goals?
Reading · Course Resources
Reading · Earn A Course Certificate
The Major Scale
This week, you’ll learn about harmony and ear training and why they are important. You’ll learn how to construct a major scale, how to identify and sing Major 2nd and Major 3rd intervals, and how to find the tonal center of a song.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: Why Are Harmony and Ear Training Important?
Video · Important Definitions
Video · Structure of the Major Scale
Video ·Sharps and Flats
Video · Major 2nd and 3rd Intervals
Video · Major 2nd and Major 3rd Interval Practice
Video · Tonal Center
Video · Berklee Student Performance: Boston Marathon, “I Don’t Have a Song for That”
Quiz ·The Major Scale
Video ·Lesson Review and Assignment Overview
Reading · Write the C Major Scale
Quiz · SELF ASSESSMENT: Write The C Major Scale
Other · Find and Share a Song in C Major
Quiz · PARTICIPATION: Find and Share a Song in C Major
Week 2
Major and Minor Triads
This week, you’ll learn how to identify Perfect 4th and Perfect 5th intervals and how to build major and minor triads. You will also learn about one of the most common chord progressions: the I IV V.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: What’s Your Story?
Video · Review
Video · Perfect 4th and Perfect 5th Intervals
Video · Interval Practice: Major 2nds, Major 3rds, Perfect 4ths, and Perfect 5ths
Video · Building Major and Minor Triads
Video · I IV V Chord Progression
Quiz · Major and Minor Triads
Video · Berklee Student Performance: “Najat 1958”
Reading · Weekly Practice
Video · Lesson Review and Assignment Overview
Reading · Writing and Practicing Major Triads
Other · Writing Major Triads
Quiz · SELF ASSESSMENT: Writing and Practicing Major Triads
Quiz · PARTICIPATION: Writing Major Chords
Week 3
Minor Pentatonic Scale
This week, you will learn how to identify Major 6th and Major 7th intervals. You will also learn how to build and sing the Minor Pentatonic Scale.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: Advice for Studying Music
Video · Review
Video · Major 6th and Major 7th Intervals
Video · Building and Singing the Minor Pentatonic Scale
Quiz · Minor Pentatonic Scale
Video · Berklee Student Performance Spotlight: “Work In Progress”
Reading · Weekly Practice
Video · Lesson Review and Assignment Overview
Reading · Identifying Intervals
Other · Identifying Intervals
Quiz · SELF ASSESSMENT: Identifying Intervals
Quiz · PARTICIPATION: Identifying Intervals
Week 4
Major and Dominant Seventh Chords
This week, you’ll learn how to build Major and Dominant Seventh chords. You will also learn another common chord progression: the Blues Progression.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: Audition Tips
Video · Review
Video · 7th Chords
Video · Dominant 7th Chords and Blues Progression
Video · 7th Chords Practice
Quiz · Major and Dominant Seventh Chords
Video · Berklee Student Performance: “New Kind Of Dirty”
Reading · Weekly Practice
Video · Lesson Review and Assignment Overview
Reading · Identifying the Blues Progression
Other · Identifying the Blues Progression
Quiz · SELF ASSESSMENT: Identifying the Blues Progression
Quiz · PARTICIPATION: Identifying the Blues Form
Week 5
Song Form
This week, you will learn about 7-3-5 chord voicings and 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures. You will learn about two different song forms – Blues and AABA – and you will learn how to write and read a chord sheet.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: What Career Does Your Major Prepare You For?
Video · Review and 7-3-5 Chord Voicing
Video · AABA and Blues Song Forms
Video · 4/4 and 3/4 Time Signatures
Video · The Chord Chart
Quiz · Song Form
Video · Berklee Student Performance: “Chuk for Chick”
Reading · Weekly Practice
Video · Lesson Review and Assignment Overview
Reading · Writing a Chord Chart
Other · Writing a Chord Chart
Quiz · SELF ASSESSMENT: Writing a Chord Chart
Quiz · PARTICIPATION: Writing a Chord Chart
Week 6
Review
This week is a review of the past 5 weeks. You will also learn how to compose a blues riff tune using the Minor Pentatonic Scale.
Video · Berklee Faculty/Student Spotlight: What Do You Like Most About Berklee?
Video · The Major Scale Beyond C
Video · Review: The Major and Minor Triad, Major 7th and Dominant 7th Chords
Video · Composing a Blues Riff Tune Using the Minor Pentatonic Scale
Quiz · Review
Video · Practicing What You Know and Moving Forward
Video · Berklee Student Performance: “La Musica No Se Toca”
Reading · Weekly Practice
Peer Review · Final Project
Reading · Course Evaluation
Course 2
Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys
Current session: Jan 22
Commitment: 4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours a week
Subtitles: English
About the Course
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. You can choose to take this course only. Learn more.
Week 1
Welcome to Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys!
Welcome to Musicianship: Chord Charts, Diatonic Chords, and Minor Keys (also known as Developing Your Musicianship II)! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you’ll need to know to get the most out of your course experience.
Video · Welcome!
Reading · A Note From George
Reading · A Note From Your Teaching Assistant
Reading · Connect with Your Classmates
Practice Quiz · What Are Your Goals?
Reading · Course Resources
Other · Share Your Music Theory Resources
Reading · Earn A Course Certificate
Lesson 1
In this lesson, we will spend a little time reviewing the material from Developing Your Musicianship I. We will learn about the Key of F Major and its related minor key, D minor. We will also practice training our ears to hear minor 2nd and 3rd intervals and major and minor 7th chords.
Video · Review from Developing Your Musicianship I
Reading · Lesson 1 Study Guide
Video · F Major and D minor
Video · Intervals and Chords – Part 1
Video · Lesson 1 Ear Training Practice
Quiz · Lesson 1
Video · Write and Practice in the Key of F Major and D minor
Practice Peer Review · Write in the Key of F Major and D minor
Reading · Check Your Work: Write in the Key of F Major and D minor
Week 2
Lesson 2
In this lesson, we will explore diatonic 7th chords in the key of G major and F major. We will learn four new popular chord progression using diatonic triads. We will continue to train our ears, reviewing the intervals and chords from the previous lesson while adding minor 6th and 7th intervals and the dominant 7th chord.
Video · Review from Lesson 1
Reading · Lesson 2 Study Guide
Video · Diatonic Triads and 7th Chords in F Major
Video · Popular Chord Progressions Using Diatonic Triads
Other · Popular Progressions
Video · Intervals and Chords – Part 2
Video · Lesson 2 Ear Training Practice
Quiz · Lesson 2
Video · Write and Practice the Popular Progressions
Practice Peer Review · Write the Popular Progressions
Reading · Check Your Work: Write the Popular Progressions
Week 3
Lesson 3
In this lesson, we will learn about the key of G major. We will play with the popular chord progressions from the last lesson by adding the 7th. We will continue to train our ears, reviewing the intervals and chords from the previous two lessons while adding the tritone and the half diminished (or the minor 7 flat 5) chord.
Video · Review from Lesson 2
Reading · Lesson 3 Study Guide
Video · The Key of G
Video · Popular Chord Progressions in the Key of G Using 7th Chords
Video · Intervals and Chords – Part 3
Video · Lesson 3 Ear Training Practice
Quiz · Lesson 3 Quiz
Video · Write and Practice in the Key of G Major and E minor
Practice Peer Review · Write in the Key of G Major and E minor
Reading · Check Your Work: Write in the Key of G Major and E minor
Week 4
Lesson 4
In this final lesson, we will explore the major pentatonic scale. We will also learn how to write a chord chart using the popular chord progressions from this course. We will continue to train our ears, reviewing all of the intervals and chords from the course.
Video · Review from Lesson 3
Reading · Lesson 4 Study Guide
Video · The Major Pentatonic Scale
Video · Chord Charts
Video · Lesson 4 Ear Training Practice
Quiz · Lesson 4 Quiz
Video · Compose an 8-Measure Song
Video · Giving and Receiving Feedback
Reading · How to Record Yourself for Your Assignments
Peer Review · Compose An 8-Measure Song
Reading · Advancing Your Knowledge and Skill
Video · Congratulations!
Course 3
Musicianship: Tensions, Harmonic Function, and Modal Interchange
Upcoming session: Jan 29
Commitment: 4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours a week.
Subtitles: English
About the Course
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. You can choose to take this course only. Learn more.
Week 1
Welcome to Musicianship: Harmonic Function, Modal Interchange, and Tensions
Welcome to Musicianship: Musicianship: Harmonic Function, Modal Interchange, and Tensions (also known as Developing Your Musicianship III)! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you’ll need to know to get the most out of your course experience.
Video · Welcome!
Reading · A Note From George
Practice Quiz · What Are Your Goals?
Reading · Connect with Your Classmates!
Reading · Course Resources
Reading · Earn A Course Certificate
Other · Share Your Music Theory Resources
Lesson 1
This week, we will explore the key of Eb Major and B minor. We will also learn about chord tensions and harmonic function, or, in other words, how chords function within a tonal center. We will continue to develop our ears by aurally identifying chord progressions and chord qualities.
Video · What You Need To Know
Reading · Lesson 1 Study Guide
Video · Eb Major and Chord Tensions
Video · Harmonic Function
Video · Ear Training Practice with Chords
Video · Ear Training Practice with Chord Progressions
Quiz · Eb Major and Tensions
Video · Lesson Review and Practice for the Week
Practice Peer Review · Write Diatonic 7th Chords in the Key of Eb Major
Reading · Check Your Work: Write Diatonic Chords in the Key of Eb Major and C minor
Week 2
Lesson 2
This week, we will explore learn a new chord progression, the I II- V I. If you took Developing Your Musicianship, you may remember the VII-7b5, but this week, we’ll learn about diminished chords. We’ll also continue to train our ears to hear chord progressions and qualities.
Video · Review From Lesson 1
Reading · Lesson 2 Study Guide
Video · The II- V I Progression
Other · The II- V I Progression
Video · The Diminished 7th Chord
Video · Ear Training Practice
Quiz · The II- V I Progression and Tensions
Video · Lesson Review and Practice for the Week
Practice Peer Review · Write Chord Progressions in the Key of Eb Major
Reading · Check Your Work: Write Chord Progression in the Key of Eb Major
Week 3
Lesson 3
This week, we will explore the concept of modal interchange, or borrowing chords from a parallel tonality. We’ll also learn a new chord progression that showcases modal interchange, the bVI bVII I progression. Finally, we will continue to train our ears to hear chord progressions and qualities.
Video · Review from Lesson 2
Reading · Lesson 3 Study Guide
Video · Modal Interchange
Video · Key of D Major and the bVI bVII I Progression
Video · Ear Training Practice
Quiz · D Major and Modal Interchange
Video · Lesson Review and Practice for the Week
Practice Peer Review · Write in the key of D Major and B Minor
Reading · Check Your Work: Write in the key of D Major and B Minor
Week 4
Lesson 4
This last lesson will focus on preparing you for your final course project: writing and performing a 16-bar song. We will run through a brief overview of the concepts you have learned over the past few weeks that you will be able to apply when you complete your project. We will also learn about suspended chords and we will continue our ear training practice.
Video · Review from Lesson 3
Reading · Lesson 4 Study Guide
Video · Suspended Chords
Video · Preparing For Your Final Project – Part 1
Video · Preparing For Your Final Project – Part 2
Video · Ear Training Practice
Quiz · Chords
Video · Write a 16-Measure Song
Video · Giving and Receiving Feedback
Reading · How to Record Yourself for Your Project
Peer Review · Write a 16-Measure Song
Reading · Advancing Your Knowledge and Skill
Video · Congratulations!
Course 4
Developing Your Musicianship: Final Project
Upcoming session: Apr 9
Commitment: 4 weeks of study, 2-3 hours/week
Subtitles: English
About the Capstone Project
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. You can choose to take this course only. Learn more.
Week 1
Welcome to the Developing Your Musicianship Capstone!
Welcome to the final project course for the Developing Your Musicianship Specialization! In this module, we will cover all the details about how this course works and what you’ll need to know to get the most out of your course experience.
Video · Welcome!
Reading · A Note From Your Teaching Assistant
Reading · Connect with Your Classmates
Practice Quiz · What Are Your Goals?
Reading · Course Resources
Reading · Earn A Course Certificate
Other · Share YOUR Music Theory Resources
Compose The First A Section
This week, we will work on composing and performing the first A section for our project. We will also do a short review of the popular chord progressions we learned about throughout this specialization. If you need help or feel stumped, reach out to your classmates for help!
Video · Compose The First A Section
Reading · Popular Chord Progressions
Other · What is your Inspiration: Week 1
Other · Helpful Resources: Week 1
Practice Quiz · Ear Training Practice
Practice Peer Review · The First A Section
Week 2
Compose The Second A Section
This week, we will work on composing and performing the second A section for our project. Remember, your classmates are a great resource. If you need help, check out the forums or connect on the Facebook group!
Video · Compose The Second A Section
Other · What is your Inspiration: Week 2
Other · Helpful Resources: Week 2
Practice Quiz · Ear Training Practice
Peer Review · The Second A Section
Week 3
Compose The B Section
This week, we will work on composing and performing the B section for our project. We will be modulating from the original key in the B section, so this week may be a little complicated. If you need help, ask your classmates for their advice.
Video · Compose The B Section
Reading · B Section Chord Progression Options
Other · What is your Inspiration: Week 3
Other · Helpful Resources: Week 3
Practice Peer Review · The B Section
Week 4
Compose The Last A Section and a Melody
For the final week, we will work on composing and performing the final A section for our project. If you need help or feel stumped, reach out to your classmates for help!
Video · Compose The Last A Section and a Melody
Other · What is your Inspiration: Week 4
Other · Helpful Resources: Week 4
Quiz · Identify Intervals, Chords, and Progressions
Peer Review · The Final A Section
Video · Congratulations!