Free About 1 hr0 learners Rev. 2026-10-21 0

In 1772 a prince's orchestra, kept too long at his country palace, played a new symphony in which the musicians stopped one by one, snuffed their candles and walked out until two violins were left. The prince took the hint. Music has always been able to say what people could not say outright, which is why emperors, churches, record companies and crowds of protesters have all fought over it.

You will not need to read a note of notation. You will learn to hear what a beat, a tune, a chord and a form are doing, and then carry that ear from Javanese bronze gongs and Indian ragas to Bach's fugues, the Mississippi Delta and the turntables of the Bronx. Afterward a song on the radio should sound less like background and more like a story with a past: who first made it, who got paid, and what it was for.

Levels

  1. 1 1. How to Listen: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony and Form 5-question quiz
  2. 2 2. Music Across World Traditions 5-question quiz
  3. 3 3. Medieval and Renaissance Music 5-question quiz
  4. 4 4. Baroque to Classical 5-question quiz
  5. 5 5. Romanticism and the Nation 5-question quiz
  6. 6 6. African American Roots: Spirituals, Blues, Jazz and Gospel 5-question quiz
  7. 7 7. Recording and Popular Music 5-question quiz
  8. 8 8. Music and Power: Anthems, Protest and Censorship 5-question quiz

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