# Best online music study courses?



## adamfrechette (Sep 28, 2011)

Hello all,

I have been self studying music for many years now, however I feel like I lack the direction to fully expand my understanding and realize my full potential as a composer. With that said I was looking for some online music theory, harmony, counterpoint and orchestration courses that are worth taking.

I took a look at the Berklee Online courses for theory/harmony etc and they seem to be rather extensive and inexpensive, which gives me one option. However, I am not sure if Berklee is just one of those overrated schools or if it really is worth enrolling. Are there any schools you all would recommend for distance learning? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you in advance,

Adam Frechette


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## Leandro Gardini (Sep 28, 2011)

Since you seem not to be willing to take any extensive course I don't think you'l find something that will realize your full potential!!!
Anyway, if you want to take the best online and live composition course I'd suggest EIS. Nothing is better than it in my opinion!!!
Later, for a more specific subject, you can take the Scott Smalley orchestration seminar that is only two days course!!!


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## adamfrechette (Sep 28, 2011)

leogardini @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> Since you seem not to be willing to take any extensive course I don't think you'l find something that will realize your full potential!!!


I am not sure where I stated that, but that is not my attitude/mindset in the least. I want the most extensive course I can take. But I don't feel like traveling all over the place, thus why I chose to pursue online courses.



leogardini @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> Anyway, if you want to take the best online and live composition course I'd suggest EIS. Nothing is better than it in my opinion!!!
> Later, for a more specific subject, you can take the Scott Smalley orchestration seminar that is only two days course!!!


Thank you for this information, I will look into the EIS a bit. However a two day course would not teach much, at least I wouldn't take it too seriously, no offense meant.

Thanks again Leo.


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## gsilbers (Sep 28, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*

EIS and scott smalley are 2 different courses. 

EIS is about music theory and smalley is an orchestration class. 

i believe scott smalley started doing online courses as well. u might wanna check. 

the scott smaley course is only 2 days. the best part is that he gives u 2 huge booklets of film score not available anywhere else. plus it has the sketches for those scores which is very vauable imo. 


as for berklee. the school is top notch. the thing is that i dunno about online course because imo the best part of berklee is being at berklee. 

once u start classes and u see the level of other musicians u really get inspired and learn much more and wanna learn more! 
also, the way berklee works is that youll take harmony/theory course 101 and at the same time ear trainaing 101 and other 101 classes which go along with each other. 

but again, i went there. i didnt take the online courses.


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## adamfrechette (Sep 28, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*



gsilbers @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> EIS and scott smalley are 2 different courses.
> EIS is about music theory and smalley is an orchestration class.


Haha I guess the way I wrote that sentence was confusing, I understood that much. But thanks for clarifying anyways! 



gsilbers @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> i believe scott smalley started doing online courses as well. u might wanna check.
> the scott smaley course is only 2 days. the best part is that he gives u 2 huge booklets of film score not available anywhere else. plus it has the sketches for those scores which is very vauable imo. \


Hmm material to study and analyze is always good, I might have to check that out.



gsilbers @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> as for berklee. the school is top notch. the thing is that i dunno about online course because imo the best part of berklee is being at berklee.
> 
> once u start classes and u see the level of other musicians u really get inspired and learn much more and wanna learn more!
> also, the way berklee works is that youll take harmony/theory course 101 and at the same time ear trainaing 101 and other 101 classes which go along with each other.
> ...


I would most certainly opt for on campus classes if I lived closer to the school. However, it would be a few hour commute everyday, which I could not make. 

Thanks for the feedback


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## Kralc (Sep 28, 2011)

I took two online courses on Berklee Music, Guitar Workshop and Jazz Guitar 101, so I can't really comment on any of the theory classes, but I really gained alot from both courses. They both entailed the choose a piece/solo to work on, record it, send it in, then choose another track to improv over showing the technique/certain player styles. The format was great, the teachers would alway leave advice and there was a weekly chat where you could ask questions...not sure if that's still going though. Only thing that was weird was that you had a year to review the course material/pieces/videos, then you couldn't view them anymore, but I printed the good stuff out so I guess it doesn't really matter.
But I'm not too sure how the Theory Courses work. 

How long does EIS take?


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## rgames (Sep 28, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*

If all you want is theory then why bother with an online course? There are plenty of texts that are probably a better (and cheaper) investment.

rgames


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## gsilbers (Sep 28, 2011)

here is more info on EIS

http://www.equalinterval.com/faqs.htm


in my own opinion i thought EIS was a bit odd. i did see the potential of it. 
its learning music theory in a parallel world. 

but learning theory without key signatures really works your brain. 
and as film music doesnt really much on keysignatures u have to spell out every accidental and its steps in between notes so u can go to other chords that.. hmm.. nevermind... too much info.


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## adamfrechette (Sep 28, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*



rgames @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> If all you want is theory then why bother with an online course? There are plenty of texts that are probably a better (and cheaper) investment.
> 
> rgames



Well, not just basic theory, that stuff I have a fair grasp on. I mean harmony, counterpoint, orchestration the whole deal. And yes I have plenty of PDF books on the matter. But I think I have really stretched to the limit what I am capable of teaching myself.


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## rgames (Sep 28, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*



adamfrechette @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> rgames @ Wed Sep 28 said:
> 
> 
> > If all you want is theory then why bother with an online course? There are plenty of texts that are probably a better (and cheaper) investment.
> ...



OK - not sure I can help out then. Huge number of online options, none of which I have any experience with.

However, I can help out here: the title of your thread is "Best online music theory course?"

So if that's not what you're actually after, it might be better to ask what you really intend to ask 

rgames


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## sbkp (Sep 28, 2011)

And for reference, here's a similar thread: 

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22693


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## adamfrechette (Sep 28, 2011)

sbkp @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> And for reference, here's a similar thread:
> 
> http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22693


Thanks for the link, though I have already read that post a while ago.



rgames said:


> OK - not sure I can help out then. Huge number of online options, none of which I have any experience with.
> 
> However, I can help out here: the title of your thread is "Best online music theory course?"
> 
> So if that's not what you're actually after, it might be better to ask what you really intend to ask



Hehe thanks for the advice, though I didn't want my thread name to be excessively long. As in "Best online, theory, harmony, counterpoint and orchestration course?".

I suppose I could have elaborated on what I wanted in my main post though, good call.


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## Peter Alexander (Sep 28, 2011)

It really depends on what you want to study and how discipled you are for self study. For harmony, you could look at self study with either the Applied Professional Harmony series I wrote which also gets you doing midi mockups and recording early, or, you can look at Schoenberg's original theory of harmony.

APH
http://www.alexanderpublishing.com/Departments/Composing-and-Film-Scoring/Applied-Professional-Harmony.aspx (http://www.alexanderpublishing.com/Depa ... rmony.aspx)

Schoenberg
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Harmony-Anniversary-Arnold-Schoenberg/dp/0520266080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317276054&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Harmony-An ... 054&amp;sr=8-1)


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## CouchCow (Sep 28, 2011)

Hi Adam, I've taken online courses from Berklee and can highly recommend the classes taught by Ben Newhouse. Be prepared to portion off a good amount of time though...there's quite a lot of work to be done there.

As for harmony and general practices I've always found the Kostka and Payne books were the easiest to digest.

http://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-Stefan-Kostka/dp/0073401358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317277351&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Harmony-Ste ... 351&amp;sr=8-1)

http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Techniques-Twentieth-Century-Music-2nd/dp/0139240772/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317277864&sr=8-5 (http://www.amazon.com/Materials-Techniq ... 864&amp;sr=8-5)

Aldwell and Schachter uses slightly more arcane terminology(Schenker stuff) and is pretty dry, but it's chapters on large scale tonal plans makes it my favorite book 

http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Voice-Leading-Edward-Aldwell/dp/0495189758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317277452&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Voice-Lea ... 452&amp;sr=8-1)

Either way have fun learning :D


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## Gusfmm (Sep 29, 2011)

*Re: Best online music theory courses?*



adamfrechette @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> But I think I have really stretched to the limit what I am capable of teaching myself.



At a certain point in the future you'll realize that the most difficult yet the most useful and rewarding teaching will always be your own. Self critique and couching. It does require a fair amount of discipline, self control, and motivation, which most people lack and thus resort to external factors to compensate.



adamfrechette @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> Well, not just basic theory, that stuff I have a fair grasp on. I mean harmony, counterpoint, orchestration the whole deal. And yes I have plenty of PDF books on the matter.



If you have the material as you're saying, but you can't work on it on your own, you sound like you may benefit from a personal instructor or tutor to help you frame and focus your study in a systematic way. I wouldn't spend thousands on on-line courses. 

Few key books would take you a long way, with discipline. See Peter's advice above. Peter also has great orchestration material of his own.


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## Pochflyboy (Sep 29, 2011)

I loved my Berklee cources. I did a Music Theory Certificate program with them several years ago when the online section first opened up. I have also been to classes on the Berklee campus. I can say from my experience that the online classes were not as great but still awesome.

With that being said I still get together with other composers around here and other musical genius and sit and discuss pieces we are working on and such and go through them. I have learned more with this hands on communication than any other method. I HIGHLY recommend you try to find someone who is willing to private study with you.


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## danika (Nov 16, 2011)

adamfrechette @ Wed Sep 28 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I have been self studying music for many years now, however I feel like I lack the direction to fully expand my understanding and realize my full potential as a composer. With that said I was looking for some online music theory, harmony, counterpoint and orchestration courses that are worth taking.
> 
> ...



I've taken several courses at Berklee, some good, others not so good. That said one of the best by far was Music Composition for Film & TV. Lots of film score analysis plus one 3-minute composition each week for a cue representing a different emotion. Add on the weekly quizzes and discussion questions and it was a pretty heavy workload.


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## Jimbo 88 (Nov 21, 2011)

+1 For the Ben Newhouse classes at Berklee.

Very good courses. Be prepared to spend a lot hours each week, but very worth every minute and every penny spent.


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