Fundamentals of Music
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this introduction to the rudiments of Western music, covering rhythm, melody, intervals, scales, chords, and musical notation through oral, aural, and written practice. The course follows the Kodaly philosophy of music education, which builds skills through singing and structured listening before written theory. Required piano labs give students hands-on keyboard practice alongside classroom work, reinforcing concepts like interval recognition and chord construction at the instrument. The materials suit beginners with little or no formal music background who want a grounded start in music literacy rather than performance technique. As with other MIT OpenCourseWare offerings, the site provides syllabus, assignments, and related course materials free to access, with no certificate offered. The course sits within MIT's Music and Theater Arts curriculum and functions as a foundational building block before students move into more advanced theory or performance classes.