This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Introduction to Music Composition

Photo of trumpet playing a graphic score, taped to the wall.

Graphic scores are one of many composition techniques covered in this course. (Photo courtesy of brainflakes.org on Flickr.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

21M.065

As Taught In

Fall 2009

Level

Undergraduate

Course Features

Course Description

Through a progressive series of composition projects, students investigate the sonic organization of musical works and performances, focusing on fundamental questions of unity and variety. Aesthetic issues are considered in the pragmatic context of the instructions that composers provide to achieve a desired musical result, whether these instructions are notated in prose, as graphic images, or in symbolic notation. No formal training is required; this version of the class is a general elective suitable for a relatively large-enrollment class. Weekly listening, reading, and composition assignments draw on a broad range of musical styles and intellectual traditions, from various cultures and historical periods.

Other OCW Versions

OCW has published multiple versions of this subject. Question_OVT logo

Keeril Makan. 21M.065 Introduction to Music Composition, Fall 2009. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare), https://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed). License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA


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