The Great Fall: Berlin’s ‘Freedom’ concert
How did the Berlin 'Freedom' concert come about after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and what significance has music played in Germany's past?
Read now: The Great Fall: Berlin’s ‘Freedom’ concert about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
29 Oct 2019
What does Moon music sound like?
Listen to the Earth’s Reflection – a specially commissioned piece of music composed by Yazz Ahmed in collaboration with Dr Mahesh Anand.
Listen now: What does Moon music sound like? about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
19 Jul 2019
Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics
Dr Helen Czerski takes us on a sonic odyssey through the sounds of the universe.
Level: 1 Introductory
Updated on:
09 Jul 2019
The OU meets Pink Floyd
Dr Sean Williams of The Open University talks to Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason about his drumming concerns and career.
Listen now: The OU meets Pink Floyd about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
24 Apr 2019
Musicians, loops and the longest piece ever
Dr Robert Samuels explores looping in music and demonstrates how technology can make musical use of the sound of a dog eating a carrot.
Read now: Musicians, loops and the longest piece ever about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
22 Feb 2019
David Bowie: identity is creativity
On what would have been Bowie's 72nd birthday, Frank Monaghan explores how his constant evolution wasn't just about changing the nature of his art - his reinventions were his art.
Read now: David Bowie: identity is creativity about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
08 Jan 2019
What makes a great Christmas number one?
Will Flakefleet Primary School beat Ariana Grande to Christmas Number One this year? Explore the musical compontents that make up a great festive chart-topper here...
Read now: What makes a great Christmas number one? about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
18 Dec 2018
Sounds of environmental change
What does environmental change sound like? Dr George Revill argues that sound can be a powerful way of conveying how places are transformed by climate change.
Listen now: Sounds of environmental change about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
17 Dec 2018
Scoring the Shoreline
George Revill considers the synergy between sound waves and ocean waves - how the coast of Britain has inspired the nation's musical heritage.
Read now: Scoring the Shoreline about Managing projects through people
Updated on:
10 Sep 2018
How did Aretha Franklin inspire the civil rights movement?
Aretha Franklin's death last week saw the loss not just of a sublime singer, but also one of key figures in the US Civil Rights movement. Leah Kardos pays tribute.
Updated on:
20 Aug 2018
Free OpenLearn courses.
Free extracts from OU course materials
Discovering music: the blues
This free course, Discovering music: the blues, will introduce you to a musical tradition with roots in the nineteenth century but which...
Level: 1 Introductory
Updated on:
03 Apr 2020
An introduction to music theory
Gain an understanding of the basic building blocks of musical theory and notation. This free course, An introduction to music theory, will...
Level: 1 Introductory
Updated on:
03 Oct 2019
An introduction to music research
In this free course, An introduction to music research, we have gathered together materials to allow you to explore the ways in which music may be...
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
01 Nov 2018
Recording music and sound
This free course, Recording music and sound, provides an historical introduction to music and sound recording in the creative industries and offers...
Level: 2 Intermediate
Updated on:
06 Sep 2018
Music and its media
This free course, Music and its media, examines some of the main ways in which music is transmitted. It considers how the means of communicating a...
Level: 2 Intermediate
Updated on:
08 Mar 2016
Voice-leading analysis of music 3: the background
The music of Mozart has been used to examine the foreground and middleground of harmony in free courses AA314_1 and AA314_2. In this free course,...
Learn: Voice-leading analysis of music 3: the background more
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
08 Feb 2016
Voice-leading analysis of music 2: the middleground
This free course, Voice-leading analysis of music 2: the middleground, continues our examination of 'voice-leading' or 'Schenkerian' analysis,...
Learn: Voice-leading analysis of music 2: the middleground more
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
05 Feb 2016
Voice-leading analysis of music 1: the foreground
This free course, Voice-leading analysis of music 1: the foreground, introduces 'voice-leading' or 'Schenkerian' analysis, perhaps the most widely...
Learn: Voice-leading analysis of music 1: the foreground more
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
05 Feb 2016
Reception of music in cross-cultural perspective
Music is created to be performed, in most cases for an audience, whether in a concert hall, at a street fair or through a radio. But how those...
Learn: Reception of music in cross-cultural perspective more
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
27 Jan 2016
Composition and improvisation in cross-cultural perspective
Improvisation and composition are words frequently used in the western world to describe the creation of music. But are they really two distinct...
Learn: Composition and improvisation in cross-cultural perspective more
Level: 3 Advanced
Updated on:
15 Jan 2016
Become an OU student.
Change your life with a qualification
