Music Theory I: Fundamentals

Anyone who wants to begin reading and understanding sheet music, this class is for you. Professor Buettner is amazing, enthusiastic and has an obvious passion for music. I have been able to understand music theory truly for the first time because of his teaching. Class has laid-back quizzes almost weekly that you can retake for better scores and to practice. In class, the professor plays the piano and trains skills to be able to hear and identify notes, intervals, etc. Singing, clapping, and engaging is also included in lectures - which I thought made the class very fun! Definitely would recommend.

Anyone who wants to begin reading and understanding sheet music, this class is for you. Professor Buettner is amazing, enthusiastic and has an obvious passion for music. I have been able to understand music theory truly for the first time because of his teaching. Class has laid-back quizzes almost weekly that you can retake for bette …Read more

Su Tan is a great lecturer and she is very passionate about what she teaches. She can go on tangents and she sometimes isn't very clear on what her expectations are for course work, but her assignments are very doable, and the final was take home which was very nice. Also, a part of your grade consists of going to three concerts that Midd offers and writing a reflection about your experience in them, which is a very nice way to listen to live music during your semester.

Su Tan is a great lecturer and she is very passionate about what she teaches. She can go on tangents and she sometimes isn't very clear on what her expectations are for course work, but her assignments are very doable, and the final was take home which was very nice. Also, a part of your grade consists of going to three concerts that …Read more

It's hard to speak highly of this class. It is certainly good for students with little to no musical knowledge but I think it should be appropriately advertised as an extremely fundamental class. Additionally, I felt that there wasn't a great deal of care extended to the class by Professor Taylor. I understand that it is a very low level music class and easy to overlook but it's concerning that almost all of his grading was done by the TA and he chose not to hold an alarming number of classes. If my estimation is correct, I think we did not meet in person for an entire 1/3 of the scheduled classes. In my opinion this is unacceptable. Especially if the class is one that covers basic concepts that will be built upon in the future, it is ridiculous that we would only meet in person for 24 classes when we're supposed to have 36. That is disappointing.

It's hard to speak highly of this class. It is certainly good for students with little to no musical knowledge but I think it should be appropriately advertised as an extremely fundamental class. Additionally, I felt that there wasn't a great deal of care extended to the class by Professor Taylor. I understand that it is a very low l …Read more

Su is a very nice person. Also, it is clear, both from her credentials and lectures, that she is extremely knowledgeable. She is a wonderful flautist and composer, and clearly has an immense passion for music. I enjoyed her class very much. I learned a lot from her, much of which I still employ when listening to music.

This course is a cakewalk for anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of music theory. There are virtually no projects, the final was a 12 measure composition for two voices that didn't need to follow any actual counterpoint rules, and the professor cancelled almost a third of the scheduled classes for one reason or another. Take if you want the easiest A of your life, avoid if you actually want to learn about music.

This course is a cakewalk for anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of music theory. There are virtually no projects, the final was a 12 measure composition for two voices that didn't need to follow any actual counterpoint rules, and the professor cancelled almost a third of the scheduled classes for one reason or another. Tak …Read more

This class was very easy for someone coming from a music background. I needed it for the minor but only learned a little bit about music theory since I knew some before. I did learn about minor scales and inversions which was helpful.

Professor Su is clearly an experienced musician and composer. She does, however, clearly have a preference for composing and sometimes can emphasize more on that. She also does stray from the topic often, and can get very philosophical, but nevertheless she is a wonderful and sweet Professor. It is a relatively easy and reasonably paced course - particularly if you know a bit of music theory prior. However, if you have no background in music, that is okay too.

Professor Su is clearly an experienced musician and composer. She does, however, clearly have a preference for composing and sometimes can emphasize more on that. She also does stray from the topic often, and can get very philosophical, but nevertheless she is a wonderful and sweet Professor. It is a relatively easy and reasonably pa …Read more

Su loves music and definitely knows her stuff, but her lectures stray from the topic almost all the time. I personally felt like the TA knew how to explain things better than she did. If I were completely new to music theory, I would have struggled in the class. The class is low effort and pretty easy to get a good grade in though, so if you’re looking for a relatively easy art credit to get but also learn something from it, this would be it

Su loves music and definitely knows her stuff, but her lectures stray from the topic almost all the time. I personally felt like the TA knew how to explain things better than she did. If I were completely new to music theory, I would have struggled in the class. The class is low effort and pretty easy to get a good grade in though, …Read more