Music is all pervading and crosses all barriers. Learning music is a creative vent and more and more people are choosing to incorporate some form of musical learning in their lives. People of all age groups are coming to realise that music can be a great form of recreation and can be a fulfilling hobby. With today’s busy lives it is difficult to resort to traditional forms of learning like going to music school or private tutors. Fast paced lives have resulted to people turning to the internet for all the solutions and online learning is not far behind. Many premier musical institutes and educational sites have come up with courses in musical learning be it playing an instrument, programming or even theory. It is a wonderful way to accomplish music learning in the comforts of one’s own time and own pace. There are prestigious online music classes at both Indian and international level and one can study from ivy league schools as well.
Udemy- Udemy is one of the most popular sites for online learning with a global outreach and students across the globe are benefitting from its huge myriad of courses available. There are several courses for studying music online as well which are taught by expert instructors. Some of these courses include learning to play musical instruments like guitar, piano, drum, trombone, ukulele, flute, harmonica, bagpipe; musical theory, song writing, singing techniques, and mixing for music producers amongst others. One can learn from experts in the field at their own convenience at Udemy.
MasterClass– MasterClass is an online portal with courses taught by the greatest masters in the world. Stalwarts best at what they do come together to impart online video lessons to which one has lifetime access once enrolled. There is also provision for assignments and direct feedback by the master themselves. There are several classes on music taught by music greats like Hans Zimmer teaches film scoring, deadmau5 teaches electronic music production, Reba McEntire teaches country music, Usher teaches the art of performance, and Christina Aguilera teaches singing. There is an active community of all students which make studying from a remote location more interactive. New courses are constantly being added and MasterClass is a great way to learn music online.
Shankar Mahadevan Academy– A well renowned name in the Indian music industry and a global name, Shankar Mahadevan started his online music academy to make learning music convenient, easy and fun and his courses are of international standards. The academy has more than 11,000 students from over 47 countries which is a feat in itself. One can pursue their passion for music from the convenience of their homes. The academy offers numerous courses and virtual classes to help students achieve their goals. There are instructor led online certificate programs in Indian Classical music including Carnatic and Hindustani. It also offers self-study online programs in Hindi music songs, devotional music and other popular forms of Indian music as well. Students also get access to a student portal, the OM Book, a week-by-week study guide, unlimited singing practice with recording tools, and expert feedback on recordings.
Berklee College of Music-When a university of international repute sets up school online, one sits up and takes note. Berklee Online offers a bachelor degree program and is an affordable and flexible option for earning a music degree from the reputed Berklee College of Music. There are degree programs on music production, guitar, music business, song writing, interdisciplinary music studies, writing and producing music, electronic music production and song design, music composition for film, television and games. There are also tuition and financial aid available and the courses are taught by Berklee faculty itself so this is a great option to learn music online.
There are several other online resources to study music and its nuances. Alison.com offers an introduction to music theory class. You can learn fundamentals of music theory with an online class from the University of Edinburgh. University of Michigan offers an introductory class to classical music and Yale has a unique course in listening to music which aims to develop aural skills towards Western music. If your interest lies towards jazz music, there is a course on Composing for Jazz Orchestra at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There is no dearth of learning resources online and one just needs to pick one to suit their interest and their musical journey can begin right at home.
