Music and the Home Computer - Free University Music Courses Online

by John M. Zeigler, Ph.D.
Rio Rancho, NM USA

igher education is one of the few areas of the economy whose growth in costs has consistently exceeded the rate of inflation in the U.S. for many years, much like medical care. Yet, as the world becomes more complex and advanced education becomes less available due to cost, the need for it has increased that much more. Lifetime learning not only is necessary in the worldwide economy to hold or get a job, but is also critical to one's enjoyment of and fulfillment in life.

Here, I'll discuss some for the options for free and low-cost online learning. Numerous universities in the U.S. and abroad offer such courses at no cost if you just want to learn and at nominal cost if you want a certificate of college credit to indicate completion of the course. You may be surprised at just how much music you can learn for free with nothing more than a computer and your Internet connection. While this article will focus on free music training, one can find multiple courses in almost any field at any given time.

Music and The Home Computer Series | Piano Education Home

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Nothing New

There is a long and distinguished history of college courses being offered by computer to on-campus students. They served remedial functions or, in some cases, actually replaced part of the time in lab courses for some science students. Many universities taught basic music theory this way. Because each university developed content consistent with its own expectations and needs, each set of courses was unique to that institution or modified from some other institution's computer teaching aids. Such courses were typically offered in a limited number of locations on campus, using specially built terminals, rather than stand-alone minicomputers. After PC's became available, and especially after it became possible to network PC's, course content was offered using PC's.

Internet Impact

When Internet service became widely available in the mid-1990's, many colleges and universities saw the potential to reach a much larger number of students and began to develop online content. While there are many for-profit companies and "colleges" that now offer courses online, they are usually anything but free. They are often more expensive per credit hour than taking the same course at an accredited college of university would be. Although such for-profit courses can be valuable, they are not much help for the person on a limited budget. Thus, this article discusses mainly those courses offered for free or for a small fraction of the on-campus tuition online by major universities and accredited colleges. Most such courses provide an option for college credit upon successful completion of the course.

Online college courses can be taken free in "audit" mode or usually for a small fee, if you want college credit. Just like "real college courses", availability changes from period to period, so, if the course you want isn't offered now, check back later. Chances are, you'll eventually be able to get it.

Finding Online College Courses

Free online college course are offered by most major universities and colleges.