Finding The Contemporary Music Course was a blessing for us. Our fourth child, the self-taught pianist, had expressed a desire to continue learning more and wanted to compose her own pieces. This program gave her the foundation to be able to do exactly that. The Contemporary Music course has hours of video lessons walking individuals through music theory and composition. The program is online and subscription-based so a student can go as slow or as fast as desired.

Lifetime subscriptions are available for individuals and annual subscriptions are available to music teachers with groups of students participating.

The website breaks down the lessons into different modules including The Language of Music I and II, Chords and Harmony I and II, Drums and Guitar, Orchestral Harmony, Two Part Harmony and Counterpart, and Rock Musicians: Session Project. Clive Cockburn, a well-versed musician, song writer and composer in the film and television industry, breaks down each step of musical progression. Video lessons are short and concise and there are worksheets included for some of the lessons enabling the student to put the lessons into practice. Both novices and more advanced students can appreciate the detail in his lessons. Our daughter celebrated every time Mr. Cockburn broke something down or presented an old concept in a new way for her, helping her to have a greater understanding of music. She has dabbled in each of the modules but has focused her serious practice on the first module, of which she has almost completed.

She is thrilled with The Contemporary Music Course, as we all are, and I anticipate us getting a lot of use out of this program for years to come!

Product review by Nancy Mayes, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018