Avis et commentaires pour l'étudiant pour Music as Biology: What We Like to Hear and Why par Université Duke

Interesting and well presented. I completed the entire course, all lectures and assignments. However, week 1 is persistently listed as "overdue" even though it was actually completed ahead of time. Please remove from the "overdue" status which incessantly prompts me to join an upcoming new session. I enjoyed the course but this technical snafu is annoying.

A well presented course introducing good background material regarding the physiology of human sound perception. It loses marks from me because of its seemingly obsessive fixation on the vocalization similarity hypothesis as the basis for aesthetic preference in music without a rigorous presentation of supporting evidence.

Muy bueno

This is a very fascinating view of the origins of musical intervals and scales and harmonies that I had never considered before. There is a lot I will follow up. Thanks to Dale Purves for making this available.

The content of the course is absolute gold. The course provides some answers (or at least partial answers) to very intriguing questions in music: Why these notes and not others? Why is a minor scale "sad" ? and other related questions. The only real issue is the that the quiz questions are just garbage, so be prepared to be frustrated that after learning some new material and having some real "aha!" moments you will fail the quiz because the questions don't really seem to reflect the important points.

I enjoyed learning this class. I was interested in the scientific aspect of music.

Para una persona que se dedica a la educación musical, este curso es de suma importancia , muestra las cuestiones biológicas que son el punto de partida para aprender sobre este maravilloso arte, esta completísimo y explicado de forma progresiva.

An interesting course about some biological aspects in music as well as some comparing examples between cultural styles.

Musica como biología....Esperaba más biología. Como y porque nos afecta la música y como podemos utilizarla para sonoterapia. En términos generales, musica como biología es un buen inicio para tomar conocimientos del tema. Gracias.

Very informative and interesting. However the quizzes didn't coincide well with the lectures.

Very interesting, specially in evaluating how necessary the complexity in music is for composers.

I enjoyed the course even though it seemed to raise as many questions about music as it answered. As a song writer, I am constantly searching for that special melody which combines both voice and guitar, a combination not mentioned in the course. It seems like voice and music instruments for a unique relationship in music that I love.

This course works fairly well for those who look forward to quenching their thirst of knowledge. It is not only useful for those who study a program related to the are, but also for inquisitive people

For the hypothesis regarding biological explaination of consonance, it would have been useful to present detailed statistical analysis. Without that, the theory presented was not very convincing. According to the theory presened (slide 17 in defining music...), notes m2, M2 and M7 should not be consonant at all. However, they are wonderfully consonant, at least in Hindustani Classical Music. Secondly, the theory does not explain why notes in the lower octave (less than 256 Hz) sound consonant in vocal music though such frequencies are almost absent in normal speech. As far as I am concerned, the course, while making an honest attempt, does not answer many questions.

Great Professor and content but poorly designed quizzes.

The content of the course itself was engaging and presented well-enough, with some interesting data analysis whether or not you find the ultimate interpretations convincing. From a logistical perspective though, there were serious issues with the coherency of the quizzes and some minor issues with the organization and editing of video content (i.e. segments repeated multiple times).

Interesting material but the instructor was so monotone and spoke so slowly, I had to play the videos at a faster speed to stay awake. I'll bet it came in handy for those whose English was not as fluent, though.

The second part of the course is very good. But first part, with introductions and definitions were very "heavy".

I did enjoy the course enough to see it through but it could use help on presentation correlation of lessons and tests

It was an interesting class but the quizzes did not reflect the class material.

This course fills a gap that is rarely taught by explaining biological origins of musical experiences. The material is very easy to follow. I wish there were more practical exercises or home works to play with the concepts.

I feel this course is designed in a way that may be too challenging to those who know nothing about music, sound, or biology. The quizzes dont really match the material covered and some of the questions are too ambiguous. The explanations are a little hard to follow as well. It does cover some interesting information about the relationship of music to speech. However, for someone a little more advanced in music and biology, I was hoping for more to be covered. I would have enjoyed more discussion of the history of modes and tuning systems, including more discussion of the Pythagorean comma (and how adjusted need to be made to intervals, especially in a chorus) and Kepler's work. I also would have enjoyed more discussion of rhythmic entrainment, the social cohesion hypothesis of the evolution of music, the roles music plays in human life, the way that bodies synchronize, and more about the relationship of music to emotional regulation, meaning, and personality. Im sure there is more as well. Giving this course 3 stars is generous in my opinion.

Quiz choices should be more carefully put together. I noticed typos, erroneous grading, and MANY answers that are not mutually exclusive.

Great topic, great information, poor structure design. IMHO this course should focus more on the theory of how biology explains music, and not in music theory itself. I think it was done in a way to allow people with no music knowledge to take the course, but i also think that is ambitious to pretend that these people follow up from ground up until modes and scales in a 6 week course, and for those who already know the music theory, it gets slow and cumbersome. However, i got some really good info on the topic, and is a good appetizer to start digging in the field. Thanks.

Great topic, but the course was less interesting and profound than I expected. The professor could be a little more motivating. Worth the time though!