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Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Music of the Beatles by University of Rochester

4.8
stars
727 ratings

About the Course

The Music of the Beatles will track the musical development of the band, starting from the earliest days in Liverpool and Hamburg, moving through the excitement of Beatlemania, the rush of psychedelia, and the maturity of Abbey Road. While the focus will be on the music, we will also consider how recording techniques, the music business, the music of other artists, and the culture of the 1960s affected John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they created the Beatles repertory. There is probably no band or artist that has had more written about their music than the Beatles. There are many good books on the band's biography, several insider accounts offering glimpses behind the scenes, books that interpret the meaning of the songs, and even books that catalog dates and people regarding the band. This course will try to synthesize much of that information into an account of the Beatles' development as musicians and songwriters....

Top reviews

SS

Jun 12, 2020

Great class. For someone who grew up listening to the Beatles (thank you, Mom!), I learned things I did not know and will listen to the songs with a different appreciation and approach. Thank you!!!!

JC

Aug 13, 2020

I really enjoyed the course, including the side stories. I only wish that there was no problem with copyright infringement and all so one can listen to the songs as they are being discussed.

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26 - 50 of 269 Reviews for The Music of the Beatles

By Derek Z

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Aug 28, 2015

Of all the Coursera courses I've completed that relate to the arts and humanities, this one is the best. Without a doubt, it's a "must" for musicologists, pop culture historians, and avid Beatles enthusiasts. In just seven weeks, Prof. Covach navigates through the Beatles' recordings -- tracing the evolution of the Beatles as performers, songwriters, and artists. Easily worth a five-star rating.

By JUHNYOUNG L

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Jun 25, 2020

Thanks for the wonderful material. Learned a lot about the Beatles and their music in a structured and elaborate way. I will appreciate their music and its significance even more whenever I hear and/or think about their music. Which will enrich my life, and affect everyone I talk with and everything I touch. Thanks, Professor John Covach, University of Rochester and Coursera!

By Jeff L

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Feb 26, 2021

An excellent course, I thought he Abbey Road lecture was outstanding. I really liked the analysis of specific songs, I wish there had even been more of that. I am 71 years old, I was a Stones fan, in my town you were either a Stones fan or a Beatles fan, you could not be both. I was inclined to put down the Beatles as to pop. This course showed me the error of that view.

By vignaux

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Nov 20, 2015

Great, great, great.

John Covach offers a fantastic walk in the world of the Beatles. Intelligent, accurate and insightful, you do not listen to their music as before. Bravo and thank you John.

John Covach nous offre une ballade fantastique dans le monde des Beatles. Intelligent, précis et perspicace, vous n'écouterez plus leur musique comme avant. Bravo et merci John.

By Ishan M

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May 5, 2017

John Covach is a fantastic instructor. I love the combination of trivia, music analysis and anecdotes that made the course so fun! Moreover, it feels like he is genuinely a Beatles fan like myself. It made the experience more special. Having already done his two-part course on rock history, I am looking forward to doing the course on the Rolling Stones!

By Sandra M

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Oct 1, 2016

Excellent course. I learned so much about the Beatles, their music and was amazed by the several innovations they made in the music industry. They were truly music geniuses. Now I am hungry to look for more information about The Beatles and definitely became a fan which I was not before the course. Thanks for this wonderful experience.

By Amy C

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Nov 3, 2016

This course was really interesting. The teacher was engaging and really knew the subject inside and out. I am so happy with all that I learned. My only critique is I don't really like the multiple answers possible in the tests... It's hard to know what you got right and what you didn't. Overall a great course. Thank you!

By Ari T

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Aug 14, 2015

This course was the best!!! I loved how John Covach took us through the Beatles's years with many details. Before, I didn't really like the Beatles, mainly because of how my friend fangirled over it a lot, but I had heard some Beatles music (my dad is a big fan), and so I took this course, and now I love the Beatles!

By EDWIN E

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Aug 4, 2020

MUY INTERESANTE EL ENFOQUE QUE SE LE DAN A LOS TEMAS DEL CURSO, SE PROFUNDIZA EN LA MÚSICA DEL ARTISTA Y SE ORIENTA EN LA EVOLUCIÓN DE CADA ÉPOCA . MI APRENDIZAJE CON RESPECTO A LA MÚSICA DEL GRUPO HA SIDO MUY IMPORTANTE Y ENRIQUECEDORA.LES AGRADEZCO SU APORTE Y COLABORACIÓN .MUCHAS GRACIAS . CONGRATULATIONS¡¡¡¡¡¡

By Ricardo Z

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Mar 15, 2021

Excelente curso, un interesante viaje por toda esa década en la que The Beatles nos dieron la mejor música de todos los tiempos, explicación y opiniones muy importantes del maestro y puntos de vista que nos llevan a ver detalles e incluso indagar más allá en aspectos que podríamos haber pasado desapercibidos.

By Noelia V A

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Feb 19, 2017

PARA LOS FANATICOS DE LOS BEATLES, EL CURSO AMPLIA LA VISION DEL MUNDO DETRAS DE LAS CANCIONES Y LOS CAMBIOS A TRAVES DE LOS AÑOS; PARA LOS QUE NO CONOCEN SU MUSICA, ES LA OPORTUNIDAD PERFECTA PARA APRENDER SOBRE UNO DE LOS SUCESOS MAS IMPORTANTES EN LA HISTORIA DEL ROCK, EN LA QUE SE BASA LA MUSICA MODERNA.

By Dr. B G

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Jun 7, 2020

Phenomenal and extensive. A must for those who want to complete any gaps they have in their knowledge about The Beatles. As a guitar player 25 years agolearning the first songs from The Beatles, I could visualize and create the sounds in my mind as I read the notes and the analysis in this course.

By Oscar M S H

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Sep 19, 2018

Excelente. Sumamente completo y detallado. Hasta para mi que llevo 20 años escuchando a los beatles, hay detalles que son nuevos y complementarios. Una gran curso para todos los que quieren establecer su conocimiento beatle. Felicidades al profesor y todo el equipo de la universidad. Gran trabajo.

By Jose S M

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Apr 14, 2017

Hello. It has been a pleasure to have taken this course. I am very confident now of the knowledge that I have gained in the course of these 6 weeks of The Music of the Beatles. I will be able to speak with a more solid background to my listeners in our radio show, Meet the Beatles in Costa Rica.

By Margaret G

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Jul 5, 2020

Dr. Covach was a well-informed professor who led the class through a logical progression of how The Beatles grew from local band to world-wide fame to studio band to separate artists. I learned so much and love the music of The Beatles even more now that I have learned more about it. Thank you!

By Blue C R

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Mar 15, 2017

It was an amazing and interesting course, i don't think I've ever enjoyed a course as much as this one. Hats off to John Covach, because, when I usually do a course on Coursera the teacher is often quite boring, but I enjoyed his dramatic feelings that he expressed during the course. Thank you.

By Rafael A S V

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Aug 30, 2020

I did like the course. I think there is a lot of information about the Beatles. I focused my attention in the historical part, not precisely in the analysis of each song. For people, like me, who is interested in the historical moments, I think the first weeks will be what you are looking for.

By Stuart N

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Aug 28, 2020

Very insightfully and enthusiastically presented. The music itself isn't part of the course, but I liked having another device open with Spotify and listening to the albums and songs as I went along. It would have been nice to have a bit of Professor Covach playing guitar though. The End

By Kelly

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Nov 7, 2015

Thank you for a very thorough and very enjoyable presentation on the Beatles' history and music. I especially enjoyed the SCU's and the in-depth analysis of song structure, why the songs were written, how they were recorded and produced and how they fit in with the business side of the Be

By Chris A D

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Mar 30, 2022

John was fabulous as tutor for this course. I loved it and it was a joy to complete!

Given the recent discoveries of the Beatles Get Back documentary, I think John could consider revising the Get Back Sessions section as some of the 'myths' mentioned by John have been debunked now.

By Michael H

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Mar 18, 2022

This is an excellent course if you're at all interested with THE BEATLES or John, Paul, George, or Ringo. The course design works really well for those of us who work full-time. As much as you believe you know about the Fab 4, prepare yourself to be surprised as the course unfolds.

By Lissa W

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May 15, 2021

I highly recommend it! For those who are fans and for those who are curious. I learned a lot of new things from the band that revolutionized 20th century popular music, thanks a lot to Professor John Covach, the way he taught this great course made me love The Beatles so much more.

By Paula S

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Apr 4, 2021

This is the third Coursera course I have taken with this instructor. This course is interesting and highly

Informative just like all the other courses I have taken from him. This was a fun course that focused on the music of my growing up years. Thanks for this course.

Paula S.

By Elsa L d l G E

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Jul 12, 2019

Excellent, easy to understand and follow even if you are not a musician.

I learned a lot of things that I didn't know about the Beatles, and it was interesting to take a look at the compositions of the songs.

The instructor really knows of what he is talking about, congrats!

By Pablo

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Sep 19, 2016

Great course, I highly recommend it. It is an excellent overview on the music of the beatles. Maybe someday there will be on focused more on their biographies, I would definitely take that course too.

Good content and a very charismatic professor, I liked his classes a lot.