Musical MOOC strikes the right note with innovative media

Le Solfège à votre portée is massive open online course (MOOC) that allows you to acquire the basics of solfeggio in a perspective of pedagogically innovationinnovative manner. For the uninitiated, Wikipedia describes Solfège as a ‘music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music’. This course is essential for students aspiring to graduate studies in music. It also benefits those already studying music but who have learning difficulties. In addition, it is suitable for anyone who would like to develop new musical skills and value the importance of continuing education.

Jointly created by the Université de Montréal and Cégep Marie-Victorin, this MOOC enables the optimal use of digital technology to promote educational success and accessibility to graduate studies in music. It is an essential tool to promote better music training. It aims to offer academic learning tools in auditory training according to a rigorous and dynamic methodology, while combining a playful character to reach the motivational aspects of the target student population.

The educational environment and pedagogical approach both aim at being innovative. The approach used is based on multimedia with which the objective is to train the ear by using sounds and images representing the concepts being covered, their use in context as well as training for their recognition.

This MOOC has been put online on the existing EduLib platform. This platform has been operational since 2012 and has proven its worth by offering many free online courses in the past. It can be accessed via the WEB web from anywhere in the world. This allows courses to be deployed effectively and meet large-scale training needs.

Matthieu Van Vliet who leads the MOOC

The teaching and learning contexts aims to move away from the classroom, awaken the senses, use the sounds of real instruments, stage students so that young people can identify with them, be effective in terms of learning, be interesting, dynamic, playful and make beneficial use of multimedia. The scripting of the modules is based on fundamental theoretical axes such as: note writing, intervals, alterations, major scales, minor scales, chords, rhythmic writing, binary and ternary times, sight reading and dictation. A constant effort is put into connecting theory to sound and developing various modalities (association games, reading exercises, sound recognition) that make learning more stimulating.

We invite you to view the trailer for Module 1 to appreciate the quality of the work and the learning potential of this training.

Editor’s note: Le Solfège à votre portée was a well deserved finalist in the 2019 edition of the MEDEA Awards and represented at the Awards ceremony in Leuven by Caroline De Coninck, Université de Montréal & Marie Blain, Marie-Victorin College, Canada.