Open Educational Resources: Arts & Music

The history of Art is long and varied, spanning tens of thousands of years from ancient paintings on the walls of caves to the glow of computer-generated images on the screens of the 21st century.

History of Art Survey course covering from prehistoric art to the Italian Renaissance.

Who am I? What is beautiful? Where do babies come from? These questions populate our lives and inform our perceptions of the world. Explore these questions according to the expressions of artists from all over the world. Go beyond Western art to consider where art comes from and how it impacts all of us.

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of Art. Authored by four USG faculty members with advance degrees in the arts, this textbooks offers up-to-date original scholarship. It includes over 400 high-quality images illustrating the history of art, its technical applications, and its many uses.
Combining the best elements of both a traditional textbook and a reader, it introduces such issues in art as its meaning and purpose; its meaning and purpose; its structure, material, and form; and its diverse effects on our lives. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding the students' educational experiences beyond the textbook. Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning provides a new and free alternative to traditional textbooks, making it an invaluable resource in our modern age of technology and advancement.

Look At This! is designed to help you approach and appreciate the visual arts wherever you find them. It explains how artists use the visual elements of their work to create moods and effects, teaches you how to break down complex images into their parts, and gives an overview of major themes in art. The book is global, and covers art from prehistory to the present.

From Lumen Learning, a course on art appreciation.

Introduction to works representative of a variety of music traditions. These include the repertoires of Western Europe from the Middle Ages through the present; of the United States, including art music, jazz, folk, rock, musical theater; and from at least two non-Western world areas.

This text provides just a small sampling of some of the various musical styles and traditions that might be found, though the skills developed in this course can be applied to any type of music.

Foundations of Aural Skills is a research-based, accessible, relevant, creative, inclusive, empowering textbook for teaching introductory aural skills. Every section includes creative activities that learners can try out on their own or do in class. Embedded playlists for practicing listening skills include a diverse range of music that will connect with students’ preferences and allow them to experience music they haven’t worked with before. The text is primarily designed for a first semester or year of instruction.

This OER presents an integrated suite of learning resources developed for the core music theory and musicianship curriculum at the University of Northern Iowa School of Music. It provides a more comprehensive symbiosis of musicianship and music theory learning than can be found in existing textbooks, including engaging and progressive video demonstrations and interactive listening and vocal exercises that integrate musical knowledge with foundational musical skills. This OER affords the flexibility to shape core musicianship and music theory learning to meet the needs of changing School of Music demographics well into the future, a resource for innovative and inviting music programs accessible to all.

Open Music Theory is a natively-online open educational resource intended to serve as the primary text and workbook for undergraduate music theory curricula. OMT2 provides not only the material for a complete traditional core undergraduate music theory sequence (fundamentals, diatonic harmony, chromatic harmony, form, 20th-century techniques), but also several other units for instructors who have diversified their curriculum, such as jazz, popular music, rhythm, counterpoint, and orchestration. This version also introduces a complete workbook of assignments.

A Practical Approach to Understanding Music Theory is a textbook designed for the non-music performance major or music business/audio engineer who needs to professionally interface with musicians without needing to write or compose music.

This text presents open licensed educational materials that deal with the building blocks of musical stave (sometimes known as staff) notation, a language designed to communicate about musical ideas which is in use around the world.

Music makes us human. Every culture on earth has music. In fact, every human society extending back into prehistoric times has had music. Most of us are surrounded by music. We use it to enhance our mood and to regulate our metabolism, to keep us awake and help us go to sleep, as background to accompany the work, study, exercise, and relaxation that fills our days. But it is precisely when music steps out of this background and asks for our attention, engages our memory and our expectations, that it becomes a fundamentally artistic endeavor. Music is a sonic response to a question that’s not really about sound at all, but rather is historical and social. The study of music is the study of human thought, experience, and history. This course is about the musical imagination. It’s how to think about music, but it’s also about music as a mode of thinking

The Art of Music with an Equity Lens is a music appreciation textbook that features musical examples and photographs that represent the demographics of our students today. Special attention has been paid in choosing to represent women and minorities. World Music photographs and videos represent the music's areas of origin.

The history of music is closely linked to the history of copyright law. This book explores how the law shaped music and the music industry. From church and court patronage in pre-19th Century Europe, to the effects of social media on music, this book explores the abiding influence of the law on music.

Based on coursework developed at the Peabody Conservatory, this book serves as a crucial resource for early career musicians navigating the complexities of the digital era.