Music history

Music History Courses in London and Online

City Lit offers an extensive programme of online music history and music appreciation courses with a focus on Western classical music, Folk, Jazz, Rock and Pop. There are new topics each year across a growing range of music styles and traditions.

To find out more about music history classes and to read our year-long selection of courses, please see the blog post Music history: your guide to our programme which lists our full programme of classes ordered by term, and by day of the week. You may then click on each title to read the full course outline.

Our staff are all professional musicians who teach, write, broadcast, lecture and perform widely. In recent years they have worked with BBC Radio 3, Gramophone magazine, Birkbeck (University of London), The Open University, Oxford and Cambridge University Press, Early Music, The Orchestra of the age of Enlightenment, The Wigmore Hall and the Aldeburgh Festival.

Many of our students learn for pleasure but some also come to enhance their careers: recent examples include board members of music charities, marketing and administration professionals from orchestras and gap-year students considering university entrance.

Feel free to browse our programme and do email us at music@citylit.ac.uk with any questions.

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  1. Musical analysis for audiences 1
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Pauline Greene
    Exploring beneath the surface of a musical work can help us decipher programme notes, understand the work’s context and a composer’s intentions, and greatly enhance our enjoyment of a performance.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  2. The music of Cuba
    Last Few Places
    Course start date:  Wed 1 May 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Shyam Shah
    Arguably, no other music has been as influential as Cuban music in the 20th century. From being the foundation of Salsa music in the Americas, to its return home in Africa, the Cuban sound has travelled far and wide. But how did this relatively small island in the Caribbean have such a large musical influence, and why was it so readily accepted?
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  3. Musical analysis for audiences 2
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Pauline Greene
    Exploring further beneath the surface of a musical work can help us decipher programme notes, understand the work’s context and a composer’s intentions, and greatly enhance our enjoyment of a performance.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  4. Jazz today
    Course start date:  Mon 23 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Albi Gravener
    An exploration of jazz music as we find it today and as it has developed over the past forty years.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  5. Miles Davis: from bebop to hip-hop
    Course start date:  Mon 4 Nov 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Albi Gravener
    An in-depth exploration of the music, life and times of this frequently innovative, often controversial but always influential artist. There is so much more than Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  6. Debussy: an introduction to his music
    Course start date:  Tue 14 Jan 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Edward Henderson
    Debussy is one of the most recognisable early 20th century composers. His influence was far reaching. Come and explore several key works to find out what makes his style so distinctive, and his music so intoxicating.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  7. Electronic music: a brief history
    Course start date:  Tue 25 Feb 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Edward Henderson
    From the sound you phone makes to wake you up in the morning to pop, club music and concert music – electronic music is everywhere an available to everyone. This course tells the story of electronic music from computers as big as rooms in the WDR studios in Cologne to GarageBand on your iphone and the music that was made along the way.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  8. Beethoven: an introduction to his music
    Course start date:  Tue 3 Jun 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Edward Henderson
    Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most important composers in the Western classical canon. Come and discover more about this most famous of Austro-German composers on a short introductory course.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £149.00
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