The Learn Tracker
...life-long learning: structured, organized, searchable...

My name is Edward Tanguay.
I have a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, a Masters in Education, and am currently working as a web developer in Berlin, Germany.

I watch over 200 college-level MOOC lectures per year in subjects such as history , psychology, science, religion, art, philosophy, and IT development in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, and record my notes here.
Hundreds of free, self-paced university courses available:
my recommendations here
Peruse my collection of 275
influential people of the past.
View My Class Notes via:
Receive My Class Notes via E-Mail:

VIEW ARCHIVE

Contact Me via E-Mail:
edward [at] tanguay.info

Learning Activity by Month:

The primary goal of this Learn Tracker project is to build a web site which serves as one place to record the notes of everything that I am learning from MOOC classes, to foreign languages, to useful code examples and technical how-to notes, so that I not only have an overview of what I have learned, but can search and recall these notes at any time.

The secondary goal of this Learn Tracker project is to work together with companies, universities, and MOOC providers to build software that allows employees, students, and learners to record what they are learning in an efficient way so that it serves not only as (1) a record of what they have learned, but also (2) a place for them to review and search what they have learned.

Since January 2013, I have watched and recorded notes on over 300 MOOC lectures from over 30 different courses in both English and French, and have watched and recorded notes and flashcards on over 50 foreign language videos in Italian, French and Spanish. (I am curently still adding notes I took from 2013 and plan to be caught up by the end of January 2014.

November 2015 Learn Certificate
Watched and took notes on 23 college lectures:
Learned 8 vocabulary words:
...loading...
Learned about 3 people:
...loading...
Corrected 7 misspelling:
paracide, disobediance, assymetry, homogenious, Portugese, samari, balast
Recorded 245 Flashcards from MOOC lectures:
  • A whole generation of teachers
                        
  • But the key is to remember that, in fact
                        
  • above all
                        
  • appears driven by new conditions
                        
  • before the assembled court
                        
  • but before that
                        
  • fixed a structure we will find for three centuries
                        
  • flourishes
                        
  • he would also build
                        
  • is all the greater
                        
  • mainly on Roman history
                        
  • obviously had to constantly offer him innovations
                        
  • realized that the Italians had first rejected the literature of the Middle Ages
                        
  • rests on a paradox
                        
  • said that
                        
  • seeks to surround himself
                        
  • since he claims
                        
  • the challenge is met immediately
                        
  • the development
                        
  • the servant
                        
  • thwarted by a father
                        
  • to bypass the obstacle
                        
  • to kidnap her
                        
  • was supported
                        
  • which belongs to a group
                        
  • which had developed gradually
                        
  • who dominates the whole production
                        
  • whose leaders are
                        
  • will begin to write
                        
  • will give birth to modern theater
                        
  • with Biblical subjects
                        
  • with conspiracy topics
                        
  • All the land belongs to the state (FRENCH)
                        
  • And I'll necessarily be much better (FRENCH)
                        
  • And he will need real friends (FRENCH)
                        
  • And that reflects the fact that (FRENCH)
                        
  • And to be convinced (FRENCH)
                        
  • And to talk about (FRENCH)
                        
  • Aristotle wondered whether it is better (FRENCH)
                        
  • As it happens (FRENCH)
                        
  • Because (FRENCH)
                        
  • But keep in mind that (FRENCH)
                        
  • But what is striking is (FRENCH)
                        
  • But yes, there are others (FRENCH)
                        
  • Compared to the tragicomedy (FRENCH)
                        
  • Even reaching adulthood (FRENCH)
                        
  • Finally after awhile one will arrive (FRENCH)
                        
  • Hence this quote (FRENCH)
                        
  • I necessarily would go from bad to worse (FRENCH)
                        
  • I should say (FRENCH)
                        
  • I will mention a few of them (FRENCH)
                        
  • If one delves somewhat in the question (FRENCH)
                        
  • In order to be free (FRENCH)
                        
  • In other words (FRENCH)
                        
  • It is neither too much nor too little (FRENCH)
                        
  • Of all these rules (FRENCH)
                        
  • Once I choose the people around me (FRENCH)
                        
  • Probably before we met (FRENCH)
                        
  • Rather it is the attitude of someone who hesitates (FRENCH)
                        
  • She knows precisely which attitude to take (FRENCH)
                        
  • That is why some thing (FRENCH)
                        
  • The theater which we call classic (FRENCH)
                        
  • Then there is the question (FRENCH)
                        
  • There is also a land crises (FRENCH)
                        
  • There were only three (FRENCH)
                        
  • These two types fo virtues we will see in turn. (FRENCH)
                        
  • This little things will lead to other things (FRENCH)
                        
  • What you should understand is that this (FRENCH)
                        
  • Whereas otherwise (FRENCH)
                        
  • While virture requires having a free choice (FRENCH)
                        
  • With this quote (FRENCH)
                        
  • a collapse in prices (FRENCH)
                        
  • a conception of the good prevails (FRENCH)
                        
  • a disconnection (FRENCH)
                        
  • a given moment (FRENCH)
                        
  • a land seizure (FRENCH)
                        
  • a so-called modern land management (FRENCH)
                        
  • a way not to lose weight (FRENCH)
                        
  • as it has some aspects (FRENCH)
                        
  • as one moves forward (FRENCH)
                        
  • as soon as something happens elsewhere (FRENCH)
                        
  • as with all clichés (FRENCH)
                        
  • based to the friends I make (FRENCH)
                        
  • because I do not have the property I would dream to own (FRENCH)
                        
  • because these misfortunes are overcome (FRENCH)
                        
  • between sunrise and sunset (FRENCH)
                        
  • but when it serves it's rider well (FRENCH)
                        
  • by approximating as much as possible (FRENCH)
                        
  • capable of developing into action the different things expected of him (FRENCH)
                        
  • caution (FRENCH)
                        
  • choose it for the act itself (FRENCH)
                        
  • closer to the epic (FRENCH)
                        
  • constraints (FRENCH)
                        
  • decencies (FRENCH)
                        
  • depending on (FRENCH)
                        
  • est atteinte par l'observation rigoureuse (FRENCH)
                        
  • ethics first wins the heart of the person (FRENCH)
                        
  • except that they do not exist in the same manner (FRENCH)
                        
  • expected success (FRENCH)
                        
  • firm and unshaken (FRENCH)
                        
  • for his philosophical tales (FRENCH)
                        
  • foreshadow the outcome (FRENCH)
                        
  • from the beginning of the 19th century (FRENCH)
                        
  • has been criticized (FRENCH)
                        
  • has that famous verse (FRENCH)
                        
  • has united all his faculties (FRENCH)
                        
  • hatched (FRENCH)
                        
  • his male heroism (FRENCH)
                        
  • if one is to become virtuous (FRENCH)
                        
  • if you compare humans with sheep or bees (FRENCH)
                        
  • in order to bring out (FRENCH)
                        
  • is set up in the 19th century (FRENCH)
                        
  • it comes to be theorized (FRENCH)
                        
  • it does not follow that (FRENCH)
                        
  • it is appropriate to regulate (FRENCH)
                        
  • it is found that (FRENCH)
                        
  • it is the founding work (FRENCH)
                        
  • it is therefore as well that (FRENCH)
                        
  • it means that he avoids exposure to danger (FRENCH)
                        
  • it requires education (FRENCH)
                        
  • it was concluded that (FRENCH)
                        
  • it was necessary that the action take place in twenty-four hours (FRENCH)
                        
  • it will be maintained (FRENCH)
                        
  • it's a game between (FRENCH)
                        
  • it's not simply a matter of being a good horse (FRENCH)
                        
  • knowledge based on data collected over a long period (FRENCH)
                        
  • later (FRENCH)
                        
  • leads us to build things (FRENCH)
                        
  • look at it more closely (FRENCH)
                        
  • make the crowds cry (FRENCH)
                        
  • makes remarks, in a sense, verifiable (FRENCH)
                        
  • may be loose and escape before the enemy (FRENCH)
                        
  • merchants (FRENCH)
                        
  • narrows (FRENCH)
                        
  • not only when he has what it takes (FRENCH)
                        
  • obviously remains (FRENCH)
                        
  • on its pediment (FRENCH)
                        
  • on two occasions I think (FRENCH)
                        
  • one avoids them (FRENCH)
                        
  • one began to reason (FRENCH)
                        
  • one begins to think that there is no tragedy (FRENCH)
                        
  • one defined in hindsight (FRENCH)
                        
  • one forces the young to go (FRENCH)
                        
  • one of the vices is through excess (FRENCH)
                        
  • one realized that (FRENCH)
                        
  • organized around a set of interlinked characters (FRENCH)
                        
  • permit me to emphasize (FRENCH)
                        
  • playing tricks (FRENCH)
                        
  • possibly tears (FRENCH)
                        
  • pr. comme premier but d'orienter (FRENCH)
                        
  • pr. la science anthropologique est de fait, avant tout (FRENCH)
                        
  • precisely (FRENCH)
                        
  • preconceived ideas (FRENCH)
                        
  • punishments to become vituous (FRENCH)
                        
  • rashness and cowardice (FRENCH)
                        
  • rather than taking (FRENCH)
                        
  • relative to its immersion (FRENCH)
                        
  • renewal (FRENCH)
                        
  • resumes his intrigues (FRENCH)
                        
  • roughly 70 tragedies per year (FRENCH)
                        
  • should not overshadow (FRENCH)
                        
  • since in the 40s (FRENCH)
                        
  • since it also offers (FRENCH)
                        
  • since the key of the city (FRENCH)
                        
  • since to say that survival is pejorative (FRENCH)
                        
  • subject to rules (FRENCH)
                        
  • taking place in several days (FRENCH)
                        
  • tehre is one large city per country (FRENCH)
                        
  • that is found in almost all African cities (FRENCH)
                        
  • that is to be remembered about the close link between (FRENCH)
                        
  • that is to say (FRENCH)
                        
  • that moved the spectators (FRENCH)
                        
  • that my environment shapes me (FRENCH)
                        
  • that prevent the young man (FRENCH)
                        
  • that range from (FRENCH)
                        
  • that unites all individuals (FRENCH)
                        
  • that will come between (FRENCH)
                        
  • the area covered by the city (FRENCH)
                        
  • the benchmarks (FRENCH)
                        
  • the cities attract (FRENCH)
                        
  • the collected data (FRENCH)
                        
  • the enhancement (FRENCH)
                        
  • the epic (FRENCH)
                        
  • the ethnographic data collection (FRENCH)
                        
  • the fact remains that (FRENCH)
                        
  • the field becomes exhausted (FRENCH)
                        
  • the first sketches (FRENCH)
                        
  • the greatest lords (FRENCH)
                        
  • the modern revival of ancient theater (FRENCH)
                        
  • the movement continues (FRENCH)
                        
  • the question that remains unresolved (FRENCH)
                        
  • the race and the fight (FRENCH)
                        
  • the rate of growth (FRENCH)
                        
  • the records (FRENCH)
                        
  • the resumption (FRENCH)
                        
  • the shared pleasure of being together (FRENCH)
                        
  • the subdivision plan (FRENCH)
                        
  • the unique constraints (FRENCH)
                        
  • there are those who are above (FRENCH)
                        
  • there is at the same time (FRENCH)
                        
  • there where creation is done (FRENCH)
                        
  • there would be the idea that (FRENCH)
                        
  • this dispute (FRENCH)
                        
  • this would be to ignore an essential point (FRENCH)
                        
  • thoroughly (FRENCH)
                        
  • those who do not take part are excluded (FRENCH)
                        
  • to act in a deliberate way (FRENCH)
                        
  • to advance one another (FRENCH)
                        
  • to be a witness of what he sees (FRENCH)
                        
  • to fulfill their nature (FRENCH)
                        
  • to get them going on the path of the good (FRENCH)
                        
  • to live among a small circle of people (FRENCH)
                        
  • to reflect the real situation (FRENCH)
                        
  • to report what was actually observed (FRENCH)
                        
  • training (FRENCH)
                        
  • ultimately (FRENCH)
                        
  • urban management (FRENCH)
                        
  • urge for the good (FRENCH)
                        
  • very learned people (FRENCH)
                        
  • wariness (FRENCH)
                        
  • was a resounding success (FRENCH)
                        
  • was the most played author (FRENCH)
                        
  • we are not born virtuous (FRENCH)
                        
  • we cannot become a good person (FRENCH)
                        
  • we could have just as well (FRENCH)
                        
  • we have not addressed the issue (FRENCH)
                        
  • we want to slay and destroy (FRENCH)
                        
  • we will enter a writing phase (FRENCH)
                        
  • whatever they are (FRENCH)
                        
  • when he acts as a father (FRENCH)
                        
  • which buried the tragedy (FRENCH)
                        
  • which conduct to take (FRENCH)
                        
  • which had been set up (FRENCH)
                        
  • which is allotted to us (FRENCH)
                        
  • which is to ensure that all appear to the viewer the same way (FRENCH)
                        
  • which puts me on the right track (FRENCH)
                        
  • which teaches me to be just (FRENCH)
                        
  • which they have learned and turn them into habits (FRENCH)
                        
  • which will allow me to go from good to better (FRENCH)
                        
  • which will become scarce (FRENCH)
                        
  • who are holders of strategic information (FRENCH)
                        
  • who borrow other means (FRENCH)
                        
  • whose outstanding works (FRENCH)
                        
  • will collapse completely (FRENCH)
                        
  • with the epic (FRENCH)
                        
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
THE ANCIENT GREEKS, Wesleyan University
•
the Greek theater in 5th century BC
•
today we see theater as entertainment, something like television or movies
•
in 5th century Athens, theater, particularly tragic theater, was central to cultural, political, civic life
•
early history is hard to define
•
but always connected to ritual... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
INTRODUCTION AUX ÉTHIQUES PHILOSOPHIQUES, University of Geneva
•
Aristote: "un cheval est un bon cheval, non seulement lorsqu'il a tout ce qu'il faut pour faire un bon cheval, mais lorsqu'il sert bien son cavalier pour la course ou pour faire face à l'ennemi"
•
le cheval
•
un bon cheval ne l'est pas simplement, par ses capacités, mais par l'exercice de ses capacités
•
il ne s'agit pas simplement d'être un bon cheval, mais d'être un excellent cheval
•
apte à développer dans l'action les différentes choses qu'on attend de lui... view all notes
Vocabulary:
skene, n. [σκηνή] In ancient Greek theater, a building behind the playing area that was originally a hut for the changing of masks and costumes but eventually became the background before which the drama was enacted. First used c. 465 BC, the skene was originally a small wooden structure facing the circle of spectators. It developed into a two-story edifice decorated with columns, with three doors used for entrances and exits and the appearance of ghosts and gods; it was flanked by wings (paraskēnia). By the end of the 5th century bc, the wooden skene was replaced by a permanent stone structure. In the Roman theater it was an elaborate building facade. The modern concept of the theatrical scene, which is an integral and functional part of the play, evolved from the Renaissance. In the ancient theater the skene was merely a conventional background. ⇒ "You had a stage building called a skene, which had a low stage in front of what was a simple square building which could function in the play as anything from a cave to a palace."
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
DÉCOUVRIR L'ANTHROPOLOGIE, Université catholique de Louvain
•
il y a l'idée que l'anthropologie n'est pas une science
•
qu'est-ce qu'une science?
•
produire des savoirs à partir de méthodes d'investigation rigoureuses vérifiables et reproductibles
•
en sciences sociales
•
les manières de faire science varient selon qu'on soit dans différents paradigmes, différents modèles... view all notes
Friday, November 13, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
INTRODUCTION AUX ÉTHIQUES PHILOSOPHIQUES, University of Geneva
•
les vertus cardinales
•
1. la prudence
•
2. la tempérance
•
3. la force
•
4. la justice... view all notes
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
NARRATIVES OF NONVIOLENCE IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, Emory University
•
strategies of a civil rights movement
•
an action taken for a civil rights cause has multiple purposes
•
e.g. going to jail is a form of civil disobedience
•
1. confronts and challenges the system which makes the laws
•
2. helps individuals who are challenging the system... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
VISUALIZING POSTWAR TOKYO, The University of Tokyo
•
sudden Americanization process
•
Anglo-Japanese Conversation Manual
•
short and small book
•
became a best-seller, sold 3.6 million copies
•
basic American conversation... view all notes
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
À LA DÉCOUVERTE DU THÉâTRE CLASSIQUE FRANçAIS, Université Paris-Sorbonne
•
le théâtre classique a une longue histoire et il a un début
•
ce début c'est le milieu du XVIe siècle
•
avec un rejet du théâtre qui a existé jusqu'alors
•
qui s'était développé progressivement au Moyen âge
•
avec des genres religieux comme... view all notes
People:
Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
French poet, leader of the Renaissance poetic society La Pléiade
  • was educated at home in his earliest years and at the age of nine was sent to the Collège de Navarre, which rivaled the Sorbonne and was renowned for its library
  • his promising diplomatic career was cut short by an attack of deafness
  • determined to devote himself to study for a period of seven years
  • became principle member of La Pléiade, a group whose aim was to break with earlier traditions of French poetry, especially Marot and the grands rhétoriqueurs, represent the French language as a worthy language for literary expression, to ennoble the French language by imitating the Ancients
  • popularity in his own time was overwhelming and immediate, and his prosperity was unbroken
  • it was his fortune to be almost always extravagantly admired or violently attacked, especially by followers of Marot and the Huguenots, all which increased his popularity
  • the rapid change of sovereigns did Ronsard no harm
  • Charles IX, King of France, gave him rooms in his palace, bestowed upon him diverse abbacies and priories, and referred to him as his master in poetry
Monday, November 16, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
A HISTORY OF THE WORLD SINCE 1300, Princeton University
•
irony of the mid-19th century
•
while naturalists such as Darwin were emphasizing the commonness of human kind
•
societies were going about creating national identities which separated us from each other
•
claimed that there were some fundamental differences between members of different nations
•
these differences increasing took on the language of race... view all notes
Vocabulary:
disarticulate, v. to separate, disjoint, divide, sunder the joints of, or disrupt the logic of ⇒ "Nineteenth century steam, canals, and railroads functioned importantly as instruments to connect up parts of societies which were previously disarticulated from each other."
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
VILLES AFRICAINES: LA PLANIFICATION URBAINE, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
•
les migrants est une force vive de la ville africaine aujourd'hui
•
la migration et une question de l'attirance
•
les villes attirent
•
les campagnes font que les gens se sentent obligés de migrer vers la ville
•
parce que la plupart des campagnes n'arrivent pas à subvenir aux besoins de l'entier des populations... view all notes
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
À LA DÉCOUVERTE DU THÉâTRE CLASSIQUE FRANçAIS, Université Paris-Sorbonne
•
le théâtre classique s'organise donc autour de deux genres
•
1. la tragédie
•
2. la comédie
•
il y a une hiérarchie entre ces deux genres
•
exactement la même hiérarchie qu'on retrouvait dans la Poétique d'Aristote... view all notes
Friday, November 20, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
JESUS IN SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION, University of Notre Dame
•
the three ascents of Joseph
•
1. he's dropped into the pit, and lifted out of the pit
•
2. he's dropped into Egypt to serve as a slave, but then he is hired as a servant of Potiphar
•
after the incident with Potifar's wife he makes Joseph descend one more time
•
3. dropped into prison but ascends once again to the court of Pharaoh... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY, KU Leuven University
•
Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)
•
Prussian general
•
in his book "On War" tried to distill a concept of war
•
a book that would have lasting influence on thoughts about war in the 19th century and beyond
•
On War... view all notes
Vocabulary:
mimesis, n. from the Ancient Greek μίμησις, the imitative representation of nature and human behavior, imitation of another's gestures and actions ⇒ "In the concept of war as antagonism, there is a natural dynamic which tends toward escalation of ever more extreme uses of force and violence which include three aspects: (1) reciprocity, (2) loss of control, and a (3) mimetic principle in which antagonistic parties will imitate each other in a competitive relationship which leads to a natural escalation of violence towards an extreme."
salient, n. a piece of land or section of fortification that juts out to form an angle ⇒ "The front line of World War I formed a salient surrounding Ypres on three sides, and this area saw some fof the most bitter and contested fighting during the war."
People:
Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)
Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the moral, psychological, and political aspects of war in his book "On War" ("Vom Kriege")
  • a realist and, while in some respects a romantic, also drew heavily on the rationalist ideas of the European Enlightenment
  • stressed the dialectical interaction of diverse factors, noting how unexpected developments unfolding under the "fog of war", that in the face of incomplete, dubious, and often completely erroneous information and high levels of fear, doubt, and excitement, nevertheless call for rapid decisions by alert commanders
  • he argued that war could not be quantified or reduced to mapwork, geometry, and graphs
  • "War is the continuation of politics by other means."
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
DINOSAUR PALEOBIOLOGY, University of Alberta
•
we can use features of skeletons to divide dinosaurs into smaller and smaller groups
•
pelvis
•
two main shapes of the pelvis
•
Ornithischia ("bird hip dinosaur")
•
Stegosaurus (155-150 Ma, Jurassic)... view all notes
Vocabulary:
integument, n. [in-TEG-yoo-ment] the natural covering of an organism or an organ, such as its skin, husk, shell, or rind. It derives from integumentum, Latin for "covering" ⇒ "The mononykus is usually reconstructed with a covering of feathers. Indeed, in the fossil of its relative Shuvuuia feather traces were discovered, suggesting that Alvarezsauridae were among the theropod lineages with feathery or downy integument."
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
INTRODUCTION AUX ÉTHIQUES PHILOSOPHIQUES, University of Geneva
•
pour Aristote, l'éthique concernait l'ensemble des personnes
•
pas simplement une petite élite
•
mais l'ensemble des personnes
•
comment est-ce qu'on peut devenir un homme ou une femme de bien
•
il faut d'abord se demander... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
THE BIBLE'S PREHISTORY, PURPOSE, AND POLITICAL FUTURE, Emory University
•
Elephantine Papyri
•
isle in the Nile
•
we have extra-Biblical evidence of a community that lives in Egypt
•
has a garrison of Persian troops
•
one of them is from Judah... view all notes
Monday, November 23, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
WAR FOR THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST, Boston University
•
1979 Carter
•
if he was going to have any chance of reelection in 1980, he needed to demonstrate that he had a viable plan for remedying the economic woes
•
Carter didn't turn around the economy
•
critics blamed him for events abroad
•
November 1980 Reagan won... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
HISTORY OF ROCK, 1970-PRESENT, University of Rochester
•
Progressive Rock in the 1970s
•
King Crimson
•
1974 disbanded
•
Genesis
•
Peter Gabriel left the band after "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"... view all notes
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
CHINESE THOUGHT: ANCIENT WISDOM MEETS MODERN SCIENCE, University of British Columbia
•
virtue
•
a disposition to behave in the right way in a particular type of situation
•
to perceive the situation in the right way
•
virtues are domain specific
•
specific Confucius virtues... view all notes
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
A HISTORY OF THE WORLD SINCE 1300, Princeton University
•
development of state power is a condition for national identities
•
the way nations were created often showed characteristics of the entities which nations wanted to overthrow, namely, empires
•
so empires didn't slide off the historic stage but get reconstituted
•
three categories of regimes after Napoleon
•
1. some parts of the world still had empires which were in a steady but ineluctable state of long disintegration... view all notes
Vocabulary:
ineluctable, adj. unable to be resisted or avoided, inescapable ⇒ "Some parts of the world still had empires which were in a steady but ineluctable state of long disintegration."
Friday, November 27, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
HANDEL’S MESSIAH AND BAROQUE ORATORIO, Harvard University
•
Handel started out as a composer of operas
•
Handel's life
•
born 1685 in Halle
•
moved to Italy
•
learned about Italians produce music... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
À LA DÉCOUVERTE DU THÉâTRE CLASSIQUE FRANçAIS, Université Paris-Sorbonne
•
le théâtre régulier, soumis à des règles
•
la règle des trois unités
•
la règle d'unité de temps
•
la fameuse règle des vingt-quatre heures
•
la règle d'unité de lieu... view all notes
Vocabulary:
recitative, n. [RES-it-ah-teev] or Italian "recitativo", a style of delivery, much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas, in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech ⇒ "Recitative does not repeat lines as formally composed songs do. It resembles sung ordinary speech more than a formal musical composition."
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
EMERGENCE OF LIFE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
•
the concept of scale
•
a common hurdle in understanding the universe
•
two dimensions
•
spatial
•
how large or how small is something... view all notes
Monday, November 30, 2015
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
WESTERN MUSIC HISTORY THROUGH PERFORMANCE, Curtis Institute of Music
•
as Christianity spread throughout Europe in the 300s and 400s CE
•
singing songs and hymns became part of worshop in Catholic church
•
text was regularly chanted and set to different melodies
•
different churchs developed had different musical traditions
•
even chants that were intended to be the same ended up with slight variations as they were passed from one generation to another over large areas... view all notes
Vocabulary:
neume, n. [noom] the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation, these were marks above the text which provided a reminder of the melodic shape ⇒ "The Medieval Catholic church eventually felt there was too much diversity in the chants from church to church and needed a way to standardize the chant melodies and prevent variations in order to enforce more conformity and unity of music, as they could no longer rely on memory and oral transmission within the great expanses of lands which the Church now influenced, and the introduction of neumes were the first step in solving this problem"
People:
Guido of Arezzo (991-1033)
Italian music theorist regarded as the inventor of modern musical notation, or staff notation, that replaced neumatic notation
  • his text, the Micrologus, was the second-most-widely distributed treatise in the Middle Ages, after the writings of Boethius
  • was a monk of the Benedictine order from the Italian city-state of Arezzo
  • his early career was spent at the monastery of Pomposa, on the Adriatic coast near Ferrara, where he noted the difficulty that singers had in remembering Gregorian chants and developed methods for them to better memorize the chants
  • after moving to Arezzo, he developed new techniques for teaching, such as staff notation and the use of the "ut–re–mi–fa–so–la" (do–re–mi–fa–so–la) mnemonic syllables which are taken from the initial syllables of each of the first six half-lines of the first stanza of the hymn "Ut queant laxis": (1) Ut queant laxīs, (2) resonāre fībrīs, (3) Mīra gestõrum, (4) famulī tuõrum, (5) Solve pollūtī, (6) labiī reātum
show all recorded days