The Complete Episode List Of My Lectures On Music Series, MusicX

12 Lectures on Music as a Storytelling Art

Sep 03, 2025

Beginning in the Spring, I gave a series of 12 live streamed lectures on music, inspired by the informal “Physics X” class that Richard Feynman taught at Caltech. My goal with MusicX was to present a variety of musical topics in a way that would be interesting to musicians and non-musicians alike — so, less theory talk and more, “why do these sounds make us feel something?” talk.

Of course, there is already a plethora of options online for anyone that is interested in learning the technical aspects of music theory, discussing genre-specific best practices, or engaging with (oftentimes vacuous) algorithm-pleasing cultural criticism of various artists and albums. So, I chose not to do any of that stuff. Instead, my goal was to present music as a storytelling art and help viewers build a cross-genre musical toolkit for that purpose, and that purpose alone.

I had a lot of fun doing these, and it was very cool to see some common threads emerge — thanks to the live viewers for taking part in the discussions at the end! I’ve listed all the episodes below, in case there’s a specific topic that you may find interesting. At some point, I hope to turn this into something a bit more polished (maybe a book?).

And it goes without saying, but if you or someone you know has an interest in pursuing music as a career, give this a try before dropping $50k a year on music school (kidding…well, sort of).

Here’s the complete series — all free to watch:

Lecture #1: The “Hero’s Journey” Chord Progression

Lecture #2: Descending Basslines: The Fabric Of Our Lives

Lecture #3: How I Learned To Play Music

Lecture #4: MusicX At The Movies: The Musical Toolkit of John Williams

Lecture #5: How To Write A Classic Disney Ballad

Lecture #6: The Most Interesting Doo-Wop Record of All Time

Lecture #7: Rhythm is a Dancer! From Syncopation to Swing

Lecture #8: “God Only Knows” How These Remarkably Complex Songs Became Pop Hits

Lecture #9: The Mockingbird of Musical Instruments: A Piano Lesson for Non-Pianists

Lecture #10: All The Things Scales & Modes Are

Lecture #11: The Art of The Cover