The Music of the Beatles

I recently became interested in The Beatles, and I have read a few books about them (as well as listened to their music). I thought taking a Coursera course on them would add some depth, and I was right.
The course covers The Beatles from their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg to them splitting up, with an emphasis on how their songs are constructed. Professor John Covach is very pleasant to listen to, and he obviously knows what he is talking about. At the beginning he even shows the guitarrs and amplifiers they use in the Beatles cover band he plays in - neat.
Professor Covach covers all the periods, and in particular all the records. He says a little bit about all the songs, but does a close up of a few of the most interesting/representative songs from each record. There are two song formats that come up again and again - AABA and contrasting verse chorus. He also talks about how they started out as craftsmen (writing songs in well-known formats) and later became more inventive and artistic (developing new formats).
Unfortunately, he is not able to play any of their music or quote the lyrics, but I kept switching between the Spotify app and the Coursera app, to be able to hear the songs he talked about.
Overall a very enjoyable course, although after a while it becomes a little repetetive with the song formats for each song. But the course definitely added to my appreciation of The Beatles and their importance in music history.

Dr. Covach (if he's not Dr. he should be!) is a marvelous presenter. He kept my interest and I felt he was talking to me the whole time. I may have actually raised my hand a time or two and found myself often singing "I wanna raise my hand!" But, seriously, Dr. Covach did a wonderful job presenting the material. I can tell the subject meant a lot to him and that he has personally experienced it. If I found another course he offered, I would consider taking it just for that reason. I know more about the Beatles now than I ever did. I remember the Beatles when I was growing up but I was a bit of a musical snob and refused to waste my time with popular music. I have since come to appreciate the contributions of the Beatles and see them on the same scale as the likes of Igor Stravinsky and Bela Bartok. The Beatles actually employed 20th century composition techniques in such a way of exposing them to a greater number of people. The course was very entertaining and educational. I enjoyed it very much.