Tell you what – get yourself a copy of Gradus ad Parnassum by FUX (that is pronounced FOOKS, so you do not get into trouble. Betcha that Yahoo *cleans up* the spelling!). It is the book that Mozart's teacher used to teach HIM – and countless thousands of other have learned from it. IT goes through the forms of *species counterpoint* – how melodies are built to weave around each other – in a Master and Pupil dialogue. Yes, it can be dry – but see how much of it you can comprehend on your own. If you have a sense of "Ah, Little Grasshopper, see if you can take the cola nuts from my hand!", then it makes it easier to read – we have all seen those kinds of martial-arts learning movies! This can be VERY interesting – my son is getting his MM in Digital Music, and for an elective, decided he needed sometime REALLY different than all the Final and Sibelius and recording stuff running through his head – so HE just tokk a Medieval and Renaissance choral music course – wrote a monster paper on "Spem in Allium". I read it because I am his Mom – otherwise, it would put me into a powerful somnolence . . . A lot depends on the professor – if they are psyched about this, great. If they are a deadly snore – ouch. I had a guy for Art History who was, I swear, the last semi-living grandson of Bela Lugosi. We were asleep in minutes- dark room, too many slides . . .

Good luck with the course – you never know until you try.

Beethoven, at the end of his life – was deaf – the music was all in his head.

Music does not have to heard to be enjoyed, it can be imagined.

You seem to have asked a chicken or egg question. The brain's functionality is affected by music – see link below for more info.