This course provides an introduction to the spectroscopy of solids. The first part covers fundamentals including, electromagnetic radiation, light sources, spectral analysis of light, and light detection. The second part will discuss light-matter interaction, covering dielectric responses of matter, transitions in the visible and near-visible spectral range, and selection rules. Finally, different spectroscopy techniques are reviewed and their application to different material classes including organic, hybrid, and inorganic materials are discussed.