Free course
Think like a music producer
The essentials to make great beats and songs.
Music producer essentials: 16 hands-on lessons grouped into drums, bass, chords and melody. Every lesson has interactive, playable examples you can apply straight to your own music. It's completely free, with no sign-up.
Drums & rhythm
Beats that groove.
- Lesson 1Four on the floor: the beat behind every dance genreFour on the floor is a kick on every beat, the pulse under disco, house, techno and EDM. An interactive guide to the pattern and how to build a dance groove on it.
- Lesson 2How to make drill drums: an interactive guideDrill drums are built on one idea: a syncopated 3-3-2 hi-hat loop. An interactive guide with 8 playable beats covering hat gaps, displaced snares and push-pull kicks.
- Lesson 3Trap kick patterns: the definitive guide for every trap sub-genreA playable, educational guide to trap kick patterns: the foundation and a handful of archetypes, from spacious to syncopated to heart-beat, that you mix and match across every trap sub-genre.
- Lesson 4How to make trap hi-hat rolls: a simple fills guideBuild trap hi-hat rolls from a steady 8th-note baseline: where to place fills, which subdivisions buzz, and how to dress them up with pitch, pan and effects.
- Lesson 5How to make better hi-hat rolls and patternsMatch the hi-hat pattern to the subgenre, then keep the groove from going lifeless with layering, variation and processing. Trap, drill, boom bap, lo-fi and electronic.
- Lesson 6How to make rhythms that don't get boringBuild a rhythm from a short groove atom and a structure like AABA, varying each repeat by shifting, removing or adding a note. Works for drums and melodic parts alike.
Bass
A low end that hits.
- Lesson 1How to make your 808 hit hard: a complete trap 808 guideEverything that makes a trap 808 knock: tuning it to the key, carving space against the kick, placement and patterns, and the advanced moves (slides, octave jumps, switching 808s, saturation and clipping).
- Lesson 2How to write a disco bassline that groovesBuild a disco bassline step by step: 16th-note syncopation around 110 BPM, octave jumps on the offbeats, chromatic approach notes, and chord-tone spice.
Chords & harmony
Progressions that set the mood.
- Lesson 1How to make a chord progression sound better: an interactive voicing tutorialVoicing turns a flat chord progression into a full, smooth one. An interactive tutorial: play every example and click any note to hear it, from plain triads to range-normalized voicings.
- Lesson 2How to use cadences to keep a loop from sounding staticA cadence is a section marker, not just a classical chord trick. Use faster end-of-loop chord changes, bass fills and drum fills to give a repetitive loop structure.
- Lesson 3How to make soulful chord progressionsSoulful chord progressions get easy to write once you understand the harmony behind them. This article explains that theory and works through playable examples, each with a short breakdown of why it works.
- Lesson 4How to make dark chord progressionsDark chord progressions hold an atmosphere tense but not energetic, an ominous bed for rap. This article explains the theory and works through playable examples, each with a short breakdown of why it works.
- Lesson 5How to make wavy chord progressions 🌊Wavy chord progressions use the same lush chords as soul but in a calmer, more drifting way. This article explains the theory and works through playable examples, each with a short breakdown of why it works.
- Lesson 6How to write cinematic chord progressions for any emotionCinematic chord progressions get easy to write once you understand the theory behind them. This article covers that theory and shows eight playable examples, each with a short breakdown of why it works.
Melody
Hooks people remember.
- Lesson 1How to write memorable melodiesFour principles for melodies that stick: keep the range narrow, anchor big jumps to a home note, lean on the second scale note, and shape the line with tension and release.
- Lesson 2How to write a counter melody that adds depthA counter melody adds depth by contrasting your main line in rhythm, register and timbre. Six steps to write one that reads as a new layer, not a copy.