When I first started trying to make my own beats, I sat down in my brand new home studio and had absolutely no idea what to do. I was hitting random keys on the keyboard, hoping I’d magically come across a catchy melody… But all I really got was something that sounds like a nine-year old did while messing around in class. This lead to years of frustration and doubting my musical abilities, and almost made me quit several times.
I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. Since you took the time to invest in this course, you don’t have to waste your time and money trying to figure out things on your own.
My objective is for you to be able to sit down in front of your keyboard and your beatmaking program of choice, jam around on the keys for a little bit and later have some sort of tangible idea that you can later build out to a complete beat.
If you read around beatmaking forums on the Internet, you’ll see a lot of people dismissing the need to learn music theory and instead tell you to just do whatever sounds good to you. Personally, I think that’s a load of horse shit. Hitting random keys on your keyboard with the hopes of finding a melody that sounds good is like betting on the lottery; sure, some people win once in a while, but chances are, it won’t be you.
You see, while making music largely remains a creative endeavor, there still actually is a science behind why certain things sound good. That’s what music theory will teach you. By learning music theory, you’ll have an idea of the science behind what makes good music sound pleasant to the ears.
Now, one thing you have to note is that our goal here isn’t to turn you into a bonafide expert on theory. That would be impossible to do in such a short period of time because doing so requires years of dedicated study and practice. No, what we’re trying to achieve here is much simpler — that is, to learn just enough of the basics so you can get on to what you really want to do, which is to start making your own beats.
Most (if not all) books I’ve read about the subject requires you to know how to read notation and sheet music. I have had no formal music training when I was young, so I wasn’t able to follow along the examples because I was stuck trying to translate musical notation into actual piano keys. Not only did this limitation make theory a lot more difficult to learn, but I also got bored a lot quicker.
Don’t worry, you won’t be getting none of that here. Like I said before, I created this to be the course that I wish I had when I first started producing beats. That’s why we’re not going to be using musical notation at all; instead, we’ll be using diagrams and video examples so you know exactly how the lessons translate to when you’re in front of your keyboard.
With that said, there are 3 different aspects to making music that you need to learn:
- Melody, which is defined as a sequence of notes played in succession (in linear terms, this is considered the horizontal aspect of music)
- Rhythm, which is the timing of how you play those particular notes
- Harmony, which is the combination of notes that sound good together when played at the same time (vertical aspect of music in linear terms)
At the end of the day, all you really need to know is the right notes to play (melody), how to play them properly (rhythm) and other notes that you can play simultaneously with your melodies to make your beat sound more complete (harmony). Get a basic understanding of all three elements, and you’ll have the solid foundation that you need to make your own beats that sound dope.
So without further ado, let’s begin.
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