How to make music, in five steps

The five steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Hear music as loops

   Most tracks you know are a few bars on repeat, with parts coming in and dropping out. Before you make anything, listen that way: pick a song, count how long it takes to come round again, and name the parts you hear, from the lowest up.

   124bpm

   Bar 1Bar 2 4 bars

   Kick Solo Clap Solo Open hat Solo Bass Solo Chords Solo Lead Solo

   1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

   Kick

   Clap

   Open hat

   Bass

   Chordspiano

   Epluck

   D

   C

   A

   1. Bar 1Am7
   2. Bar 2Fmaj7
   3. Bar 3Cmaj7
   4. Bar 4G7

   Try: Press play, then Solo on the kick. Bring the other parts back one at a time and notice which one makes it sound like house.

   Lesson: The loopFreeThe house loop, part by part

2. 2

   Step 2: Build a beat

   A beat is one bar cut into sixteen boxes, with four strong ones: steps 1, 5, 9 and 13. The most common beat in pop, rock and hip hop puts the kick on beats 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4. That is the backbeat.

   Start there. Almost every other drum pattern is a backbeat with something moved: house fills the gaps with more kicks, trap moves the snare to beat 3.

   100bpm

   Reset 1 bar on repeat

   1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

   Kick

   Snare

   Hats

   Try: Add a kick on step 11 and hear the beat start to roll forward. Reset puts it back.

   Lesson: The beatFreeLesson: BackbeatFreeBackbeatFour-on-the-floor

3. 3

   Step 3: Pick a tempo and a feel

   Tempo, in beats per minute (BPM), sets the energy. A slow walk is about 70 BPM and a run about 160; house sits at 120 to 128, drum & bass at 170 and up. Feel is the timing between the beats: swing pushes every second hat a little late, and that is where the lazy nod of boom bap comes from.

   88bpm

   Tempo Swing

   60%

   Reset 1 bar on repeat

   1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

   Kick

   Snare

   Hats

   Try: Drag the tempo from 70 up to 140 and back. Then take the swing down to 50% and hear the groove go stiff.

   Lesson: TempoFreeLesson: SwingFull courseBPM and tempoBoom bapSwung 16th hats

4. 4

   Step 4: Add a bass line and chords

   Once the drums feel right, add notes with pitch. The simplest bass line plays the lowest note of each chord, its root, and lands with the kick. Chords set the mood: these four, A minor, F, C and G, one bar each, sit under every loop on Swung.

   96bpm

   4 bars

   Kick Solo Snare Solo Hats Solo Bass Solo Chords Solo

   1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

   Kickbeat, guide

   Snare

   Hats

   Bassroot notes

   Chordselectric piano

   1. Bar 1Am7
   2. Bar 2Fmaj7
   3. Bar 3Cmaj7
   4. Bar 4G7

   Try: Mute the chords, then the bass, and hear how much of the mood each one carries.

   Lesson: Root notesFull courseLesson: ChordsFull courseOff-beat bassJazzy seventh chordsChord progressions

5. 5

   Step 5: Add a hook, then finish something

   A hook is the short part people hum. Two phrases are enough: one that asks and ends in the air, and one that answers by landing on the home note.

   Then stop adding and finish. A beat with a purpose, made in one sitting, teaches you more than a perfect loop you never close. Unit 1’s project asks for exactly that: a beat for a run, for focus or for a late walk.

   120bpm

   Bar 1Bar 2 Reset 4 bars

   1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a

   Epluck

   D

   C

   A

   Chordspad and kick, guide

   Kick

   1. Bar 1Am
   2. Bar 2F
   3. Bar 3C
   4. Bar 4G

   Try: Listen to where each phrase ends. Then move the last note of the answer and hear it stop sounding finished.

   Lesson: Question and answerFull courseProject: First beatFreeCall-and-response hookBeat maker

What you need to start

What slows beginners down

• Too many parts at once. Four parts that fit together beat ten that fight. Add one, listen, then decide on the next.
• Sounds before patterns. A good pattern on a plain sound still works; a great sound playing a weak pattern rarely does.
• Faster to sound busier. More notes between the beats add energy without touching the tempo. Faster notes, a free Unit 1 lesson, pulls the two apart.
• Never finishing. Give each session one small goal and stop when it’s met. A finished eight bars teaches more than an endless loop.
• Copying without naming. When you can say “off-beat bass” or “half-time snare”, you can ask for it, find it in a song and change it. The pattern dictionary has the names.

How long the first steps take