How to Write Timeless Piano like The Beatles   Download Tutorial as PDF includes MIDI + WAV file examples     The last Beatles song. That’s what the official press release calls “Now And Then”. The Beatles made history this week (again!), but the internet is flooded with writing about this song, so we won’t repeat the story of how “Now And Then” came to be. Instead, we’ll focus exclusively on why this song sounds timeless.   Until recently, I used to think that J.S. Bach’s music was timeless. But now I’m not so sure. I’ve been to many Bach concerts, and while ..read more

  How to Write Suspenseful Soundtrack Music.     Download PDF Tutorial includes multitrack MIDI file   If the link above does not work, paste this into your browser: https://hackmusictheory.com/album/2591466/suspenseful-melody             Intro. The dictionary definition of suspenseful is “causing a feeling of excitement or nervousness because you are waiting for something to happen”.   That perfectly describes the intro of “Tubular Bells - Pt. I” by Mike Oldfield. It’s easy to hear why The Exorcist (1973) director William Friedkin ..read more

    How to Write a BASS Line with Harmony     Step 1. Low   Harmony is when two or more notes are played together. And sadly, it’s rare to hear harmony in a bass line. The word “line” is actually used to convey the fact that it’s a melody, not a harmony. That’s how rare harmony is on the bass! You see, most producers think the bass frequencies are too low to play harmony. In other words, if you play two notes together, it’ll sound like a rumbling mess. But, that’s not true. That only happens when the two notes are close to each other. For example, if your root note is ..read more

  How to Write a Magic-Trick Bass Line.     Download PDF Tutorial includes MIDI + WAV file examples       Intro.   As you probably know, Harry Houdini (né Erik Weisz) was a Hungarian-American magician who was especially famous for his seemingly impossible escape acts. He was also the inspiration behind Eminem’s recent song “Houdini”. This was the lead single from his new album “The Death of Slim Shady”, and it was a huge hit!   Eminem’s lyrics are controversial at the best of times, so we’re not here to comment on that element. But, regardless of what we ..read more

  How to Write a Staccato Chord Progression.     Download PDF Tutorial includes MIDI + WAV file examples       Intro.   I was living in Los Angeles when Dr. Dre’s album “2001” was released. On the streets, it seemed like every car was blasting it. Every store I walked into was either playing a song from it, or if not, they would be before I walked out. I’ve never heard one album played so much, and for good reason: it’s a hip-hop masterpiece!   The lead single from the album was “Still D.R.E.” (feat. Snoop Dogg), and in LA during November 1999, this was ..read more

  How to Write a Catchy Melody.     Download PDF Tutorial includes multitrack MIDI file   If the link above does not work, paste this into your browser: https://hackmusictheory.com/album/2877864/catchy-melody           Intro.   British band Glass Animals are absolutely massive! At the time of writing this, they’re ranked #257 in the world on Spotify. Most artists as famous as them have achieved their success as a result of an obsessive striving for celebrity. However, Glass Animals seem to be obsessed with making catchy music instead. And not ..read more

  How to Write a Better Snare Rhythm.     Download PDF Tutorial includes MIDI + WAV file examples   If the link above does not work, paste this into your browser: https://hackmusictheory.com/album/2806684/snare-rhythms           Intro.   While it’s normal to hear at least a few different kick patterns and hi-hat patterns in music nowadays, it’s rare to hear an interesting snare pattern. The rhythm assigned to this neglected element of the drumkit is almost always an afterthought. In 4|4 (which most music is in), the snare is usually one of the ..read more

  How to Write Chromatic Bass Lines     Download PDF Tutorial includes MIDI + WAV file examples       Intro.   There aren’t many songs where the bass is in the spotlight. And there’s a good reason for that: Most bass lines suck! Of course there are exceptions, but in most genres the bass is nothing more than a frequency. Its only function is to fill out the bottom end of the sound. Thankfully though, not all genres have sucky bass lines.   Thank you, funk! Yep, funk is one of the only genres in which most songs (usually) contain real bass lines. In other ..read more

  How to Write Better Snare Rhythms.     Download Tutorial as PDF includes MIDI + WAV file examples   If the link above does not work, paste this into your browser: https://hackmusictheory.com/album/2806684/snare-rhythms       Intro.   While it’s normal to hear at least a few different kick patterns and hi-hat patterns in music nowadays, it’s rare to hear an interesting snare pattern. The rhythm assigned to this neglected element of the drumkit is almost always an afterthought. In 4|4 (which most music is in), the snare is usually one of these three rhyt ..read more

  How to Write a Crazy Drum Beat     Download Tutorial as PDF includes MIDI + WAV file examples       Drums nowadays are arguably the most boring element in music! That’s probably due to the widespread use of drum loops. If you listen to the new releases on Spotify every Friday, you’ll hear the same handful of drum patterns over and over again. The best you can hope for is a few variations of those popular patterns.   It would be an interesting experiment to actually count how many different drum patterns are used in the New Music Friday playlist, which ..read more