Music streaming services have completely changed the way we listen to and discover music. We’ve grown from having a limited selection of albums and songs at our local record shop to having the world’s musical discography at our fingertips. It’s very impressive.

A MIDI keyboard is an essential tool for your studio setup. As a creative instrument, MIDI keyboards offer a massive universe of sonic dimensions that stretches beyond the realm of acoustic instruments.

Reading music is an excellent skill to learn and will only benefit you on your path in music. Reading music gives you the ability to communicate in a universal language. A note on the staff is the same note to every person on Earth. Understanding and unlocking this skill will open new doors to communication and help you deepen your knowledge of the layers of music theory. In this two part article, you will learn to hack the code and read music like a pro.

In Part 2, you will build upon this knowledge and learn about the grand staff, sharps and flats, and some enharmonic equivalents. Make sure you have thoroughly understood everything in Part 1 before beginning!

The tritone offers a unique opportunity for songwriters. While possibly not as attractive as other more “consonant” intervals like major or minor thirds, perfect fourths, fifths, or major sixths, the tritone (aka augmented fourth or diminished fifth) is ubiquitous in popular music.

Music is composed of three primary elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. These three elements act in concert to produce the emotional effects that make us love listening to music. We love it when the chords change at just the right moment, or the notes of a melody seem to float effortlessly together.

If you’ve ever used a tuner to calibrate an instrument, you might have noticed a seemingly random number somewhere on the screen: “440,” often followed by the letters “Hz” (shorthand for “Hertz”).

Audio phase is one of those phenomena that can be tricky to wrap your head around. Once you’ve got a grip on it, though, you’ll be able to take your productions to a whole new level. In other words, it pays to know about phase. Let’s dig into this concept further and explore its implications in the studio.

Drum beats make up the foundation of many different styles of music. Rhythm can say a lot about music’s culture and emotion and is often a particular musical style’s defining quality. With so many different styles out there, it can be challenging to find the right kind of drum pattern for what you’re trying to produce.

We all know that you don’t necessarily have to be a music theory genius to succeed as a producer, artist, songwriter, or musician. Nevertheless, knowing some basic music theory and music reading techniques can give you a real advantage in the studio, on stage, and in the writing room.