This is the third tutorial in a series focused on showing complete beginners how to write a simple song. This series will focus predominantly on the process of writing a song, rather than the specific software and hardware techniques, skills and applications you might need in the recording, mixing, and mastering of that song.

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This BASIX tutorial is the second in a series focused on showing complete beginners how to write a simple song. This series will focus predominantly on the process of writing a song, rather than the specific software and hardware techniques, skills and applications you might need in the recording, mixing, and mastering of that song.

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A while back we took a look at the most basic lesson in guitar improvisation: the pentatonic scale. Today we’re covering what many would consider the second most basic lesson, and an excellent practice sandbox before you move on to more complicated techniques — the 12 bar blues and blues scale combo.

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In a music world where less and less people are bothering to learn to read and write “proper” notation, more easily grasped formats such as tablature are very popular—particularly in popular music where the nuance of rhythm can be derived from feel and instinct more easily than, say, classical. When composing in Logic, you can provide your guitarists with guitar tab instead of notation if they can’t read it. Here’s how.

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This tutorial is the first in a series focused on showing complete beginners how to write a simple song. This series will focus predominantly on the process of writing a song, rather than the specific software and hardware techniques, skills and applications you might need in the recording, mixing, and mastering of that song.

Continue Reading

The cadence is a critical element in any harmonic progression. Cadences will often come to you naturally without you being aware of them, but understanding how and why you are using them (and how you can avoid using them) will give you more sophisticated control over the dramatic shape and direction of your music.

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When I was thirteen years old, I decided to teach myself guitar because I loved the way that modern-day guitar heroes (by which I do not mean your chubby ten year old playing with a fake guitar and an Xbox) improvised what seemed like complicated lead pieces on the spot. After hearing the guitar solo Slash played in Sweet Child O’ Mine, I all but forgot to practice chords in search of the ability to play like that.

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iTunes is a straightforward and simple application for organizing and listening to music. You probably don’t need someone to explain to you how it works. But there are a few unique features of iTunes that a lot people don’t take advantage of. If you’re a composer/producer/songwriter with a lot of music to keep track of, getting the most out of iTunes can vastly improve your workflow.

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The usage of simple, common time (4/4 time signature, where there are four beats to a measure, and each quarter note gets one beat) is pervasive in Western popular music, including rock, blues, country, folk, pop, and various forms of electronic music including many sub-genres of house and trance music. The four-on-the-floor mindset can be difficult to escape, but every musician and composer can benefit from a study of rhythm that includes a wider variety of time signatures and rhythms.

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This tutorial is the fourth and final installment in a series of tutorials on composition – specifically composition that might be appropriate for film, television, etc. The intention with this series of tutorials is to walk you through the process of one of my compositions. It is intended to offer some new ideas and perspectives and hopefully give a bit of creative inspiration, but by no means should it be considered definitive – even for my own personal compositional process.

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