Create 30-60 seconds of music that includes a melody and chords. You may also choose to add a bass line and drum loop. Use your toolkit of theory concepts—scales, chords, rhythms, progressions, and harmonies—to create music that fulfills your creative vision.

Learn how music works so that you can create music more efficiently and creatively. This class from composer, DJ, and producer Fernando Arruda is an introduction to why music matters, how sound works, what musicians mean by individual notes, and basic constructions about note density, chords, and rhythms.

The class is tailored for today’s computer-based producers, musicians, and DJs—it uses no traditional notation, and instead focuses on how to apply core musical concepts to a MIDI grid (the “musical instrument digital interface” used in all audio software).

Whether you use Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic, or another audio program, you’ll be able to apply these concepts to creating, composing, and mixing the sounds you really want to bring to life.