Stuff in music theory you can avoid when learning to make beats

The following awesome music theory tips can help you make better beats if you are a noob and just getting started with hip-hop music production. Now hang on tight while I do my hexpagoration. I won't write lengthy stuff, I will keep it short and sweet.

So yeah, these are things you are often told you should know when studying music theory such as:

• Learn the fundamentals of tempo, including note values, time signatures, and key signatures.
• Understand the basics of scales, chords, and intervals.
• Develop an understanding of musical form and structure.
• Learn about the different genres of music and their associated styles.
• Develop an understanding of musical composition and improvisation.

But do you really have to know all that stuff?

Note values​

Note values are the most basic element of tempo. They determine the visual length (that you see) and the duration (the sound you hear) of the tiny things on your piano roll's vertical axis called MIDI notes. There are a variety of note values, from semibreves (whole notes) to semiquavers (sixteenth notes), which are all represented by different musical symbols.

The good news is for beat-making in a digital audio workstation you don't need to cram the note symbols by heart or even remember what they look like. There are also dotted notes, rests, blah-blah. Look it's not mandatory.

Time-signatures​

Again you kinda don't really need to know this in great detail but still, time signatures determine how you are going to break your stuff down into measures (or bars). This makes the final product sound more professional, and also helps keep your virtual instruments in rhythmical sync with other musical elements (loops or patterns) in your arrangement.

Nonetheless, despite the existence of other time signatures like 3/4, 5/4, and 7/4. The meter signature 4/4 is the be-all and end-all of music—sorry I mean modern music. Learning all the other weird time signatures is quite frankly a waste of time, no pun intended. It also makes it difficult for collaboration purposes and only adds unnecessary complexity to the beat-making process. Always remember your beats have got to reach the market as swiftly as possible before the trend is over. You don't want stuff to become stale.

Key signatures​

You don't need to know what an actual key signature looks like. But you need to always write down the key of your beat in your DAW's project information panel for future reference purposes e.g. when pitch-correcting vocals or when someone else has got to add another live instrument part. But nine times out of ten you prolly won't be recording live instruments for hip-hop.

Furthermore, scales provide a framework for understanding the relationships between different notes and chords, which can help you quickly create melodies, counterpoints, arpeggios, and chord progressions that are harmonically pleasing to the ear.

In a nutshell, it's very important to learn scales and chords. This is what creates intellectual property so make sure everything is unique i.e., melodies. However, you can copy another song's chord progression if you want (e.g., I-V-vi-IV). No deal big deal. In fact, that's the modus operandi anyway. You shouldn't have to start from scratch all the time. There is no chord progression you going to use that hasn't been used already. The same applies to music scales. Someone has already used it countless times. So copy all the chords you like. But don't sample people's stuff.

Other musical forms and structures​

For the most part, many beats are only eight bars of music i.e., you only have to compose four bars for the verse and slightly switch up the next four bars which eventually become your hook (or chorus). When you are done you copy and paste your stuff onto your arrangement window. Boom you are done.

In some cases, you can have an introduction section, and a pre-hook section but it's very rare for beats to have a bridge or an instrumental break. Anyway, the musical structure of intro-verse-hook-verse-hook-outro that's what you should stick to. Anything else is totally wrong for commercial purposes. It's a waste of time. You want to make beats that are predictable and reach the hook within a minute. People have short attention spans out there. And it's only getting worse.

Other complex genres of music​

Listening to other genres of music is okay. In fact, you may end up successfully blending elements of other genres with hip-hop to create unique and interesting sounds. But not every attempt at blending genres will result in commercial success, this does not mean that it is always pointless to try. Just avoid cookie-cutter complexity. There has got to be space for the most important elements of hip-hop which are: kick, snare, and vocals.

Improvisation?​

Well, the majority of the game from a beatmaker's perspective is not meant to be performed live. The game is about using your mouse to make stuff that can turn into royalties. However, there is still nothing wrong with fooling around with your MIDI keyboard. As long as you record whatever you are doing because you can creatively come up with something you like. Nevertheless, your DAW depending on what it is probably has the option to remember all your MIDI input for a while. Read the manual. In fact, reading manuals is better than reading books about music theory, LMAO.

Conclusion​

There is a whole lot of stuff I have left out because I don't wanna be here forever. My last word is if you know basic scales and chords you are good to go. Buy a good mouse while you are at it.