Arrangement & Song Structure Masterclass

Song structure is much more than organising your verse & chorus. At its root, it is ‘the balance of the movement of energy throughout your track’.

Mastering this and all the associated skills will make your tracks come alive with emotional energy, and be as engaging as a good story.

This is the secret to great music!

This course is for anyone who wants to make tracks that are engaging and that people don’t want to stop listening to. This is made for ANY DAW. No specific prior knowledge is necessary.

Here is a more detailed description of what you will get out of this course.

Module 1 – What Really Is Song Structure?

In this first module you will learn the basics, like; What the different sections are that you can use, how they fit together, which order should they go in etc. But much more than this, we will start laying the ground work for a deeper understanding of what it is to arrange a track that makes someone not want to stop listening and keeps them coming back for more.

You will learn how energy is much more important than the names of the different sections and you will start to understand how it is possible to use this deeper understanding to make better, more gripping music.

Module 2 – Harmonic Song Structure

This section is comprehensive. You will not only learn techniques for coming up with interesting and beautiful chord progressions and melodies. You will learn how to manipulate the musical structure of your songs to create variation and keep the listener pulled into your track.

Emotional content is key to creating a bond between your music and the listener and in this module you will learn how to exploit this bond with simple techniques. Varying the harmonics and creating a sense of emotional ups and downs to take the listener on a journey is a key aspect to songwriting.

Module 3 – Physical Structure Of Your Arrangement

Next up we’ll look at the physical structure of your arrangements; how long should each section last? When should you add movement to your song? How to add movement through modulation, which edit should you work on first etc.

Also, as inspiration is so paramount to making good music you will even learn techniques on how to get creative with your tracks, how to come up with ideas and new sections, even how to recognise inspiration when it comes knocking and also how to analyse other producers work to see how they do it.

Module 4 – Understanding Tension & Release

We then deep dive into one of the most misunderstood, but vital topics of good song structure, which is: tension and release, and how it plays a pivotal roll in keeping the listener of your track pulled into your music. You will notice, as you progress through the course, how tension and release is woven into the entire fabric of the tutorial from the harmonic structure to creating massive build ups, to the overall energy curves of your tracks.

Seriously, to make great songs, you need to understand this in it’s entirety, and in this course, you will do exactly that.

Module 5 – Creating Contrast In Your Arrangements

Much like in photography where you can play with the contrast of an image to make it seem more life like; in music you can do the same thing by creating contrast between the different sections of your track. Here you will learn the many techniques and approaches available to you to make the sections of your tracks stand out.

We look at this in terms of melody, rhythm, effects and even advanced processing to create contrast. This helps your song ‘pop’ or stand out and can help convey the importance of the message of your song on a section by section basis.

Module 6 – Transitioning In Song Arrangement

In the last module we look in depth at transitions; why it is so important to approach them with a focus on balance between the different sections and the overall energy of your track. We also look at the many different ways in which you can create them.

You will learn about using the standard risers, cymbals, fills, rolls and other SFX sounds but we also dive into how to create transitions out of the existing elements of your tracks through more advanced editing techniques, and even further we look into using plug in FX to create transitions that have never been heard before.

Who this course is for:

• Anyone who wants to make more appealing songs, that keep the listener engaged with your music