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A Simple Man’s Guide to Basic Music Theory for Producers

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the
electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” – Ludwig van
Beethoven

Music theory is something many electronic music producers nd challenging – and hey, I get it – even
with a basic understanding of music theory, I get confused all the time. That said, music theory is a skill
set that is very learnable if you simply commit to it (especially if you’re creating western music, which
you most likely are).

The reality here is that a music producer who has some semblance of music theory training will
essentially be a more e ective music producer. That producer has more weapons to work with in his
arsenal. It doesn’t matter if it’s for EDM (Electronic Dance Music) or for any other genre, producers who
have learned these skills are disciplined. They do not doubt their ability to come up with new material
because they don’t view it as contingent on chance. It’s something they are trained to deal with. Above
all, that is the main bene t of learning the intricacies of music theory.

So what if you aren’t there quite yet? How do you catch up? How can you write memorable, meaningful
and beautiful compositions?

The answers are in this article.

Any online music theory course will present the same exact information in their course as what is in this
article, albeit with some additional examples and exercises to work through.

And with a little additional digging, some practice, some fundamental music theory, and a few modern-
day music theory hacks, you’ll be well on your way to learning the necessities of music theory for
computer musicians.

Click here to jump straight to an epic music theory hack

at the bottom of this article. Otherwise, keep reading!

THE BASICS
Let’s start with the basics and talk about music theory for piano. Piano is the most
important instrument to grasp because every DAW uses a piano roll for your midi and
composition editing. This is applicable beyond piano, but again, this is the most common
instrument used to learn the basics of music theory.

White Keys
The white keys on your keyboard play the “natural” notes in a scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B).
Playing just on the white keys puts you in either the key of C major or the key of A minor.

Black Keys
The black keys on your keyboard play all the sharp and at notes (C#, Eb, etc). By
incorporating the black keys on your keyboard, you open up the possibility to write in
additional keys other than C major and A minor.

Intervals
An interval is the distance between two notes. For our purposes, we’ll be talking about
whole-step intervals (a whole step is the equivalent of two semitones) and half-step
intervals (a half step is one semitone). Most common musical scales are based on whole
and half steps. We will also be de ning chords by using whole and half steps, so it’s
important you learn this now.

Major Scales
Major scales carry a more light, happy emotional feeling, with most of the emphasis in the
key placed on major chords.
Minor Scales
Minor scales can carry a darker, more melancholic feeling, but can also incorporate a more
uplifting feeling as well. The majority of current popular music (EDM, pop, rock, etc) is
written in a minor key. Minor keys place more emphasis on minor chords.
 CHORDS

Major Chords
A major chord consists of a root note, a second note that is 4 semitones higher than the root note (or 2
whole steps), and a third note that is seven semitones higher than the root note (or 1 and a half step
above the second note).

C Major: C-E-G

Minor Chords
A minor chord consists of a root note, a second note that is 3 semitones higher than the root note (or
one and a half steps), and a third note that is seven semitones higher than the root note (or two whole
steps above the second note).

D Minor: D-F-A

Roman Numeral Analysis

Roman numeral analysis uses Roman numerals to represent chords. The number of the Roman numeral
indicates how many intervals the root note of the chord is above the tonic note of the key; additionally,
a capital Roman numeral indicates a major chord, and a lower case Roman numeral indicates a minor
chord.

Key of C major

V – Fifth note in key is G, and capital indicates a major chord: G Major

Key of A minor

iv – Fourth note in key is D, and lower case indicates a minor chord: D Minor

Inversions
An inversion is created by transposing a note within a chord to a di erent octave. For example, C major
(C-E-G) can be inverted so the lowest note in the chord is E, and the highest is C (just up one octave) –
E-G-C

7ths & 9ths

7ths and 9ths indicate the addition of the 7th or 9th note above the root note of the chord into the
chord itself. For example, Cmaj7 means a C major chord plus the note that is 7 intervals above the rote
note (C) of the chord (in this case, the note B). Cmaj7 = C-E-G-B
9ths follow the same rule, but with the addition of the note 9 intervals above the root note of the chord.
Di erent types of ninth chords can also include the 7th, and other notes.

(To learn more about how to steal chords like an artist, click here (https://hyperbitsmusic.com/10-
ways-to-steal-like-an-artist/))

CHORD PROGRESSIONS
Now that you know how to build out major and minor chords, as well as create inversions, 7ths and
9ths, a chord progression is simply how you jump from one chord to another, or a succession of musical
chords.

Chord progressions are usually the foundation to most melodic compositions. Even if you start the
composition process with something other than a chord progression, you’ll still eventually want to
match your melody or hook to a chord progression. There are some styles that might be an exception
to this rule, but that is rare.

What’s interesting, however, is that you cannot copyright a chord progression – so feel free to use
existing songs as a form of inspiration or to simply help spark your creativity when writing. For now,
let’s get a basic grasp on using chord progressions in your music.

At the end of the day, the important thing to understand about chord progressions is that (at least in
Western music) they are relatively straight forward. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time
you create a chord progression (especially if you are a beginner)

Applying roman numeral analysis to chord progressions, here are some extremely popular chord
progressions you can try building out on your own:

1. I V vi IV – Used in everything from ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ to ‘What’s My Age Again’

2. V IV I – Used all over from ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ to ‘Sweet Child of Mine’
3. I vi IV V – Think Bieber’s ‘Baby’ or Mariah’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’
4. ii IV V – Think ‘Smoke on the water’ or ‘Iron Man’
5. vi I V ii – Used in ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Wake me Up When September Ends’

Obviously there is an absurd amount of chord progressions not listed here, but if you are unfamiliar
with building out chord progressions, start by re-creating this list so you can familiarize your ears and
experiment from there.

For more on chord progressions, jump to the Unison MIDI Pack (https://unison.audio/product/unison-
midi-chord-pack/) at the bottom of this article.

ADVANCED HARMONY
Key Changes
A key change means the usage of a new key for a certain part of a song. This is relatively rare in pop
music, but if done correctly can create a strong emotional shift in a composition. Key changes are more
common in classical music.

Borrowed Chords
A “borrowed chord” is a chord that typically lies outside of a given key, but is taken from a parallel key.
A parallel key uses the same tonic note, but is a di erent type of scale (for example, C major vs C
minor). So, with this example, a chord which exists in the key of C minor but not in the key of C major
could be used as a “borrowed chord” in C major.

Secondary Dominance
A Secondary Dominant is the dominant (V7) chord that has the strongest pull to any chord in a scale
other than the root. To clarify, in any given key the root is the I chord and the dominant is the V7 chord.
In the key of C, the root is C and the dominant is G7. 

So, to gure out the secondary dominant of any chord within your scale you can ask yourself what
would be the V chord of the scale if the chord I’m choosing were in fact the root. 

If you’re writing in C and wanted to gure out the secondary dominant chord for Am (vi in C), all you
need to know is that is the V chord in the key of Am. In the key of Am the V chord is E. Make that into a
dominant 7 chord and you’ve got yourself the secondary dominant E7. 

These are really useful because we know that the V chord has a very strong pull to the I chord. The V7
chord has an even stronger pull to the I. So using the correct secondary dominant chord as a
transitionary chord to any chord within your key can have a very dramatic and musical e ect. 

For further clari cation click here (https://music.tutsplus.com/articles/secondary-dominants-and-how-

to-use-them--audio-2663).

There are tons of awesome resources online to help you come up with chord progressions, analyze
songs you like, and essentially “hack” music composition without a music theory background. But, at
the end of the day, there is no substitute for a strong understanding of music theory, and putting in the
e ort to improve your music theory knowledge will only help you write more compelling compositions.

MUSIC THEORY HACKS: UNISON MIDI PACK

As someone who took a lot of pride in originally writing all of their own chord progressions from
scratch, I couldn’t believe that no one cared, noticed, or tried to arrest me when I rst used a chord
progression I built using an online tool like Hookpad (https://www.hooktheory.com/hookpad).
Letting go of this idea that I had to do everything from scratch opened up my creativity, saved me time,
and allowed me to experiment with progressions outside my comfort zone. If anything, it made me
better at music theory.

This is exactly why, when I learned that one of my former Masterclass

(https://hyperbitsmusic.com/masterclass) students founded a sample pack company called Unison
(http://go.unison.audio/hyperbits-midi), and had put out an amazing MIDI Pack, I was pretty damn
intrigued.

Once I got my hands on it, I was blown away – I could bypass other midi packs and online services like
Hookpad all together, because the pack contains essentially every chord you’d ever want to use.
Complete with triads, inversions, extended chords, borrowed chords or even full-on progressions. It’s
literally the perfect midi-pack, something I wish I had created for myself years ago to make the
composition process signi cantly easier.

See for yourself below, I recorded a quick, genuine review of the Unison MIDI Pack, and even built out a
chord progression and the foundation of a song in under a minute.

Unison Audio: MIDI Chord Pack

Normally, this midi pack sells for $67 – but since you are a Hyperbits reader (or subscriber, student,
etc.) you can get 60% o of this pack.

That means that for $27, you can make writing chord progressions an absolute breeze. Whether you
consider yourself a beginner at music theory or more advanced at music theory, this pack will
dramatically improve your composition work ow, and make things a lot easier for yourself.

And again, as someone who is pretty good at music theory, this pack has actually helped me hone my
craft.

This pack isn’t a complete catch up solution if you are struggling with music theory and chord
progressions, but it’s pretty damn close.