Thank you (courses completed)

Hi Joe,

I have finally completed Building Blocks 1, Building Blocks 2, and Syntorial. It's been a journey, but I can definitively say that my ear is leaps and bounds from where it was. I have never listened to music as closely as I do now. Thank you!

Before I bought these courses, I had a DAW and some synth plug-ins. I opened up a piano roll, a synth, and had great difficulty writing something that wasn't awful. I bounced around YouTube trying to get on track. But without a trained music background, I didn't understand why some patterns work and not others. The synthesizers themselves seemed complicated. Now, I can write percussion, basslines, and chords that support my melodies. I can open any synth and already have an understanding of what's going on and the process to figure out those things that I don't. I have more confidence in what I'm doing, why I am doing it, and how to express the music in my head.

And now that the courses are over, what's next? You had a closing video with some great ideas. I liked all of them. I could use lessons on arrangements, extra rhythms, 7th chords, more on progressions and how to connect them (which numeric intervals go to which), and I would also like to see how you create chords with more notes. I could use lessons on more of the terminology, so I can make the connection to the books I've been reading. On the last Experiment lesson, you put down some four note chords. I would like to learn more about that and 5 note chords, as well. I would enjoy an update on Serum 2. It's probably the most popular paid synthesizer in the world, so it would reach a lot of people.

I saved a lot of the pieces I created in Building Blocks, as music started to come out that sounded good. I still use Syntorial as a sound testing/ear training lab and the extra lesson packs distributed for that program. Building Block training labs will continue to be helpful for me.

I have some closing questions:

  • One thing I was expecting to see in this course was the transition from numbers to letters (A-G). I'm guessing the reason is that the 1 could start on whatever key you choose to write on, and that the pattern starts on that. Is that correct?
  • Any recommended books, videos, or other resources that would be good for someone who did not attend music school, who needs more on chord progressions and arrangements? Some of the books I have picked up assume I'm starting from a different place. Alternatively, how to get to caught up?

Lastly, thanks once again for sharing your knowledge, and if you do decide to deliver another great course, please let me know.