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CHORD CONTROL:

Practical Music Theory for Chords & Melodies in the DAW

Feel Better In The Piano Roll - Or Your Money Back

  • 90+ structured lessons
  • "Purposeful Progressions" MIDI Pack included
  • Chord progression notion database
$97 - ADD TO CART

What You Get

Fundamentals + Music-Making Workflows

Learn directly on the piano roll. Each lesson will give you new tools & inspiration to create.

"Purposeful Progressions" MIDI Pack

A collection of composition-ready progressions - categorized and organized for quick inspiration.

Answers To Your Questions

Have a question? Send me a message - happy to help if I can.

Note: This course does not cover DAW basics and is not for complete beginners. It is best for producers who can get around their DAW and want to improve their ability to compose music from scratch.

I made this course because learning these ideas changed everything for me - they made the piano roll fun.

For years I felt stuck with theory, and I knew it was holding me back.

So I started really studying it.

I worked with a jazz instructor who helped me see music differently.
I brought songs into my DAW from across genres, rebuilt them, and made notes about what I learned.
And I practiced writing in the piano roll every day.

With each idea I wrote, I started to notice creative rules I could follow to get to music that felt good.

And then one day... the theory disappeared.

Writing music just felt natural. Not because I was the best, but because it felt good - like I could sit down and compose endlessly.

That feeling - the freedom to bring music from your head to life within minutes - is one of the best I know.

That’s the feeling I want to lead you toward in this course.

You’ll learn the fundamentals and practical theory workflows I use to write chords, melodies, and full sketches from scratch.

If I could only teach one thing, it would be this - what I wish I’d learned on day one.

If you write in a piano roll and want to understand theory in a way that makes you feel free instead of boxed in, let’s begin.

Examples

"Song sketches" made using concepts from this course. By the end you'll be composing your own strong ideas from scratch. 

 

Bonus: My personal chord progression database

I don’t like to think of chord progressions as “good or bad.” Each one has something unique to offer - it’s just about connecting with that and making it yours.

This database is part of my personal practice. Every progression here has earned its place - I’ve heard it in the world, used it in a song, and found it worth exploring.

Full course outline

  1. Module 1: The Art of Song-Sketching & Workflow Foundations

    7 lessons
    1. Intro to Chord Control
    2. DOWNLOADS: MIDI Pack & My Chord Progression Database
    3. The 4 Steps to Music Production
    4. Sketch to Production Workflow
    5. Song Sketching Part 2 (More demonstrations of Song Sketching)
    6. Rhythm Fundamentals & "Feeling" Groove
    7. Demonstrations of Common Grooves

  2. Module 2: Where Chords Come From

    5 lessons
    1. Chords In The Major Scale
    2. Chords In The Minor Scale
    3. Double Harminonic Minor Arabic Scale
    4. Major Minor Mindblow
    5. Hearing Scales

  3. Module 3: How to Write Timelessly Great Chord Progressions

    14 lessons
    1. Chords & Progressions PDF Lesson
    2. 1. Tonic Subdominanant Dominant Functions
    3. TIP Start on 1 6 or 4
    4. 2. Substitute Chords
    5. 3. Substitute Chords In Action
    6. 4. Writing Longer Progressions With Substitutes
    7. 5. Writing Progressions In Minor
    8. 6. Substitutions In Minor
    9. 7. 3 Chord Voicing Tips
    10. 8. Bass Inversions
    11. 9. A Few Practical Voicings
    12. 10. The Magic of I V vi IV
    13. 11. The Magic of the i III VI VII
    14. [Bonus] Passing Chord lesson with Thomas Anthony

  4. Module 4: How to Add Color to your Chords with 7ths & Extensions

    8 lessons
    1. 12. Building 7th Chords
    2. 13. Building Extended Chords
    3. 14. Sharp and Flat Extended Chords
    4. 15. Diads
    5. 16. Writing Progressions With 7th Extended and Suspended
    6. 17. Playing on the Keyboard
    7. 18. 7th and Extensions under an Ostinato Examples
    8. Sus Chords vs Add Chords

  5. Module 5: Add a "Mature" Sound with Secondary Dominant Chords

    3 lessons
    1. Intro to Secondary Dominant Chords
    2. Secondary Dominants In Action
    3. The Most Common Secondary Dominant Major V in Minor Progressions

  6. Module 6: Writing Soul & Jazz Influenced Chords

    9 lessons
    1. IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE WE START
    2. Instant Soul - Minor 7 9 Major 7 9 Trick
    3. Tritone Substitution
    4. Passing Diminished Chords
    5. Augmented b9 Dominant Chords
    6. Comparing SD TS PD
    7. Soul Progressions
    8. Chords In 5 Levels
    9. Tweaking a I vi IV V

  7. Module 7: Modes to Unlock New Worlds

    10 lessons
    1. Mode Chord Chart PDFs & Lesson
    2. Introduction to Modes
    3. Major vs Minor Modes
    4. Dorian
    5. Phrygian
    6. Lydian
    7. Mixolydian
    8. Locrian
    9. Modal Interchange
    10. Major Minor Interchange

  8. Module 8: All About Writing Good Melodies

    13 lessons
    1. Setup Repeat Vary Destroy
    2. Magic of the Pentatonic Scale
    3. Listening to the Personality of Intervals AKA get to know what notes feel like
    4. Emotion of Notes (FROM STUDENT SESSION)
    5. Rhythm Melodies
    6. Writing Melodies on Chords
    7. What is an Ostinato
    8. Ostinatos PDF
    9. What is an Arpeggio
    10. What is a Riff
    11. How to Develop a Melodic Idea
    12. Chords Under an Accapella
    13. STUDENT SESSION: Writing Melodies with Intention

  9. Module 9: Turning "Block Chords" Into Song Concepts

    11 lessons
    1. Live 10 Minute Sketch Mindset Walkthrough
    2. Beatmaking Ideas for Chords
    3. Future House Template
    4. Folk Template
    5. Orchestral Template
    6. Trap Template
    7. Synthwave
    8. Trance Template
    9. How to Produce an EDM Song
    10. Inside Look At An Action Trailer Composition Built Off Mostly 4 Chords
    11. Hans Zimmer - Time Breakdown

  10. Bonus Lessons

    12 lessons
    1. Hooktheory
    2. Google Search for Chords
    3. PRACTICE: How to Practice Your Songwriting In the DAW
    4. How to Prepare Your Project for Efficiency & Workflow
    5. How to Analyze a Reference Track to Give Yourself a Template for Music Making
    6. Song Recomposition to Learn From Your Favorite Music
    7. How to Setup Custom Drum Kits for Fast Workflow
    8. Sourcing Good Presets
    9. Recommended Virtual Instruments
    10. The Essential Mixing Tools
    11. The Upsidedown Triangle
    12. Avery's Ultimate Popular Music Writing Cheatsheet

Start a lesson

The first 5 minutes from The Sketch to Production Workflow in Module 1.

 

Student feedback

CHORD CONTROL:

Practical Music Theory for Chords & Melodies in the DAW

Feel Better In The Piano Roll - Or Your Money Back

  • 90+ structured lessons
  • "Purposeful Progressions" MIDI Pack included
  • Chord progression notion database
$97 - ADD TO CART

Consider my course bundle to get all my courses together for a discount.

Frequently asked questions

Got another question? Send an email: [email protected]

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