> Step by step

1. Building a melody as a jumping-off point for a beat

1 For this tutorial, you will need to use a step sequencer. Here’s Auxy, a free app for iOS devices. You can use whatever software you are familiar with. Open up a fresh project and set it to loop every four beats. If you can, set the key signature to C minor or C pentatonic minor, if available.

2 For this demonstration, we’ll use a random melody, so place six to eight notes at random. However, in order to ensure you feel the pulse in the right place, add a note or even two right at the beginning.

3 Hit play. At first, the notes probably don’t sound like music – they’re just noise. After a moment, your brain synchronises to the rhythm and you start to feel the pulse. At this point, the notes start to sound like music. Also note that the pulse isn’t actually being played: it’s only felt.

4 Next, open up a drum track and input a bass drum on the quarter-note pulse. This should play the pulse that you are already feeling. However, if you feel the pulse in a different place, then this pulse will feel jarring until your brain re-synchronises. This can take a moment. You might also feel the bass drum pulse as upbeat eighth-notes.

5 The length of notes changes their meaning. It’s easy to only think about the onset of a note, but the ending of a note drives its feel as well. For example, if you wanted to use only notes on a quarter-note pulse but still create a feeling of an eighth-note pulse, just make the notes an eighth-note long. To create a triplet feel, make them a triplet or two in length.