Core Lesson #4: Sketch Your Way to Mastery & a Body of Work
How I stumbled into Sketching and changed my entire approach to making music.
I had just finished a mix that had taken a week and at least 20 hours of work.
Excitedly I hit bounce, ready to hear the transformation.
But when I listened back to the bounce from before all that work, I was hit with a sobering reality:
The core energy still felt almost the same.
Yes - the mixing had made it sound cleaner.
But I didn't improve the music itself, I just made it sound subjectively more "polished."
A lesson I needed finally sank in: If I wanted to make better music, I needed to shift my focus to be 90% on my core concepts.
As part of my practice, I would open my piano roll and sketch ideas one after the next.
Soon I was writing ideas that felt more alive in minutes than that 20 hour mixing project.
Then I let those ideas pull me forward into production.
The result was better sounding music, with less mixing needed - made easier and more sustainably.
And I was having a blast doing it. It brought me back in touch with what I loved about music.
Actually writing it.
Over time I got better at directing my sketches, and using them as a secret weapon in building my skills while generating ideas I could use to finish tracks.
Here's exactly what I'd do.
1. TARGET: I'd pick a style I was inspired by - or was sent as a reference for a professional project. This was the first lesson in this series.
2. TRANSCRIBE: I'd transcribe the key parts from the track, to train my ear and see how it worked at a deeper level. This was the second lesson in this series.
3. ANALYZE: I'd analyze the track and my transcription from 4 categories: Notes, Sounds, Form, Emotion. This was the third lesson in this series.
4. SKETCH: I'd use what I'd learned as rough guidelines, and write as many ideas as I could following them. Each idea was a rep that made me better - until I wrote an idea that was so inspiring it naturally pulled me forward into making it a full production.
This is incredibly effective. You get to build ideas - while getting better at building ideas.
It's practice + idea generation.
But the best part is that it feels good.
It's not about being perfect - it's low-pressure and fun.
And because it's fun, you can do it a lot.
And because you do it lot, it'll make you really good.
I've now composed thousands of sketches - resulting in hundreds of tracks, millions of streams, thousands of commercial usages and the skills to provide at a high-level for professional clients.
But best of all - it helps me create freely, based on whatever is inspiring me each day - and allowing that to build the foundation to everything organically.
That’s why if I could only get you to do ONE thing, it would be to just sketch every day.
Sketching brings respect back to your core craft of writing music. And in return, it will respect you.
Which brings us to…
Your Homework: Sketching practice
From your previous homework, you should now have a TARGET, a TRANSCRIPTION and an ANALYSIS. We will now use that to build a Sketch Session around.
- PROJECT SETUP: Load a new project with SOUNDS that are inspired by what you found in your analysis.
- SKETCH: Set a timer between 20 minutes to 1 hour. Using the NOTES findings from your analysis as rough guidelines, write as many ideas as you can, one after the next. Focus on volume right now, not perfection. If you need a number, aim for 5 - 20.
- REFLECT: Give yourself some space, then come back later and listen to everything you made. Which feels alive? Which feels “meh?” What can we learn from them? Are there any you want to develop further? This informs your next sketch session.
Note 1: I’m ignoring FORM for now. That will be used for the development of your favorite sketches. Right now is about practicing idea generation.
Note 2: If you didn’t do the transcription & analysis - or couldn’t - then just open a piano roll and have a free sketching session where you write anything for 20 minutes to 1 hour.
This concludes our 4 Core Lessons introducing the Art of Sketching.
These lessons have just given you an endless loop of self-growth you can use for life.
Target. Transcribe. Analyze. Sketch.
This is all you need to self-teach based on any reference, then make ideas that feel alive in that style - and also like you.
To go deeper, consider my course or reaching out to discuss private sessions.
From here on, I will share other techniques that help with individual skill building.
Thank you for reading through my stories - I hope you found them helpful. 🙂
Avery
