Graduation: Your 8-Bar Sketch

This is the graduation project: everything from the whole theory line, in one piece of music — a 1-bar drum loop, 4 chords lasting 2 bars each, and a 4-bar melody that loops on top. There is no correct answer, only yours: build it, save it, share it.

Three quick tips

• Start with the drums. Lock in the kick and snare first, and everything else has a pulse to lean on.
• Do not invent chords from scratch. Go back to Unit 5 and steal the progression you built and liked best — four chords is plenty to carry a song.
• Write the melody in mostly steps, with the occasional leap for a highlight, and land the important beats on notes of the current chord — it will simply sound right.

The end of the line, the start of yours

From vibration to pitch, from beat to groove, from scales to chords, from motifs to structure — the theory line ends here, and every one of those tools is now in your hands. This is not the end of the course so much as the beginning of your music: save this 8-bar sketch, share it with a friend, and then write the next one.