Here’s a breakdown of the best music production courses you can access to brush up your music production and instrument playing skills during the lockdown.
We included the best online music courses that can be accessed completely free of charge for a limited time only. You will also find a couple of excellent music learning courses for guitar players.
See also: Best Free Music Production SoftwareIn addition to these free music production courses featured on this page, you should check out our #StayAtHome article. It features over fifty music production tools such as VST plugins, portable apps, and digital audio workstations that are free to access during the lockdown.
Free Music Production Courses
This section of the article covers video tutorials and courses to help you learn various music production techniques. From the basic sequencing and sound design courses offered by Ableton to the advanced music production masterclasses offered by music production schools, there’s a tutorial for everyone. Buckle up and use your free time to improve your music production skills.
Slate Academy
Slate Academy is FREE for 90 days. Sign up now and get free instant access to top-quality music production masterclasses. The included music production tutorials cover a range of topics like mixing, sound design, EQ guides, compression guides, and ear training. There are also genre-specific courses for electronic dance music, hip-hop production, rock mixing, synthwave production, and more.
Normally, one would have to pay $24.99 for a one-month subscription to Slate Academy (or $149 for the full year). You can now get 90 days of free access to all 15+ music courses featured on Slate Academy. A valid email address is required for signup purposes.
More info: Slate Academy (free for 90 days)
Mixing With Softube Plugins
Puremix is offering the Mixing With Softube Plugins tutorial video for free until July 8th! Learn how to mix an entire multi-track project from scratch. The tutorial is based on Softube plugins, but the same techniques can be applied to any set of audio effects.
On a related note, Puremix is also running a series of free online webinars, featuring Q&A sessions and beat-making workshops with acclaimed artists and audio engineers. The webinars are streamed at 6:30 pm GMT every day.
You will need to register for a free Puremix user account to access the Mixing With Softube Plugins tutorial and the music production webinars. The offer ends on July 8th, 2020.
More info: Puremix Webinars / Mixing With Softube Plugins (free until July 8th, 2020)
Berklee Online Courses
Berklee College of Music is offering several free music production courses at the moment. For starters, you can learn the basics of music production in Ableton Live and Pro Tools. There are also free courses about music theory, vocal recording techniques, and more.
A valid email address is required to sign up and join the course. The courses last between four and six weeks, with several hours of online classes per week.
More info: Ableton Live Fundamentals / Pro Tools Basics / BerkleeX
Ableton Learning Music / Learning Synths
Ableton’s free music production and sound design courses are a great starting point for beginners. Both courses are highly interactive and surprisingly fun. The basic idea is to actually use virtual instruments and effects while you learn about music production. Throughout the course, you’ll learn about sequencing and composition while using virtual drum machines and softsynth in your browser.
Both courses are compatible with desktop and mobile browsers, so you can learn at home or as you go. There’s no signup required – simply fire up your favorite browser and start your music production course.
More info: Learning Music / Learning Synths (no time limit)
Production Expert
Production Expert is offering a free three-month subscription for new users after the standard 2-week free trial ends. Use the coupon code BEAT-COVID-19 at checkout to activate three months of free access. IMPORTANT: You will need to enter a valid payment method at signup.
The three-month subscription includes unlimited access to all music production and audio courses available at the Production Expert website. The tutorials cover all major digital audio workstations like Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, and Studio One, with over 260 hours of video tutorials and online courses.
More info: Production Expert (free for 90 days with coupon code BEAT-COVID-19, payment method required)
Free Music Skills Training
Here is a collection of handy resources for aspiring guitarists, drummers, and bass guitar players. Watch free video lessons and improve your instrument playing skills during the lockdown.
Fender Play
Fender Pay is offering three months of free guitar, bass and, ukulele video lessons. Learn to play any of the three instruments with instant access to video tutorials and courses. This special offer is limited to the first one million users who sign up for three months of free access to Fender Play.
To access the free music courses on Fender Play, click the “Get Code” button and sign up for a user account. After that, simply enter your access code and start learning how to play a new musical instrument.
More info: Fender Play (free for 90 days)
Amped Guitar Learning
Amped Guitar Learning is a guitar learning app for iOS (the Android version is still in development). Download the app now to get a free three-month subscription with full access to the app’s features. The subscription normally costs $14.99 per month or $89.99 per year.
More info: Amped Guitar Learning (free for 90 days)
Drum Channel
Drum Channel is giving away 1,000 free memberships which include 30-days of unlimited access to all the music courses on their website. The included content covered video lessons, in-depth drumming courses, interviews with pro drummers, and more.
More info: Drum Channel (free for 30 days)
If you know of any additional music production courses that can be accessed for free, let us know in the comments section below. Thank you!
5 Comments
Mike B
onThanks for compiling this. There are many I wasn’t aware of that I may use.
Vitali
onI recommend this one: “Ableton Learning Music / Learning Synths”
Bani
onAlready signed up to the slate one. Thank you!
Michele Bruzzi
onCoursera has some good courses from various universities (and from Berklee too) you can audit for free.
Jimmy
onHow do I go about taking a free online music production course for free without paying for it ?