Warren Lain — Projects, Services
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The WARRENMUSIC Series
The WARRENMUSIC Series is an ongoing video series about the fundamentals of musicianship, analysis, songwriting, and creativity for the student of contemporary music.
Based on the Kodály method, and fusing concepts from both the common practice period and ethnomusicology, the first stage of the Series consists of three video modules broken into ten episodes each: the Melody Module, the Harmony Module, and the Rhythm Module.
The Series also introduces the WARRENMUSIC Grid System; avoiding the most common stumbling blocks associated with standard notation — staff and ledger lines, note heads and stems, key and time signatures — the Grid leverages fluency in relative pitch, chord analysis, and beat-awareness in an innovative, powerful, and simple approach to learning and transcription.
The WARRENMUSIC Grid System accomplishes this through integration of the Time Unit Box System with cipher notation and roman numeral chord analysis in a single, modular format. The experience is fast, visually intuitive, and readily transmissible between DAW software/MIDI sequencers, Excel/Google Sheets, monospace texts, and good, old-fashioned grid-lined physical notebooks. The WARRENMUSIC Grid translates easily into standard notation.
Private Instruction
Private lessons focus on playing by ear, music theory, and music analysis and interpretation; discovering the relationship between creativity and theory; songwriting coaching and feedback, and more in a one-on-one or group setting via video call.
I offer private lessons by the hour on Skype.
Your first lesson includes a time of introduction and questions, not counted in the hour, as well as
- access to my proprietary Theory Grid (a customizable web resource and workbook which promotes fluency in relative pitch, chord analysis, and beat-awareness across various subjects in melody, harmony, and rhythm),
- spot analysis for songs of your choosing (including your own songs),
- my best techniques for arrangement and music production,
- a gentle, friendly, and encouraging teaching style, and
- correspondence outside of lessons when appropriate.
The context of private lessons allows us to explore songs of your choosing and treat them as introductions to the bigger musical ideas they exhibit. This is based on the belief that the songs we love are our best teachers; we just need to learn how to get the most out of them.
Breaking down songs into smaller and smaller components is where musicianship flourishes. I show you the entire process of how I do that, from start to finish. This includes how I hear and understand and transcribe what’s happening musically in the melody, harmony, and rhythm in the song, as well as how I deal with specific challenges a song may present.
Private lessons go deeper than tabs, chord charts, and video tutorials, and are tailored to the individual.
This type of commitment would be most appropriate if you were interested in developing your ear, understanding music theory, and becoming your own bridge between the music you love and the music you make.
To get started with this option, I’d just need your weekly availability and your timezone.
Video Tutorial
Video tutorials are song-based instructional videos by commission ranging from step-by-step breakdowns to customized arrangements.
With a video tutorial, you get a step-by-step breakdown of each section and in-depth analysis, clarifying a song’s most complicated sections and revealing its most important musical concepts.
The tutorial also comes with a chord chart detailing the guitar tuning, chord shapes, and the rhythm. Where relevant, it will include the harmonic rhythm (when chords switch), melodic rhythm (when a melody moves), strumming/fingerpicking patterns, offering an advantage to conventional tabs. You can print out a chord chart or view it on a secondary device alongside the video tutorial for a fully-annotated learning experience.
This service is guaranteed to be of the same quality of my YouTube tutorials, or higher. There is an additional fee of $150 for a private tutorial. This fee can be waived with your express permission to share the tutorial with the public.
MIDI Transcriptions / Chord Charts
MIDI Files are project/instrument-based transcriptions via commission, produced in .mid format.
A MIDI file is a playable, note-for-note .mid file ready for importing into Digital Audio Workstation software like Ableton Live, Logic, or Pro Tools, and VST instruments including, but not limited to, piano, keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, bass, and percussion.
Chord charts are song-based transcriptions via commission in an alternative format, offering an intuitive way to view a song’s form, and its salient melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic content in grid form as opposed to standard notation or tab.
A chord chart provides an overview of a song’s structure, including the key/tuning, chord shapes, picking/strumming patterns, and vital information for playing and analysis.
Your Project
Sign me up for your very own project.
I also do music production, arrangement, and remote session work. I make practice tracks, backing tracks, commercial music, and soundtracks for film. In short, if you have a music-related project you’re excited about — whether it’s personal or professional — I’d love to consider being a part of helping you achieve your goal.
Payment Methods & Hourly Rate
I charge $75/hour for the entire range of my private services above.
About Me
Musicianship for all.
I’m about one simple thing: connecting with people through music.
Over the past ten years, I’ve connected with thousands of students across the world via my YouTube channel WARRENMUSIC and bonded over common musical interests, taught workshops in Europe and across the United States, and produced educational content for musicians of all levels, working with DIY bedroom producers to established performing artists.
The latest incarnation of this desire to help others get more out of music has been in the form of the WARRENMUSIC Series. When I was convinced that tutorials and tabs weren’t meeting the long-term needs of students — like music theory, ear-training, and a method for becoming self-taught — I sought to change that with a simple concept: a website dedicated to bridging the gap between the music we love and the music we make.
I’m now taking private students in San José, CA.
Whether you check out my newsletter, take a lesson, hire me for a project, or buy the series, drop me a line and let me know how I can help you get more out of the music you love.
Join me in my journey of sharing my love of music with the world.
-Warren Lain
October, 2019
