Ableton Live Beginner
Learn Ableton Live and produce your first track
A hands on beginner course where you build an original track from start to finish, no experience needed.
Ableton Certified Training Center
1 of 119 worldwide
Active artists as instructors
not career educators
Taught at our NYC location
Also available in Berlin and online
Course at a glance
6 or 11 weeks
Beginner
Jan 2027
10-14 pax
Ableton
Produce a finished track
Join from home or anywhere
Course outcomes
You'll finish with real music
Throughout the course, you'll build an original track step by step. By the final class, you'll have finished an original track.
Check out the tracks our students have already released:
What you'll accomplish in this course
Create drums and melodies
Record MIDI and audio
Arrange a full track
Use Ableton effects
Build your workflow
Export a finished track
Course Journey
What you'll learn week by week
Foundations
Overview, drums and MIDI: Navigate the Session View, program four on the floor and broken beats, edit MIDI notes and velocity, and load and swap drum kits.
Chords and basslines: Play scales and chords with a MIDI controller, build a usable chord progression, and write a bassline to match.
Melody and layers: Create a melody over your chords, add and record extra parts in the Session View, and clean recordings into loops.
Audio, effects and arrangement
Audio clips and warping: Add audio loops, warp them to your tempo, and edit clip timing, pitch and volume.
Audio effects 101: Add EQ, compression, reverb and delay, use sends and a limiter, and organize your set ready to arrange.
Arrangement View: Record your Session ideas into the timeline and edit, duplicate and structure clips into song sections.
Sampling and adding interest
Samples and Simpler: Chop and tune samples in Simpler, record in the Arrangement View, and freeze and flatten tracks.
Adding interest: Build drum fills, breakdowns and variations, draw automation, and create transitions between sections.
Finishing
Finishing touches: Record and edit automation, MIDI map controls, and add transition effects and supporting layers.
Mixing 101: Balance levels and panning, use EQ and sends, set a limiter on the main out, and export a WAV and MP3.
Presentations and review: Share your finished track and get feedback from your instructor and peers.
Value
What's included?
Everything you need to learn, practice, and keep improving after class.
Live group classes
Learn directly from an experienced producer in a structured weekly format.
Small group feedback
Personal feedback from pro producers so you improve faster
Hands on assignments
Apply new concepts each week and use them to build your track
Exclusive discounts
Save up to 50% on selected software
343 Labs certificate
Receive a Certificate of Completion at the end of the course
Some of your instructors
Learn from active producers
Mentorship from active producers, performers, and engineers shaping today's electronic music scene.
Great Dane
Producer • DJ • TeamSupreme Founder
Touring producer DJ and TeamSupreme founder known for bass music production.
Brian Jackson
Mastering Engineer • Ableton Certified Trainer • Author
Ableton Certified Trainer, mixing and mastering engineer, and author.
Stella Key
Producer • DJ • Vocal Producer
Producer, DJ, and topliner with releases and collaborations.
Hear from our students
300+ 5-star reviews
Omar Hernandez“I just finished my first music production class with Dane, and it was an amazing experience! As someone brand new to producing, I was a little intimidated at first, but Dane made everything feel super approachable. He has a real talent for breaking down complex ideas and showing how to use Ableton Live in a way that actually makes sense. I walked out of the class feeling confident, inspired, and excited to start creating my own tracks. Highly recommend this class to anyone curious about music production—especially if you’re using Ableton!”
Cameron Mousighi“Took Intro to Ableton with Dane and had a wonderful experience - you learn so much and there’s always dedicated time to practice what you learn in class with the option to get feedback on what you’re working on. As a relative beginner, I found it really encouraging and by the end had an actual finished piece of music that I was really proud of!”
Collin Colford343 is great, I went from tinkering in Reaper with no idea how to produce a song to using Ableton Live to fully produce, mix and master my own releases. Can't recommend the classes enough - the instructors are great, friendly and really care about students growth and success. 10/10!
PRICING & SCHEDULE
FAQS
Still have questions?
Anyone who wants to start producing music using Ableton Live, from total beginners to musicians moving into production.
No. This is an entry level course with no prior music or production knowledge required.
A complete original track you produced from scratch, plus a working knowledge of Ableton Live and the production workflow.
A laptop, headphones and Ableton Live Suite. You get up to 50% off Ableton Live as part of the course.
You can book a private make-up class for a reduced fee.
Yes. Flexible monthly payment plans are available through Affirm so you can spread the cost.
Call 1-800-243-3405 or schedule a free Zoom with Nacho. We look forward to speaking with you.