Inside my Music Production Analysis Cheat Sheet in the Music Production Strategies course (get it free until tomorrow night with the Pre-Production Workshop from me and Lij), I spend a lot of time on three things.

I call them the 3 Pillars of Music Production.

They are:

• Songwriting and structure
• Arrangement and instrumentation
• Production and engineering

It all breaks down into these things.

But you could also say that they're a pyramid of production.

Because in the end, it comes down to the song. 

The catchy melody that'll end up being doubled and harmonized and effected in the mixing phase?

It was still catchy before all that processing and arrangement.

So let me offer this advice whenever you're working on your next production, whether you're self-producing or working with a band.

Before you start thinking about all the cool gear you can use to get a great sound, sit down and listen to the songs you're going to record.

• Do the songs speak to you? Can you relate to the meaning of the song and does the melody really sound catchy?
• Is there anything you would change? Try to think like an outsider looking in. Is the song in its current form the best it can be or is there room for improvement?

It reminds me of a story my friend Steven told me. He's a producer and he was doing a cool project with this singer/songwriter.

He told me,

"What we thought was the chorus during pre-production ended up being the pre-chorus. When we were 80% through the session we had to re-track drums because she wrote a new chorus which changed everything."

Even though they thought they had a chorus, they ended up with something much better because they delayed the session for the sake of the song.

Learning to spot weak points in a song is an invaluable skill to have as a producer.

It's something Lij and I want to help you out with inside the Pre-Production Workshop. We spend an hour and 40 minutes going through a few songs, pointing out weak spots in the song structure and brainstorming potential arrangement and production decisions.

After going through the Pre-Production Workshop, it's our goal that you'll be able to spot the choruses that really should be pre-choruses, like my friend Steven.

In addition to pre-production, a great way to learn those critical listening skills is to listen to the popular productions of the past.

That's what you'll get out of Music Production Strategies.

And the best part?

You can get Music Production Strategies for FREE with the Pre-Production Workshop, but only if you buy before tomorrow night.

Invest in some critical listening skills and learn pre-production from Lij and me:

Come enjoy the music with me here.