Ableton Live Beginners Course
LEARN MUSIC
PRODUCTION
IN PERSON
IN MELBOURNE
A fun and comprehensive in-person course covering music production, sound design and workflow in Ableton Live. Learn how to bring the tools and techniques together into a step-by-step process for creating your own music.
Next intake: Thursday 12 November 2026
Eight 2.5-hour sessions. Thursdays, 7:00pm-9:30pm.
The Snedlab, Coburg North. Groups of up to 11 people.
Course price: $895.
Next intake: Thursday 12 November 2026
$895.00
Next intake: Thursday 12 November 2026
$895.00
What you’ll learn
Practical tools, powerful musical concepts and working habits for producing music in Ableton Live.
A central focus of this course is workflow: piecing the techniques, musical ideas, shortcuts and tools together into a process that makes sense to you. You’ll learn a step-by-step approach you can return to in your own projects, from the first spark of an idea through to an arrangement, a mix and an exported track.
Along with operating the software, we’re learning how to think about music, use our musical intuition and make creative decisions with the tools at hand.
After every class you get a follow-up email with self-study material, including animated explainers of the class topics. All the course materials and visualisers are kept in the student portal, and you get lifetime access to it.
This course covers the practical tools, musical ideas and working habits involved in producing music in Ableton Live:
- Finding your way around Ableton Live: understand the software and how its tools fit into the music-making process.
- Beat making: techniques for creating beats and developing rhythmic ideas.
- Creating songs from start to finish: bring your musical ideas together into complete pieces of music.
- Finishing and exporting: develop the habit of exporting finished tracks, rather than leaving everything as an unfinished project.
- Recording, audio editing and sampling: record and edit audio, work with samples and use them creatively in your productions.
- Musical awareness and ear training: develop your listening skills and understanding of what makes your music sound good.
- Practical music theory: straightforward ideas that beginning musicians can understand, plus shortcuts for putting them to use in music production.
- Songwriting and composition: techniques, shortcuts and tricks for developing your musical ideas.
- Mixing: work with equalisation, compression and audio effects to shape your sound and bring the parts of a track together.
- Automation: add movement and artistic expression to your music.
- MIDI instruments and controllers: understand MIDI instruments, MIDI mapping and how to use controllers creatively.
- Performance techniques: explore practical performance tricks in Ableton Live.
- Workflow: produce more reliably with a systematic approach, and learn techniques that make the process faster and easier.
Comprehensive follow-up emails and self-study materials are provided after each session so you can revisit what we’ve covered and keep practicing at home.
You don’t have to figure it all out alone
Learning as a group, with a tutor, is easier and more enjoyable than trying to work everything out by yourself. You can ask questions, get help as you go and learn from what other students are doing.
The course combines explanation with practical work, so you have opportunities to put the ideas into use rather than just watch them happen. Working alongside other people also helps build momentum and gives you a reason to keep making music between classes.
Is this course right for you?
The course is designed for beginners, but it isn’t limited to people opening Ableton for the first time. If you’ve already spent time producing and want a clearer process, there is plenty of practical learning and hands-on experience to take away.
This is an IN DEPTH beginners course - and will give you an understanding of what generally takes most people 2-3 years to come across in self-directed learning.
We cover a substantial range of material, presented in a sequence that lets you build on what you’ve learned. The aim is to give you a useful foundation across production, composition, sound design and mixing, with a workflow you can continue developing after the course.
Very often people who have been producing in Ableton Live for 4-5+ years come through this course and express they gained far more insight than they were expecting to.
Practice between classes
Each class includes homework to help you put the new skills into practice and prepare for the following session. Aim to set aside another 2.5 hours each week for this work.
You don’t need to understand everything immediately. The follow-up materials are there to help you revisit the details and keep working with them in your own time.
Materials you can keep coming back to
After each session, you’ll receive a comprehensive follow-up email with written summaries of class content, detailed annotated images to help you study the interface, and video tutorials relevant to the topics we’ve covered.
The follow-ups also include animated explainers of the class topics: short animations that show the ideas step by step, which you can replay as often as you like. They’re kept in the student portal week by week, with the rest of the course materials.
These give you a resource for recapping the class, practising at home and returning to particular techniques after the course has finished.
We’ll also cover useful online resources, including sample libraries. Students receive a hand-picked sample pack made for this course, containing 2GB of high-quality, royalty-free samples.
Animated explainers from the course
Weeks 1 and 2
What previous students say
From being overwhelmed at the thought of Ableton and music production, to feeling confident in my abilities and excited for what the future of this creative path has to offer. Thank you John for sharing you passion for music and years of experience in an easy to digest, engaging, fun and hilarious 8 week beginner course. As someone who has always struggled in the classroom and was quite overwhelmed by the thought of music production, you delivered the course in a way that kept me engaged and gave me the confidence to carve my own path navigating the beast that is Ableton.
Jacob
I have just completed the 8 week beginner course with John and highly recommend his classes. I really appreciate the follow up emails that gets sent out after each class with a recap + additional YouTube videos to watch (he picks really entertaining yet educational creators). John has a very engaging persona in class and keeps the vibe very upbeat with his jokes and mannerisms!
Shuyen
John’s classes are engaging, practical, relaxed and fun. The concepts and techniques he teaches gives you a basic understanding of the entire process involved in producing a track and he really draws out the inner creator in all of his students regardless of music making experience. The way that John structured this course made learning Ableton super simple, tangible and FUN from the get go. Getting to create songs from the very first week and to continue working on music we had created each week, made it really fun and balanced out the learning new stuff component with a lot of creativity.
Sheridan
Requirements:
You must bring the following to each class:
- Your own laptop, with Ableton Live installed. Version 10 or later is required. Ableton Standard or Suite versions are recommended, however this course is built to also accommodate users of Intro. Ableton offers a free trial. Please get in touch if you need help with setup.
- A quality pair of wired headphones. Bluetooth headphones are not suitable. A wired pair is required.
- A computer mouse.
Upcoming course dates
November 2026-January 2027: Thursday evening intake
Thursday November 12th, 2026 to Thursday January 21st, 2027
Classes run from 7:00pm-9:30pm. Arrive from 6:45pm to set up.
Full dates: November 12, 19, 26 - December 3, 10, 17 - January 14, 21.
There is a holiday break after Thursday December 17th, 2026, with no class on December 24th, December 31st or January 7th. Classes resume on Thursday January 14th, 2027.
This is a course of eight 2.5-hour sessions, with a maximum group size of 11 people.
Course price
Full price for the course is $895 for eight 2.5-hour sessions.
Current booking price:
| Booking stage | Course price | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Full price | $895 total | Current price |
Payment plans
Payment plans are available at checkout via PayPal Pay-in-4, Afterpay and Klarna. Please get in touch if these options aren’t suitable for you, and we can discuss additional private payment plan options.
Private course, one to one or with friends
The Beginners course is also available privately, in person or online. Do it one to one, or bring a friend or two and split the cost.
One to one
$1,350 in person
$1,195 online
9 x 90-minute sessions
Two people
25% off each
$2,000 in person
$1,790 online
$1,000 each in person, $895 each online
8 x 2.5-hour sessions
Three people
30% off each
$2,835 in person
$2,505 online
$945 each in person, $835 each online
8 x 2.5-hour sessions
Prices are for the whole course. Percentages are each person’s saving on the one-to-one price. Times are set together after booking.
Location
Classes are held at The Snedlab, 4/36 Norfolk Court, Coburg North VIC 3058.
Arrival and setup
Please arrive 15 minutes before class so you’re set up and ready to start. Doors close at class commencement. The full arrival policy is included in the Terms of Service below.
Support during and after the course
Follow-up material and animated explainers
After every class you get a follow-up email with self-study material, including animated explainers of the class topics. They give you a way to recap the class, practise at home and go back over particular techniques.
Student portal
All the course materials and visualisers are kept in the student portal, and you get lifetime access to it. Come back and recap any of it whenever you need, long after the course has finished.
More animated explainers
Week 3 and mixing
Catch-up sessions
If you are unable to make a particular class, discounted 90-minute 1:1 private catch-up sessions are available for current course participants, either online or in person.
Rate: $90 per 90-minute session.
Free Open Production Sessions
After taking part in the Beginners Course, prior students get priority seats in Open Production Sessions: regularly occurring free open studio days for producers.
Stay connected with fellow students, watch music being made in real time, ask questions and learn from the decisions made during a working music production session.
Read about Music Production Open Sessions
Private tuition discounts
Beginners Course participants get a 10% discount on all private 1:1 sessions going forward, on top of bulk-booking discounts.
Private sessions can help you work through particular topics and continue developing your own music with individual support.
Bring a friend and get a huge discount
Book with friends and you all pay less. Get a friend involved and learn together!
- Book with one friend: $695 each, code FRIENDS2
- Book as a group of three: $595 each, code FRIENDS3
You each book and pay for your own place, by card, PayPal, Afterpay or bank transfer. Enter the code at checkout and add your friends’ names in the order notes.
Questions before booking?
Contact me at info@snedmusic.com or call 0449 705 424 if you’d like to discuss the course.
I also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you’d like an in-person chat about whether Ableton Live is the right path for you and your music. Get in touch to arrange a time.
Terms of Service
Please read the Terms of Service before booking.
- Course fees including deposits are non refundable and non transferable. Course fees cannot be transferred to future 1:1 private sessions. Course tickets are only valid for the course dates specified in the course you have booked, and cannot be transferred to future courses.
- Depending on bookings, course dates may change from those initially advertised. In the event of a date change, this course may start up to 3 weeks later than the initially proposed date.
- This event requires a minimum number of participants to proceed. In the (highly) unlikely case of cancellation due to low numbers, your fees will be refunded.
- Timely arrivals are crucial for the smooth running of this course. Arrival & setup time for sessions is 15 minutes before class start time. Doors close at class commencement, and late arrivals cannot be accommodated, due to the disruption this causes for other students. In case of late arrivals, students are directed to book a discounted 1:1 private catch-up session, detailed above.
Book your place
Ableton Live Beginners Course: Thursday 12 November 2026
Eight sessions at The Snedlab, Coburg North.
Course price: $895.
Private training also available
For individual training, private Ableton Live tuition is also available for both casual lessons and the Beginners Course in a 1:1 setting
