Making hip hop beats ain’t hard to do, even if you are just starting out. Once we outline the process, you just might have to ask yourself: Why haven’t I been doing it this way all along?

So, playa to playa, pimp to pimp, let’s get started with a quick lil’ tutorial on making hip hop beats, and get them beats turned up today! You'll be down with Ray J and the money team with 7 Rolls Royces back to back in no time. Ha! (Disclaimer) Ray J is no longer with the Money Team. Neither is 50 Cent. So there.

Start with the drums

A strong drum pattern is a must when making hip hop beats, your drums will be the backbone of your track. Choose a dope kick drum, and then a snare and or a clap so that we can create the backbeat of the track.

Set Your Tempo

For making hip hop beats, the tempo is typically around 80 bpm for some laid back, driving slow type of track, and up around 110-115 for the typical beats that you are hearing on the radio today.

Let's keep the track at 112.

Lay Down The Drum Pattern

Are you familiar with counting bars? If not, you need to practice this detrimental skill, because by counting bars you will be able to keep time in your music while making hip hop beats. If you wanna start counting stacks, you better start counting bars. You count bars according to the tempo of your track, and one bar consists of 4 beats.

Each beat consists of a (1&); therefore to count one complete bar you would go (1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &), then (2 & 2 & 3 & 4 &); so on and so forth. The snare and clap should always land on the 2 and the 4 of every beat, and if you want to add some variation you can add a snare or clap hit on the & of any beat to create some variation.

Kicks usually land wherever you like; but for examples sake we will lay down a “four on the floor” pattern. That means for every beat, you have a kick drum on the 1, 2, 3, and the 4.

Lay Down A Chord Progression

Got the drum pattern? Cool. Now we will lay down a chord progression. Pick a really cool synth sound, and lay down the chords C,F,C and back to G. This is a chord progression that follows the circle of fifths.

Finish it Off With a Melody

You can use the same notes of your chord progression for your melodic phrase when making hip hop beats. If you do it this way, everything concerning your chords and melodies will sound as if it is in harmony.

This is just a basic primer on making hip hop beats, as you know you can make the beat as simple or as elaborate as you like. It's your game and you can play it how you play it when making hip hop beats, so funk around with different patterns and see what you come up with.

It's all in the game, and you're winning... Better Beats Ahead.