This post is going to be slightly different than some of my usual work, and while it may seem like it, I did not receive financial compensation for this. This is just a really rad tool that I personally think every artist should have in their arsenal.
Soundfly is a website for musicians of any genre or style, offering subscriptions on a monthly and yearly basis. Started by pianist and composer, Ian Temple, the site is comprised of a small team of artists keen on giving you all resources to tighten your skills and learn new abilities. When you subscribe for either $39/month or $234/year (bringing it down to $19 a month), you get access to courses, blogs, and 1 on 1 mentors. If you choose to take the online courses, you get to select between produce, which focuses on the production of music, write, which helps with songwriting and composition, play, which helps with picking up instruments and getting into the habit of practicing them, hustle, which shows the ins and outs of the business side of the entertainment industry, and discover, which are fun, niche topics. No matter your skill level or interest, there’s something for you. But even if you can’t decide on a course or feel like you may not be finding what exactly you need, you can opt to create your own 4 or 6-week course with a custom 1-on-1 mentorship. With a wide range of music professionals with years of experience in the industry, you’re guaranteed to get exactly what you need to take your career to the next level. Hell, some of you might even inquire about becoming an advisor for the platform!
Now with that being said, this is a Hip-Hop blog. As I’ve mentioned, Soundfly covers a range of genres, and a lot of their courses pertain to Rap and Hip-Hop in particular. The courses offered not only include the technical side, such as fader techniques and mixing and mastering, but incredible elements to incorporate into your production to really make it stand out. Their newest course, Elijah Fox: Impressionist Piano & Production, is a stand-out for me in particular as it’s a hybrid course, showcasing how artists can improve their jazz piano skills to utilize in their Hip-Hop and Lo-Fi beats. With experience playing instruments for artists like ScHoolboy Q, Masego, Drake, and 21 Savage, your can add new layers to your songs while sharpening new skills.
“Watching Elijah Fox’s Instagram channel, you’re likely to see something new everyday. From silky R&B tracks and spacey synth jams to old-timey stride piano covers and soulful improvisations, Elijah’s talent spans genres and styles, yet all of his music is imbued with a single unifying element: impressionism. For Elijah, that means striving to make every moment evoke powerful emotional reactions in his listener, and yet also remain open to pensive wandering.
Soundfly
Throughout this course, Elijah takes students through his process of composing, improvising, and producing this deeply touching music, as well his modular approach to practicing which ensures a constant flow of new ideas and patterns. Elijah also shares his philosophies and perspectives on modern harmony, orchestration, and beat making. Students will be challenged to up their skills on the piano and build new loops and tracks inspired by Elijah’s guidance.
A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer based in Los Angeles, Elijah Fox studied piano at the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory. He’s deeply inspired by the greats of jazz piano like Art Tatum, Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Robert Glasper, yet his uniquely modern sound blends elements of jazz, R&B, and psychedelic soul, and his samples span genres like lo-fi hip-hop, neo-soul, trap, and indie rock. He’s performed and recorded with ScHoolboy Q, Masego, Tom Misch, Yussef Days, Denzel Curry, YG, Kiefer, among many others, and his original instrumental music under the alias Søren Søstrom has amassed over 16 million streams on Spotify.
Elijah Fox: Impressionist Piano & Production features 70 lessons, over 40 videos, and 22 personal challenges to keep students on their toes creatively and hold them accountable to achieving their learning goals. Accented with gorgeous graphic design, downloadable MIDI, audio, and musical scores, and an elevated educational user experience, this course comes loaded with Elijah’s 21st century harmonic concepts, practice prompts and beat making activities. Plus, students get access to Soundfly’s lively Discord community for peer support.”
If this and the other courses pique your interest, Soundfly was kind enough to provide me with a discount code for my readers. If you use the code SPICEY2023, you can take 15% off of your membership. Once again, I’m not receiving any sort of financial compensation for this. But I’ve gotten to see some of Soundfly’s courses and I truly think they are incredible resources. In fact, I’ll post some of my thoughts on this newest course to my Instagram story.
To learn more about what Soundfly has to offer, you can explore their social media pages here.
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Spice on the Beat 