Introduction to Ableton Live (Coursera)

Introduction to Ableton Live (Coursera)

In the past, Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) were programs used only by audio engineers with a highly specific knowledge base, on machines inaccessible to most people. But over the past 10-15 years, DAWs and the act of recording music have evolved from being a luxury of the few to being available to the masses.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Ableton Live is one such application. Used by an extremely broad range of music creators, Ableton Live not only facilitates the work of engineers, producers, and writers in professional, home, and mobile studio settings, but it is also a powerful platform for musicians on stage, in the DJ booth, and elsewhere.
In this Ableton Certified Training Center course developed by Berklee Online, you will explore some of Live’s most powerful and useful functionality: MIDI programming, audio recording, warping and processing, looping editing, mixing, performing, file management, and troubleshooting. Meant to be a springboard for those who are new to Ableton Live and/or DAWs in general, this three-week course will provide you with a strong knowledge base for using Live to take your musical ideas from conception to final recording. The course breaks down the many barriers of entry into music technology and encourages all those who wish, to create fearlessly.
Completing this course will count towards your learning in any of the following programs:

What You Will Learn

  • Navigate Ableton Live
  • Program MIDI drums and instruments
  • Record and edit audio, including working with preexisting audio loops
  • Create a piece of music using MIDI and audio within Ableton Live

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Welcome to Introduction to Ableton Live
Welcome to the course! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.
Getting Our Hands Dirty
In this lesson, I'm going to demonstrate how to get set up in Live, whether you have an audio interface or just your computer. We'll also look at saving and submitting your sessions, devices, MIDI drums, and MIDI synths.

WEEK 2
Polishing the Sound
In this lesson, we'll be moving from MIDI to audio and implementing effects, which will give your sessions even more personality and depth. We'll also be diving into Audio Warping, which is one of Ableton's most powerful functionalities and is the cornerstone of remixing.

WEEK 3
The Endless Possibilities
In this final lesson, we're going to dive into some more advanced production techniques, the very basics of mixing, and I'll get into some valuable information regarding file management and troubleshooting. Hopefully with this new information you'll be able to tie together a lot of what we've learned in the past two weeks and bring your music to the next level.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Music and Social Action (Coursera) Coursera
Yale University

Music and Social Action (Coursera)

What is a musician’s response to the condition of the world? Do musicians have an obligation and an opportunity to serve the needs of the world with their musicianship? At a time of crisis for the classical music profession, with a changing commercial landscape, a shrinking audience base, and a contraction in the number of professional orchestras, how does a young musician construct a career today? Are we looking at a dying art form or a moment of reinvigoration?

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Improvisación de jazz (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Improvisación de jazz (Coursera)

Aprenda los conceptos básicos de la improvisación con Gary Burton, uno de los improvisadores más reconocidos en el mundo del jazz, incluidos los procesos mentales, melódicos y armónicos que contribuyen a las habilidades instintivas que aplica un improvisador cuando realiza un solo.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Teaching the Violin and Viola: Creating a Healthy Foundation (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

Teaching the Violin and Viola: Creating a Healthy Foundation (Coursera)

Join us as we explore the fundamental principles and early stages of teaching violin and viola through a series of engaging video lectures and lesson demonstrations, including: 1) Master classes with some of the world’s top string pedagogues, 2) Individual lesson demos of teaching violin/viola set up, left and right hand technique and pieces from the early violin/viola repertoire, 3) Group lesson demos of teaching music theory, ear training and fun activities that encourage good playing habits, and 4) A “field trip” to the violin shop, where we will outfit a new beginning student with a proper instrument and bow.

Aug 31st 2026
5-12 Weeks
Guitar Scales and Chord Progressions (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Guitar Scales and Chord Progressions (Coursera)

You’ve got the guitar basics down: You can strum your guitar and play a few of your favorite songs, but you’re ready to take the tunes to the next level. In Guitar Scales and Chord Progressions you’ll expand your knowledge of scales, chord fingerings, and common chord progressions. You’ll also learn important skills for soloing, creating melodies, and adding depth and dimension to your guitar playing. This course is not only for the aspiring guitarist who has taken Berklee’s Guitar for Beginners, but also for guitarists who have let their six-string gather dust for too long, and want to brush up on techniques.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form (Coursera)

The blues is an American art form and the most important musical form in jazz. Although there are other formal paradigms of the blues, such as 8-bar or 16-bar, this course focuses on different incarnations of the 12-bar blues. There are considerable differences between Early Jazz blues, Swing blues, Bebop blues, Modal blues, and Post Bop blues.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Understanding the Music Business: What is Music Worth? (Coursera) Coursera
Vanderbilt University

Understanding the Music Business: What is Music Worth? (Coursera)

This course will examine the music industry in the United States, with the unique perspective gained by Vanderbilt University’s location in Nashville, TN. Nashville is a major center of music in the United States, and the music created here has a global reach, particularly in the country, rock, pop, singer-songwriter, and Americana genres. However, students will learn that the basic principles of recording, marketing, copyright, licensing, and live performance are the same, regardless of musical style or genre.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Princípios Gerais da Técnica do Violino e da Viola de Arco (Coursera) Coursera
Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP

Princípios Gerais da Técnica do Violino e da Viola de Arco (Coursera)

Esse curso visa fornecer informações sobre aspectos básicos da técnica do violino e da viola de arco. Ao longo de 18 aulas, com duração média de 7 minutos cada, serão abordados temas como posicionamento do instrumento, maneiras de posicionar a mão esquerda, como segurar o arco, como executar os principais golpes de arco, como estudar mudanças de posição, etapas para desenvolvimento do vibrato e sugestões para a organização do estudo diário do instrumento.

Sep 7th 2026
4 Weeks
Composición de canciones (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music,Inter-American Development Bank - IDB

Composición de canciones (Coursera)

Aprende un proceso eficiente y efectivo para escribir canciones que expresen tus ideas y emociones, incluyendo una gama de herramientas que giren alrededor del concepto de prosodia; la adecuación de letra y música para apoyar tu mensaje subyacente.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Part 4 (Coursera) Coursera
Curtis Institute of Music

Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Part 4 (Coursera)

Please join us for Part 4 of Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas course, taught by Curtis faculty member and extraordinary concert artist, Jonathan Biss. This course is new and contains separate sets of lectures and sonatas that we not previously discussed. Specifically, in Part 4, we will cover Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Op. 2, No. 2, Op. 10, No. 3, Op. 28 and Op. 110.

Sep 11th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Korean Music, A Philosophical Exploration (Coursera) Coursera
Sungkyunkwan University - SKKU

Korean Music, A Philosophical Exploration (Coursera)

This course introduces Korean philosophy projected into the subject of Korean music, especially K-POP, which is drawing global attention today. We confirm that Korea's unique philosophy was the basis for maintaining originality while being universally accepted by many people, and seek the role of philosophy for the continuous development and spread of Korean music.

Sep 7th 2026
5-12 Weeks