hljod

You accidentally played Lost Woods. Now learn why Dorian mode made it haunting — and make your own.

An interactive music theory course where you learn by recreating game soundtracks in live code. Open your browser. Type the music. Hear the theory.

Start lesson 0 → Get notified 8 lessons free • no account • no credit card • sound in 60 seconds

What people say when they try it

"it literally makes me think about music in a different way"

r/livecoding — 441 upvotes

"I also love Strudel, just I don't know where to start!"

r/ClaudeAI — 160-upvote thread on Strudel + AI music

"Any resources to learn music theory for game OSTs?"

u/YOLO-uolo, r/gamemusic — the question hljod was built to answer

What you get

25 interactive browser lessons. No download. No setup. Click a URL and start playing.
Game soundtracks as your textbook. Lost Woods teaches Dorian mode. Persona 5 teaches ii-V-I. Final Fantasy teaches arrangement. Mega Man teaches energy.
From "happy accident" to "I meant to do that." You stop stumbling into cool sounds and start engineering them.
Live coding jams with a dev and a musician. Watch us build a track from nothing, then build your own alongside.
Theory that transfers to your DAW. Patterns you build in Strudel export to MIDI. Nothing in your workflow gets replaced — a layer of understanding gets added.

How it works

You hear the thing. Then you change it. Then you learn its name. Then you use it to build something new.

That's the whole method. Sound first. Jargon after.

Every lesson uses Strudel — a live coding instrument that runs in your browser. You type code, press play, and hear what you wrote. You break it, fix it, and learn the name of the thing you just did.

No instrument required. No DAW required. The browser IS the instrument.

The curriculum

Phase 1 is production: patterns, bass, effects, arrangement, sampling. Phase 2 is harmony: scales, modes, chord theory, voice leading, motivic development. The free tier covers Lessons 0–7 and 8a–8b. All of Phase 1 and the start of Phase 2.

0First Noisefree

1The Breakfree

2The Bassfree

3Layersfree

4Atmospherefree

5Movementfree

6The Dropfree

7Choppingfree

8a–bScales & Modesfree

8c–eMelody, Intervals, Non-Chord Toneslive

9a–fHarmony, ii-V-I, The Monster, Cadences, Texture, Developmentlive

10The Setsoon

B.0–6Bluessoon

J.0–4Jazzsoon

You might be thinking

"I use a DAW, not code"

Good. Keep using it. Strudel patterns export to MIDI. hljod adds a layer of theory understanding underneath your existing workflow. You don't replace your tools — you understand them better.

"8-bit Music Theory is free on YouTube"

8BMT is excellent analysis. But you watch it and close the tab. hljod is the part where you do it. You type the mode, hear the change, break it, fix it. The gap between understanding analysis and being able to compose is what this course bridges.

"Why not just use the Strudel docs?"

Strudel's docs teach Strudel. They'll teach you note("c e g") but not why CEG is a major triad or why Koji Kondo chose it. hljod uses Strudel as the instrument for learning music theory — the theory is the curriculum, the code is the medium.

"Will I stick with it?"

Lessons 0 through 8b are free. No account. No credit card. If the first 10 lessons don't change how you hear music, you haven't lost anything. That's the guarantee.

What's coming

In progress

Blues track — 12-bar form, guide tones, chord-tone soloing, Bird blues. Guitar-ready patterns.

In progress

Jazz track — Autumn Leaves to Giant Steps. Standards, tritone subs, Coltrane changes.

Coming soon

Live coding jams — A dev and an ex-pro musician build a game soundtrack from scratch, live. You code along. Weekly on Discord.

Month 2–3

hljod community — Founding members get $19/mo locked for life (first 30). Patron jams, early access to new lessons, composition feedback from working musicians.

Support the project

hljod is free at its core. If you want to go deeper or support the work:

Free Lessons 0–7 + 8a–8b. No account. No credit card. This is the guarantee.

$5/mo Patreon Vote on the next lesson topic. Your voice shapes the curriculum.

$10/mo Patreon Early access to new lessons + patron-only live jams with the instructors.

Community (soon) $19/mo founding rate, locked for life. First 30 members. Composition feedback, weekly jams, full curriculum access.

Support on Patreon Buy me a coffee

FIND US

Start lesson 0 → runs in your browser • built on strudel + hydra