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Learning Music Theory Online
In a sense, I’ve been self-taught most of my life. I taught myself how to code, and built a successful technology career before returning to get my degree. When I did that, I cracked books galore. The internet was relatively new and online resources such as Stack Overflow either did not exist or were in their infancy.
Late in high school, as high schoolers sometimes do, some friends of mine and I decided to put together a band. I picked up a cheap bass at the local music store and we learned a few songs, but no one really stuck with it after a few “practices”.
But sometimes opportunity strikes, and my Aunt had a cover band that played local venues, and they needed a bass player. I got the gig after a basic audition.
Now I really needed to learn how to play bass. Luckily, the band had most of their songs charted out on paper, so I literally printed them all out and charted out chord progressions and potential passing tones. Most of the material was standard 3- and 4-chord country based songs, so there weren’t many hard songs to learn.
But my actual learning came from MTV. I spent hours upon hours with my bass in front of the TV, playing with every song that came on. Back then, all MTV did was play music, and that was my training ground. The first song I ever played in such a session is Stranger In A Strange Land by Iron Maiden, a song that remains a favorite of mine.
And other than books that was the only real option.
Today, though, the learning resources are endless, and I have taken advantage of them not for my playing, but for my composing.
There are a ton of YouTube videos and other resources dedicated to becoming a better bass player. Scott Devine and Mark J. Smith are favorites of mine. I’ve learned a ton about bass technique, but also about how to think about bass lines.
But the biggest impact on my understanding of music and my ability to compose has been the incredible volume of high quality content on YouTube about music theory and how it can be applied to both modern music as well as classical music. I’ve never been able to learn from books, I learn by watching. I learned more watching my guitar player’s hands in my early bands than I ever did from a book.
I’m subscribed to over 20 channels dedicated to music theory. I often use them as inspiration. One of my favorite time signatures today is 11/8; one of the techniques I love to employ is polyrhythm, making odd time signatures feel like straightforward time signatures rhythmically. A video of legendary drummer Simon Phillips playing in 33/8 led to the song On A Failure To Dance, which is mostly in the same time signature. I’ve written several songs, and parts of songs, in Locrian mode, considered the “unlistenable” mode. That challenge came from another video.
The point is, if you want to learn, there is no shortage of high quality content online. The sky’s the limit if you want to learn.
As part of my own music content, I’ve outlined some specific channels here. They are well worth your time if you wish to learn.
The Next Adventure
Yesterday, January 26, 2026, was my last official day as an Amazonian. I was impacted by layoffs in October 2025 after nearly eight years of successful delivery. The moment is bittersweet, as I’ve spent much of my time over this three-month transition period buried in job searches while trying to enjoy the holiday season in spite of the uncertainty. I’ve learned a lot over the last eight years, both what to do and what not to do, and I’ve worked with so many incredible individuals.
Immediately after the layoff occurred, I began looking for next steps. One of the more enjoyable aspects of my Amazon career was being a Document Bar Raiser. Giving back and helping so many people improve their writing was an amazing experience. I prepared a professional service, Hopeful Writing, to engage those who want to be better writers and offer professional help. I’m not sure if I’ll continue it or not if I were to get traction, but I wanted to be prepared in case I was not able to find a new role. Now that I’ve found one, I doubt I will engage much with this, except with interns or students.
That said, I’ve accepted an offer as Senior Engineering Manager at Atlassian, starting in mid-February. I’m super excited to work for Atlassian, and to continue to improve experiences for customers, developers, product owners, document authors, and anyone else involved in building something amazing for their customers. I wanted to find something I could focus on for the next several years, and I’ve been impressed with Atlassian for a while now and can’t wait to get started.
I’ll be posting more about my job search experience and reflections on this period of my life in the coming weeks.
What I Would Look For In A Cover Letter
Recently I wrote about how my approach to cover letters changed during my recent job search. As part of that, I was asked what I would look for in a cover letter.
What I Look For
You’ve put the effort into writing a cover letter. Let’s make sure it delivers on that effort.
- Why You Want The Position
Clearly, everyone seeking a position would like a job for some reason. In this troubled job market, people need to be less selective. That’s understandable. But if you can come up with a compelling narrative for why you are interested, that’s a plus. I have a deep background in business marketplace search engines. If I am applying for a position oriented on search, I open with that relevant experience and my interest in those types of systems.
- Why You Will Succeed In The Position
These first three points are all similar, but have different framing. Take this opportunity to articulate why you will be successful if we hire you. It could be your experience, it could be your excitement about what the position will work on, it could be your drive and ability to learn, but make a case that you are going to succeed.
- What Are Your Relevant Strengths
You have strengths. You have experience. Not all of it will be addressable in depth on your resume. Take this opportunity to include a sentence or two for strengths that are directly relevant and will be helped by expansion. This is not for checklist items such as how much experience you have. For example, when positions mention strong communication or strength in mentorship, I use this opportunity to surface my bar raising roles at Amazon for both document writing as well as engineering manager onboarding.
- How Do You Communicate
Most resumes don’t have the space or the context to provide a chance to showcase communication skills. A cover letter provides a chance for you to show how you communicate, to surface your personality. I would not exclusively use AI for this reason; a seasoned communicator will know when you use it and will know it’s not representative of you.
- You Know Who We Are And What We Do
Hopefully you are interested enough to know who we are and what we do. Take this opportunity to tell the hiring manager what about the company resonates with you, and show that you are willing to take some initiative as you target your job search.
- A High Level Sense Of Who You Are
Inject some of yourself into your cover letter, so that the hiring manager can get a read on who you are. Hopefully my cover letter reads the way I want to come across in interviews, as a calm, confident, competent candidate.
What I Don’t Look For
There are things that I will not look for, or hold against a candidate. I don’t believe in mythical checklists or hidden gates that candidates need to be aware of. I’m a big fan of transparency, and won’t reject a candidate just because they aren’t aware of my preferences, especially if those preferences aren’t publicized.
- Personalization
I have seen suggestions that candidates should deeply research the personnel responsible for the position, including the recruiter and hiring manager. I have seen suggestions that cover letters that aren’t addressed to a specific person should be rejected.
Many positions don’t have this information, and even if they did, that has no bearing on whether or not the candidate is qualified for the position and falls into the category of hidden checklist. I address my cover letter as “Dear Hiring Manager”, and that’s acceptable in my view.
- Deep Research
It’s great if you understand what the position requires, have a general awareness of what the company does, and a general awareness of what the company values are should the company articulate them publicly. I don’t expect more than that.
- Appropriate AI Usage
AIs are writing cover letters a lot nowadays, along with other artifacts involved in the hiring process. I can generally glean whether or not writing was done with AI. If I feel like the entire thing is AI generated, that might give me pause; but I encourage candidates to use AI to clean up their writing and narratives.
- Perfect Writing Mechanics
I’ve been a Doc Bar Raiser for Amazon. I know how to evaluate writing mechanics. I can spot typos and other grammatical errors. I’ve also been in meetings where wonderful ideas or highly deserving promotion documents were picked apart due to writing quality. If a document is poorly written, that can be a red flag. But small typos and grammar errors, I’m inclined to ignore.
- Complete Qualification Match
Much like a screening interview, a cover letter is an introduction. The resume is the appropriate place to evaluate qualification matches; a cover letter should summarize why the candidate feels a resume review or a screening interview is in the best interest of both parties.
Be welcome and true.
Rob Hope 