Our Story

How to 8th Note started a very long time ago for Dale as he mapped out his path of learning and started to apply his own methodical reasoning for understanding time. Dale saw a need to scaffold this essential rhythmic information and perhaps even more importantly- Dale knew that people need motivation, humour, and positive energy to get immersed and enjoy learning. Before the title was even in place, all these ideas started small and were simply bounced off Cam as they both shared passion for music and teaching. Dale started with one sketch of paper and Cam would digitally realize it. How to 8th Note became a book project with a clear goal to create a rhythm work book to get musicians playing confidently in time by focusing deeper on fundamentals in a methodical way while also being entertaining.

Our book was created with the highest standard for a product that people want to have not only for the very practical use but also as a keepsake. The colours, digital art, characters, story, interactivity, mini games, world maps, and the surprises are essential to making the learning experience feel like effortless mastery. Our book progression is also unique where the difficulty of each challenge can be simply modified that both a beginner or an undergrad level musician can methodically learn, practice, and succeed at the material.

How to 8th Note was inspired by great video game design where the standard challenge can be cleared on “easy” that sharpen the player so they are now able to obtain the higher level achievements. It is a book that is designed with replayability and long term completion goals. A key component was to make rewards varied and constant so that even if the person practiced for 5 minutes, they would feel incentivized to keep progressing through the book.