Try the free trial versions of some of these software packages and see which is easiest to pick up. Figure on a big time investment into the wonderful world of beat making.

As you get better at learning to make beats, your structures will begin to get a lot more varied, but this simple basic hip hop beat for beginners is a great place to start.

It becomes extremely useful here to have a MIDI keyboard to play around with, or an electric bass you can record and add effects to later. The advantage of a USB connector MIDI keyboard is you can find or purchase all kinds of bass tones to add flavor to the beats you make. Try to listen to and duplicate some of the simpler bass lines on funk, hip hop and blues tracks on your keyboard, then branch out to your own ideas.

Sampling, or using bits and pieces of other songs in an innovative way in your own beats, is done all throughout the recording industry, especially in hip hop beats. An ongoing debate about sampling rages in the recording industry, having to do with whether samples fall under the Fair Use Act applying to creative works or not. When you're first starting out making beats, go ahead and sample any song you want, cutting and dropping it into your digital audio workstation. If you sell any of your beats later, you'll have money to clear the samples with their original artists.