Let's Talk About Math Rock

Before taking this course I had no idea where to start for learning math rock guitar. I’ve been playing guitar casually for a very long time and still didn’t know where to start. After taking this course, I feel like I finally have a base for starting to learn and write basic math rock riffs. I even went ahead and got another course from Steve’s catalogue to continue the learning journey. Thanks Steve!

As always, Steve does a solid job of explaining the fundamentals of math rock and midwest emo. He not only goes in to the how, but also explains "why" these chords work the way they do and make us feel the way we do. The bonus pdf is also a great take-away to keep practicing moving forward. Solid course!

I have been playing drums for 7years and Math-rock has been my favorite genre to play and listen to for about 4 of those years. I picked up the guitar this summer and have been playing to tabs, but it was never enough. I wanted to understand this new instrument to the level I have with the drums. This workshop was perfect to finally getting started in creating and understanding how to translate ideas into my own music. This is an amazing guide that can teach math-rock, and even extend knowledge to all genres. Thank you for the new knowledge!

Great way to learn common math rock chords and progressions and applying them to songs

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years. I can do the shred thing pretty well, but modern styles, like math and modern prog, have always alluded me. I'm tired of practicing pieces that take weeks, if not months, to learn a 30 second solo. It never feels like you've accomplished anything or are successful. And I want to learn something pretty and weird. Over the last few years, I've toned the shred way back. I started an ambient project and released some music for the first time ever, purposefully playing as slow as possible. I've started to get into Math, as it really tickles my interests - odd time signatures, non-traditional playing, and catchy melodies that aren't programmed pop song, but also aren't insane technical virtuosity (well.. most of the time). It's a really nice middle ground that keeps me interested but doesn't frustrate me. Aside from attempting to learn a few songs here and there, I didn't really know how to dig in more. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos from Let's Talk About Math Rock (and some other channels) over the last couple years. I've picked up a few riffs here and there, but this course really laid a nice baseline for what the core chords are and how to approach things musically. I would say that, for my skill level, these chords and rhythmic patterns weren't anything new. It was a really nice refresher, and a really nice way of compiling things altogether in one place. Not to say I didn't learn anything, because I definitely did! And I will be revisiting certain things in the future. I'm also a fan of structured learning instead of learning random things off YouTube or websites or whatever - it helps keep you accountable. And I also really appreciated the use of the metronome throughout. It's a fantastic tool that too many players (and teachers!) tend to skip out on. Finally, Steve's teaching style is very approachable and understandable. I would argue that this course might be a little difficult for those that have just picked up a guitar and don't know a lot. Some of the chord voicings, such as the ones rooted on the D string, are real finger twisters, and if you're only used to power chords and the occasional barre chord, even some of the basics are going to take some time to get your fingers on. Additionally, Steve talks a small amount about theory, mainly diatonic chords, which newbies to the guitar might not fully grasp. While I really enjoyed this course, I'm marking off one star for a couple reasons. First are the song examples. It would've been nice to have a couple more examples here. Or, if not, maybe a "learn on your own" section with some suggestions to bands and songs to listen to with different levels of complexity. And the fast version of the "medium difficulty" song still wasn't played anywhere near tempo, which threw me off when I looked up the song. And that's my other reason - and it's my issue with any generic (i.e. not 1-on-1) online course I've ever taken. It's hard to create a course that has a perfect balance between going too easy on advanced students and going too hard on new ones. But, because of that, I felt like Steve certainly erred on the side of easy, and he held back in a couple places. It would've been nice to have some bonus challenge sections, or some "additional listening" sections or something. That "medium difficulty" song, for example, played up to speed would've been a challenge for many and something to aspire to, as well as giving more musical context. The "hard" difficulty song/riff turned up the challenge level to 11 with the jazzier changes, but it felt out of place with the rest of the course's difficulty level. And I would've liked to see at least a couple more examples in the chord progressions section to trip my fingers up a bit. Faster chord changes, or changes that didn't always start on the 1. Steve started messing around with some of those ideas with the metronome off in pretty much each example, but I would've loved to have been able to play along with those more complex ideas! All in all, this was a really great course, which I will be referring back to in the future. I hope to see more in the future!