Yo! Here's the guitar tab for my most recent post featuring a short guitar composition. https://youtu.be/sxJXy3sT8B8
This is a really fun one to play and the interpretation is pretty flexible, rhythmically. It's also a great study for learning how to put together a chord melody.
Hope you enjoy learning it!
2020-09-15 02:11:48 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, here are the chord diagrams from my video on "Three Japanese Math Rock Chords".
If you haven't seen the video, you can check it out here: https://youtu.be/Qk4yMW05WpA
2020-09-15 00:03:27 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, here's the guitar tab to my most recent video: https://youtu.be/zati38T0ynU
Sorry for the delay! It's been a hectic week of writing / starting up school again. I have a new and hopefully super cool video coming out on Saturday. In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoy learning this!
Hey everybody, here's a guitar tab for my most recent YouTube post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nievFY-_Q5M
(See attached)
It's a tricky little riff that uses some fun harmony. I've included a little analysis in the tab too.
2020-08-19 18:30:58 +0000 UTC View PostHere are 5 small ideas that I like to use in my warm up. Each of these challenges your finger dexterity by getting you to use your fingers in unusual scenarios. That being said, those scenarios can open up some new avenues for cool gestures / riff ideas.
2020-08-12 17:32:46 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, here's another set of important considerations for your practice and songwriting. I always try to think of the most critical / important things I can for these, so I really hope they help / stick with you.
1) Don't just do the same thing you always do when you pick up the guitar. Don't gravitate towards fretting the same chord. Try and consistently mix things up, and try to always expand your vocabulary. It's good to have things that you like to practice, but we want to co...
2020-08-06 18:18:31 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, here's another set of riffs / exercises that focus on a particular technique (see attached for the PDF + other files). This time: studies that focus on transitioning between picking, tapping, and other techniques. Some of these are quite difficult so I've included some short videos demonstrating how I play these ideas. Good luck and I hope they help!
EXERCISE (1) VIDEO: 2020-07-31 23:11:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone, here's another riff / exercise that I put together which focuses on pushing for left hand. This line involves a lot of different legato techniques and awkward movements.
It's also written in C harmonic minor and thus, provides an example of how I might go about writing something in a mathy style, while using a different scale basis.
2020-07-29 00:52:54 +0000 UTC View PostThis set of exercises contains many of the gestures you'll need to play midwest emo / write midwest emo riffs. The exercises here focus a lot on pull offs into open notes, hammer ons, slides, and angular playing.
Also, the first exercise is a dense, two-bar, riff which contains as a lot of midwest emo techniques / gestures in a single place.
Good luck and happy practicing!
2020-07-24 06:39:58 +0000 UTC View PostLegato exercises for working on Scalar playing. These studies are good for improvising and playing rock / jazz. Arguably, they also could help with your overall legato playing and finger dexterity.
2020-07-24 06:36:14 +0000 UTC View PostJust a few things that I tend to think about a lot. These are in no particular order, but each is a simple lesson in and of itself. Hope it helps!
1) When working on your groove / pocket, make sure that your micro time is good. As in, make sure your subdivisions are even and that you aren't speeding up between the beats. Do this and your time feel will be awesome!
2) Are you stuck on an idea? Try to think about the themes and concepts in previous ideas. What can you develop ...
2020-07-16 22:58:28 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, here's a collection of legato exercises / licks that will help you to learn some nice 'noodly' vocabulary. I use a lot of the gestures in these ideas all the time!
When working on these, I want you to treat them as exercises, so really try to study what the possible concept in the line is and also try and work out a smooth execution of the music. Good luck!
2020-07-13 07:10:45 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! Hope your summer is going alright and hope you are all staying safe and well during these turbulent times.
I just wanted to give you guys an update on what's up with going on my end. I've had some issues with the audio in some of my YouTube videos which lead me to unfortunately take them down, edit them, and slowly re-upload them. I've got most of my core content back up on the channel, and am working on completing the entirety of my re-uploads in hopefully two weeks...
2020-07-07 20:22:12 +0000 UTC View Post(See Attached)
This document is a step-by-step guide on how to approach mapping and writing in an alternate tuning. This guide will explain topics such as, how to pick a key, and how to figure out which notes you can use. Moreover, this guide also discusses advanced techniques that those well versed in music theory, can use to implement previous knowledge to a new tuning system. However, It should be noted, this document will not teach you directly how to write, but it will give you...
2020-06-30 21:02:10 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody,
Here's another set of tabs / studies that demonstrate some more difficult ideas than the "5 Beginner Guitar Riffs" document. This set of ideas features significantly more challenging rhythms and physical demands.
However, I've tried to keep these ideas fairly accessible to more beginner players in that the ideas focus heavily on concepts too, rather than sheer athleticism.
See attached for the PDF of the tabs, GuitarPro Files, and an MP3 track.&nbs...
2020-06-22 07:27:24 +0000 UTC View PostHey!
Here are a bunch of finger picking exercises that I use all the time when working on my technique. These exercises are great as they really target each finger and they focus on a number of really common, rudimentary movements, that will get used in many different finger picking patterns.
Hey everyone, this document goes over some easy guitar riffs for beginners. The ideas here are are for the most part, very simple, though each idea offers some kind of different challenge for a new player. For example, lines using rests, or a non 4/4 time signature.
I'll be creating more of these soon so stay tuned!
2020-06-22 06:09:34 +0000 UTC View PostSee attached
Here's a riff that I've been practicing a lot lately. The goal of this riff is to provide a workout in the right hand. It targets each finger, helping to build dexterity, and it involves a number of technical challenges including: 1) leaps 2) notes on the same string and 3) chord changes.
In terms of its harmony, the riff targets upper structure triads contained in a DMi9 and FMA7/A structure. If you're not familiar with this concept, check out my document...
2020-06-07 03:44:56 +0000 UTC View Post(See Attached)
"This document explores a variety of different scales which can be used to create music. I recommend memorizing the “formulas” for building the scales you enjoy. Moreover, if you can apply your knowledge of how a scale is built, with your knowledge of intervals and note names, this can be an easy way to access these sounds without relying on pre-established fretboard patterns. For example, if you know that the natural minor scale is spelt 1-2-b3-4...
2020-05-25 05:49:54 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, I've got a new video coming out soon which demos some very unique open voicings for standard tuning. Check out this document (see attached) if that's your thing!
Hey everyone, here's the tab and GuitarPro files for my riffs in the 'When You Like Math Rock But Go Full J-Pop' video. If you haven't seen it, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC2ZSi-7lL4
2020-05-14 19:07:07 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, I attempted an extensive harmonic analysis of one of my favourite Steve Reich songs. This song combines beautiful modal harmony with rhythmic and technical complexity to create something truly unique. See attached for the PDF.
RECORDING OF THE PIECE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgzQcDrX86M
Abstract
This paper presents a harmonic analysis of St...
2020-05-04 18:26:12 +0000 UTC View PostHere's a short tapping idea that uses a concept from my 'Plural Substitutions' document / lesson. The idea is that I'm playing an interval pattern / triad structure over top of a harmony. In this case, the triad highlights the tones of the harmony that I find most interesting.
For example, an A major triad is contained with the structure of a DMA9 chord. In this case, if you play an A triad over to of DMA9, you are highlighting the 5, 7, and 9 of DMA9. Check out the 'Plural Substitution...
2020-05-04 18:09:27 +0000 UTC View PostHere's a PDF which goes over two different sets of shell voicings, and some shapes for inverted triads built off the low E string. I have a few videos demoing these sounds up on YouTube, but these are really useful to know because 1) They're easy to play (and we want easy sounds that we can always rely on as a starting point, 2) They provide the structural gateway to more complex sounds. Also 3) They sound good, and 4) It's easy to write clear melodic chord passages with these shapes. 2020-05-04 18:01:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a little bit of music theory for you guys. This is one of my favourite concepts and there's a lot of really cool things that you can do with this. See attached for the PDF.
2020-04-27 00:14:26 +0000 UTC View PostHere are some really useful exercises for improving your rhythmic / groove game while tapping. The goal here is to work towards independence in your left and right hand by keeping two separate rhythmic ideas going at the same time.
I really recommend checking these out as these will absolutely help your overall musicianship, and will be the basis for some great new lines!
2020-04-19 18:17:54 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, here a bunch of chord shapes that I use all the time in DADF#AE. You can hear me use these sounds in a few of my solo guitar compositions, and stuff with Zoo Strategies. I'll be releasing a video on this topic soon so be sure to check that out too!
Cheers,
Trevor
2020-04-07 00:09:26 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, here's a short piece that I wrote for Piano (see attached for score + MP3). It uses some key harmonic and stylistic features found in impressionist music. I find that a lot of those elements translate really nicely to modern harmony, and absolutely have a place in a genre like math rock.
ON THE PIECE:
This composition was written using several of the tropes from French Avant-garde “Impressionism”. My main goal was to use as many stylistic features as possibl...
2020-04-04 19:21:10 +0000 UTC View PostWritten by Trevor Wong
Sextet, Steve Reich
Performed by Yale Percussion Group
Steve Reich’s Sextet, is an exciting minimalist composition consisting of five movements and six performers. In this paper, I will note a number of observations and commentary on Reich’s use of harmony, rhythm, and form. My go...
2020-04-04 19:12:03 +0000 UTC View PostHere are some fingerings for pentatonic scales in C Major / A minor. Pentatonic scales get a bad rap in Math Rock / Midwest Emo, but they can actually be very useful if used properly. The trick is to think about these in a creative way where you write lines that avoid generic blues cliches. Think about things like string skips, interesting chord shapes derived from the scales, etc.
Good luck!
2020-03-18 03:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post