Math rock guitar
Math rock sounds like a puzzle that still sings beautifully: clean guitars, fast arpeggios and a rhythm where the accents keep shifting. Below are the chords, scale, techniques, an arpeggio and a melody you can hear and slow down.
1980s110–160 BPMCmaj7–Em7–Am7–Dsus23+3+3+3+4
What is math rock
Math rock took shape in the US in the late 1980s and 90s and later flourished in England and Japan. The musicians came from indie and hardcore but started playing more intricately: odd time signatures, tempo changes, long instrumental sections.
The guitar in math rock is usually clean and bright. Instead of strummed chords it plays arpeggios over open strings, fast legato and two-handed tapping. Often two guitars play interlocking patterns while the drummer keeps a complex yet danceable rhythm.
Signature chords
Cmaj7, Em7, Am7, Dsus2 are chords with sevenths and seconds that sound bright and a little unsettled. In math rock they are played high on the neck and picked three notes at a time, so open and fretted strings ring together.
Scale for soloing
G major suits the melodies. The melody on this page plays legato three notes at a time: two are picked, the third is hammered on, and these cells repeat in groups across the beat.
Techniques
Groups of three
A bar of 16 sixteenths is split not into four beats but into groups of 3+3+3+3+4. A three-note cell repeats, and each time it starts on a different part of the beat. The drums on this page hit the start of each group. Listen to the arpeggio below.
Open voicings
Chords with sevenths and seconds, where close notes ring side by side, give math rock its shimmer. Cmaj7 is one of the style’s favourite sounds. Tap Cmaj7 to hear it.
Tapping
The picking-hand fingers hit the string on the fretboard like a hammer and pull off. That lets you play fast, wide patterns one hand cannot reach. On this page hammer-ons stand in for it: master them first, then move on to tapping.
Math rock arpeggio
A three-note cell on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings repeats four times, and the fifth group is one note longer. Bass and drums mark the start of each group, so the accents float across the bar. Start at 60% and count "one-two-three" instead of "one-and".
Math rock melody
Fast three-note cells on the top two strings, the third note of each hammered on. The motif changes with the chord while the grouping stays the same, 3+3+3+3+4.
The riff opens as a draft: change notes, tempo and tracks however you like.
Open in RiffonicWhat to listen to
Listen to these tracks and pay attention to what is described next to each one.
- This Town Needs Guns - “Chinchilla”. Clean interlocking guitars with tapping and a rhythm where the beat is hard to find at first.
- Battles - “Atlas”. Repeating mechanical figures that add up to a dense, danceable rhythm.
- toe - “Goodbye”. Clean arpeggios, fast legato and drums that play almost like a lead instrument.
Every riff and solo on this page is an original exercise in the style of the genre, not the notes of someone else’s song.
FAQ
Does math rock have to be in odd time?
No. Odd meters like 7/8 or 5/4 are common, but math rock just as often uses note groups across a normal 4/4, as in the examples on this page.
How do I count 3+3+3+3+4?
Count the sixteenths "one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three-four". First clap only on "one", then play the cell.
What tone does math rock need?
Clean and bright, often with a little compression and delay. Distortion comes in only at the climaxes, otherwise the arpeggios lose their clarity.