Every Chord You Need For Math Rock & Emo (Dyads)

[00:00:00]In this video, I'll be breaking down an essential chord type that you'll hear used in math rock, emo, and other adjacent styles. I'll show you the chords, examples of them used in real math rock and emo songs, so you can see how they're applied, and I'll also show you how I've been using them, so you can get a better idea of how you can start using them to write your own riffs and songs. So, grab your guitar, and let's get straight into it. The chord type I'm focusing on in this video aren't technically chords, because we only use two notes. We refer to these as dyads, and they work perfectly for distorted riffing.

[00:00:32]>> [music] >> And they are also great for stripping back a part both dynamically and sonically.

[00:00:44]>> [music] >> Dyads are when two notes are played at the same time or one after the other, like in a riff, and we call this distance between the two notes an interval. The most common types of intervals you're going to hear in math rock and Midwest emo, in my experience, are going to be your major thirds >> [music] >> and your minor thirds.

[00:01:10]>> [music] >> But, you will hear many other variations of intervals, like major seconds, perfect fourths, >> [music] >> and perfect fifths, your power chords, and even minor sixths, or flattened fifths as well, >> [music] >> for a really dark and evil sound. Back in the day, I learned a lot of these intervals and how to use them from the record In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 by Coheed and Cambria. They sure do love their long-ass titles. For example, going back to the one I just showed you in the introduction, that song is called The Crowing, and you get this awesome interval riffing movements around these interval shapes.

[00:02:03]>> [music] [music] >> And you'll see and hear the same interval riffing approach all over this album, like in the intro to the song Three Evils.

[00:02:29]>> [music] >> Well, from there I'd go on to see the same kind of interval riffing approach used by Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy, which you'll hear him use this approach all over their debut record and the record after that Doppelganger. Remember learning the song What Sound Does the Mastodon Make from their debut release and there's a part in that song that stripped down dynamically and it was a really good application I noticed of uh intervals, so.

[00:02:58]>> [music] [music] >> And then we add the interval on top.

[00:03:15]>> [music] >> And the part builds even more.

[00:03:21]>> [music] >> You know, extra instrumentation comes in and it it just really builds up that part by stripping it down and slowly adding more stuff on top. And if we take a leap about a decade from there, we'll see this kind of interval approach to riffing in more modern math rock like in the song Spy Dolphin by the band Delta Sleep. There's this really cool sliding approach used with interval riffing.

[00:03:49]>> [music] >> But let's not ignore our familiar power chord because if you flatten the five you get some lovely dissonant sounds that's perfect for creating this kind of evil sound in your riffing. And you'll hear this jumping back to The Fall of Troy in one of their songs called The Holy Tape in the introduction.

[00:04:17]>> [music] >> Or by raising the fifth one fret we get that minor sixth sound which again sounds quite tense and you're going to hear this in the intro going back to Coheed and Cambria in the intro to In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3.

[00:04:31]>> [music] [music] [music] >> So plenty of examples of them in action.

[00:04:54]But how have I used these interval style chords? Well, from the songs I've learned that I've just shown you, they've basically worked their way out of me onto the fretboard into my own kind of influences. So for example, in a song of mine called Incandescent, there's this part where I bring it down really dynamically and that was basically all influenced by The Fall of Troy.

[00:05:19]>> [music] >> All I wished for, all I wished [music] for, >> And then basically the part builds there and adds more chords to it and extra guitar stuff. And it was all taken from that influence like I said, going back to that, you know, what sound does a Mastodon make basically, but in a much more of a emo kind of style. And I use them again in another another song of mine called Bittersweet Blue in the introduction.

[00:05:47]>> [music] [music] >> And in classic kind of Fall Out Boy style, I had this another song called Friend that has these two interval chords with riffs, little widdly bits around them.

[00:06:06]>> [music] [music] >> No matter what kind of music you want to write, understanding how chords and progressions work makes writing so much easier. And that's exactly why I created my creative chords and progression course because it'll teach you all of the chords perfectly suited for the emotive sounds, all consolidated into one place. And I'll teach you how to use them to write your own progressions that sound [music] like you. And best of all, I'm offering 20% off the viewers of this video. So, if that sounds like something that can help you, then click the link in the description to learn more. Thanks. So, by now, I hope you're all motivated to grab your guitar and try out these intervals in your next song. But, there are many more chord types that will help making writing so much easier for you.

[00:07:01]And luckily for you, I've made a video that takes these interval chords to the next logical step, which you can learn right here. Thanks for watching and a big thanks to the patrons that make this content possible. See you in the next video. Goodbye.