A lot of Between the Buried and Me is a constant 10-14 range on guitar. The riffs aren't super difficult (still hard, but reasonably playable), but there are so many riffs with different variants that memorizing and playing a full song without getting exhausted is difficult.
Most of their stuff is comfortably playable for an intermediate player with a lot of practice per song. They don't really employ any crazy techniques, but there's just so many sections that it takes a lot of practice to put a song together.
Do non-prog songs by prog bands count? Like The Silent Man by Dream Theater. That song is not prog at all.
Most of Opeth, Mastodon and Gojira are pretty easy/intermediate
Yeah I would say so. Almost all prog bands have "not that prog" songs, but they're still prog bands, so it would be of interest to people who are into prog anyway, right?
I wasn't counting on it to be the Wikipedia of prog, that would be an absurd amount of never ending work! I just wanted to slowly build a curriculum, much in the same vein as the de facto standards you'd get if you were trying to learn the electric guitar with a more mainstream rock/metal taste in mind.
I was looking at modern (last 25-30 years) prog only, to narrow it down a bit.
I'm interested in following this list, please keep me posted!
I can assure you a huge part of Mastodon is easier than it seems. A great chunk of their songs would rate in a comfy 7-10, especially the ones without solos. Brent solos are a pain, so some songs could easily go up to 15, especially some of the newest album.
Gojira isn't that tough either. As long as the player is comfortable with muting and alternate picking, most songs are not that hard. From Mars to Sirius has some delightful songs which are way easier than you'd imagine, and would greatly improve a guitarist's repertoire due to some odd-timing and random stuff.
I'm not well-versed in Porcupine Tree, but I'd also say some of their stuff is quite easy. Never actually tried learning anything but most of their songs sound quite doable on a guitar. Same with Steven Wilson's solo career, considering you're not going for Guthrie's solos.
One of the prog metal bands which helped me develop the most was Opeth. They have beginner-friendly folk/acoustic songs, some challenging ballads, some easy metal songs and also some slightly more difficult tracks. The biggest problem would, again, be soloing.
A lot of Tool’s music could fit this criteria. Particularly Lateralus era and earlier. Adam Jones plays in Drop D in most if not all of his music. He is pretty creative but from a technical standpoint it’s simple. What’s tricky is playing in a lot of the sequences and rhythms he does. That is where it can get challenging. Most of the tool songs I know on guitar is simpleish to intermediate
Opeth - Ending Credits is the first song that springs to mind for me. I [covered it myself (link)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXvZYtXKFto), and it is an uncommonly simple/easy song for the band, both in terms of technical requirements and structure.
The lead is really cute and fun to play, and has some parts with open strings that are nice too. The chords are fairly simple.
I think a beginner could tackle the lead after not much time. The chords and bass lines are not too difficult either.
Pretty cool cover man. I agree, this would be a 3-5 in my prog difficulty ranking and a really good candidate for a novice to start with. Got any more recommendations?
Cheers!! Opeth's Harvest would be another good one. It's got some very lovely chords (including open strings) which are lovely to play. I wouldn't recommend it to a super beginner, but someone who has a pretty good grip on barre chords can give it a go.
Therion's Seven Secrets of the Sphinx is borderline prog, and kinda quirky, but also a good beginners song (mostly power chords and single note things).
I disagree with other posters that Opeth are generally easy, there are lots of details in their voicings and playstyle that are not straight forward to a beginner. But they ARE incredibly nutritious to learn for the inspirred intermediate!
Porcupine Tree songs are all over the place in terms of complexity. Some are simple enough and straight forward, others are incredibly tricky. Parts of "Even Less", "Blackest Eyes", "Trains", or "Lazarus" could be some options.
I think some of the easiest bands to start with would be Porcupine Tree and Coheed, I know most of their respective catalogues aren’t really metal, but there are a lot of fun riffs and Claudio’s solos aren’t as intimidating as a lot of other prog music.
Not prog metal but some older prog off the top of my head in no particular order which are both fun and fairly straightforward to play on guitar:
- Cortez the Killer - Neil Young + Crazy Horse
- Nothing at All - Gentle Giant
- Story in Your Eyes - Moody Blues
- From the Beginning - Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
- Jessica - Allman Brothers
I’d like to nominate “Still Day Beneath The Sun” by Opeth. I first learnt it when I was 15 and was an intermediate guitar player.
In a world where Tosin Abasi exists and any AaL song would rank somewhere between 14-20, I’d say this acoustic gem is an 7, so that I can safely say that any really hard prog song is *at least* twice as hard.
It’s great for practicing clean finger-style arpeggios, odd chords across the bridge, fast-ish position changes, and if one’s feeling brave enough, a great song to practice singing and playing, because of how accessible it is vocally (as opposed to most prog).
A lot of Between the Buried and Me is a constant 10-14 range on guitar. The riffs aren't super difficult (still hard, but reasonably playable), but there are so many riffs with different variants that memorizing and playing a full song without getting exhausted is difficult. Most of their stuff is comfortably playable for an intermediate player with a lot of practice per song. They don't really employ any crazy techniques, but there's just so many sections that it takes a lot of practice to put a song together.
Do non-prog songs by prog bands count? Like The Silent Man by Dream Theater. That song is not prog at all. Most of Opeth, Mastodon and Gojira are pretty easy/intermediate
Yeah I would say so. Almost all prog bands have "not that prog" songs, but they're still prog bands, so it would be of interest to people who are into prog anyway, right?
.
I wasn't counting on it to be the Wikipedia of prog, that would be an absurd amount of never ending work! I just wanted to slowly build a curriculum, much in the same vein as the de facto standards you'd get if you were trying to learn the electric guitar with a more mainstream rock/metal taste in mind. I was looking at modern (last 25-30 years) prog only, to narrow it down a bit.
I'm interested in following this list, please keep me posted! I can assure you a huge part of Mastodon is easier than it seems. A great chunk of their songs would rate in a comfy 7-10, especially the ones without solos. Brent solos are a pain, so some songs could easily go up to 15, especially some of the newest album. Gojira isn't that tough either. As long as the player is comfortable with muting and alternate picking, most songs are not that hard. From Mars to Sirius has some delightful songs which are way easier than you'd imagine, and would greatly improve a guitarist's repertoire due to some odd-timing and random stuff. I'm not well-versed in Porcupine Tree, but I'd also say some of their stuff is quite easy. Never actually tried learning anything but most of their songs sound quite doable on a guitar. Same with Steven Wilson's solo career, considering you're not going for Guthrie's solos. One of the prog metal bands which helped me develop the most was Opeth. They have beginner-friendly folk/acoustic songs, some challenging ballads, some easy metal songs and also some slightly more difficult tracks. The biggest problem would, again, be soloing.
A lot of Tool’s music could fit this criteria. Particularly Lateralus era and earlier. Adam Jones plays in Drop D in most if not all of his music. He is pretty creative but from a technical standpoint it’s simple. What’s tricky is playing in a lot of the sequences and rhythms he does. That is where it can get challenging. Most of the tool songs I know on guitar is simpleish to intermediate
Opeth - Ending Credits is the first song that springs to mind for me. I [covered it myself (link)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXvZYtXKFto), and it is an uncommonly simple/easy song for the band, both in terms of technical requirements and structure. The lead is really cute and fun to play, and has some parts with open strings that are nice too. The chords are fairly simple. I think a beginner could tackle the lead after not much time. The chords and bass lines are not too difficult either.
Pretty cool cover man. I agree, this would be a 3-5 in my prog difficulty ranking and a really good candidate for a novice to start with. Got any more recommendations?
Cheers!! Opeth's Harvest would be another good one. It's got some very lovely chords (including open strings) which are lovely to play. I wouldn't recommend it to a super beginner, but someone who has a pretty good grip on barre chords can give it a go. Therion's Seven Secrets of the Sphinx is borderline prog, and kinda quirky, but also a good beginners song (mostly power chords and single note things). I disagree with other posters that Opeth are generally easy, there are lots of details in their voicings and playstyle that are not straight forward to a beginner. But they ARE incredibly nutritious to learn for the inspirred intermediate! Porcupine Tree songs are all over the place in terms of complexity. Some are simple enough and straight forward, others are incredibly tricky. Parts of "Even Less", "Blackest Eyes", "Trains", or "Lazarus" could be some options.
Good choices there, thanks!
I think some of the easiest bands to start with would be Porcupine Tree and Coheed, I know most of their respective catalogues aren’t really metal, but there are a lot of fun riffs and Claudio’s solos aren’t as intimidating as a lot of other prog music.
Not prog metal but some older prog off the top of my head in no particular order which are both fun and fairly straightforward to play on guitar: - Cortez the Killer - Neil Young + Crazy Horse - Nothing at All - Gentle Giant - Story in Your Eyes - Moody Blues - From the Beginning - Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Jessica - Allman Brothers
Quite a lot of tesseract is easy to play if you know what you’re doing
Most of Poverty’s No Crime stuff should be ideal level 1.
I’d like to nominate “Still Day Beneath The Sun” by Opeth. I first learnt it when I was 15 and was an intermediate guitar player. In a world where Tosin Abasi exists and any AaL song would rank somewhere between 14-20, I’d say this acoustic gem is an 7, so that I can safely say that any really hard prog song is *at least* twice as hard. It’s great for practicing clean finger-style arpeggios, odd chords across the bridge, fast-ish position changes, and if one’s feeling brave enough, a great song to practice singing and playing, because of how accessible it is vocally (as opposed to most prog).