Guitar Lesson: Creative Power Chords
Tutorial Details
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Time: 10 minutes to watch and read, much longer to learn!
- Requirements: A guitar
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In this video guitar lesson, I show you how to add thirds to your power chords to give them a more distinctive sound. TAB, chord charts, and an MP3 to jam with are all included.
Creative Power Chords
Here are the chords I use:
Download the PDF notation/tablature here.
Download the backing track MP3 here, or just press Play below.
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How are those power chords?
Hi Slush. That sounds more like a statement than a question. Would you like to explain?
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a chord consisting of only the root note of the chord and the fifth, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_chord) As he describes, he’s playing the root note on different octaves and the fifth. How are they not power chords?
Yes it’s possible, and should be part 2.
Hi Guys, I’d like to point that regardless of what wikipedia says, Power Chord is not a technical term, it simply means “a powerful chord usually played with distortion”. Bi-chord is the technical name for a root/fifth powerchord.
They sound powerful to me :D
i very like that’s tutorial because i am a baginer and i always do powerchords
anyway, i don’t think that’s “creative” is THE word do describe “yours”.
that’s just power chords that can be minor or major
Is that technique possible with Drop ?
Thanks again for this open minding tutorial for me ^^
Yes it’s possible, and should be part 2.
Hi ExtremRaym,
I’m glad that you enjoyed the lesson. But to be honest, power chords with extra notes is not something that I’ve created. When I was working as a studio assistant, I saw many pop/rock session players use them instead of the classic root/fifth, often as a a layered part with less distortion.
The same concept applies to drop 2 and 3, and should be a part 2 tutorial on the same topic.
Thanks for the positive feedback
I think what Slush was getting at is a Power Chord technically only contains a Root and Fifth. This 1/5 harmony is not very complicated and works well with the harmonic complexities of distortion.
Personally I’d bin the octave and just play Root and 10th (3rd above the octave) as there’s less chance of the sound becoming too complex and jumbled when played lower. The shapes for this are easier to grab to.
nice work!
:)
Hi Toby, the octave doesn’t creates any problem in the lower register, as you probably know is the first overtone in the series and the most consonant.
What it does is make the voicing more balanced and different from a 10th. What you need to be careful with is the Low Interval Limit, a sound acoustic concept that defines the lowest pitches at which intervals (in this case Major and Minor 10ths), can be clearly perceived without sounding muddy or indistinct. The limits aren’t absolutes (distortion surely alter this limits), but represent frequencies below which there is a real risk that the resulting sound will not work well within a normal harmonic context. The only exception is the octave that is limitless
Thanks for the positive feedback :)
Thanks guys. I thought that’s what Slush – love that name! – was getting at too. In the tut Joe defines power chords as just having the root and fifth, and I thought he explained pretty clearly he was modifying them to add some more harmonic character.
I’m not an electric guitar player, but I enjoyed the tut. Moving on from the wording of the title, how did you guys find it? Would you like more like this?
Adrian
Great tutorial Joe. This technique opens up a near bottomless pit of great harmonic ideas that can add some excitement to simple progressions. Guys like Rick Nielsen and Bob Mould, both masters of this sort of thing, have produced so much great music with these simple tricks. More!
Hi Glynn, thanks for the positive feedback. You are right, this techniques has been around for a while, don’t know why there is a lack of educational material on this topic.
Good lesson. You’ll find a great deal of these types of chords in hair metal & mainstream pop music from the past. Usually the soloing and vocal melody decides if the mood is major or minor. With this approach the rhythm guitar has more of the say-so. Eddie Van Halen, comes to mind, and a guitar patch in Guitar Rig comes to mind to use for these types of chords. Think I’m off for an early lunch. ;)
Hi RobGD, I’m glad you like it, I’ve just finished recording part two on maj7 min7 and dom7 Power chords, stay tuned for more!
I’m glad someone made a video about this. The trick works because the further apart two notes are, the less dissonant. Which means the bigger the interval spacing, the odder you can make a chord.
Erm. I kinda think I should re-state that. The further apart two notes are, the more dissonant of a relationship you can get away with. I.E. a 5th is still less dissonant than a 6th, but a 6th an octave up is less dissonant than a 6th in the same octave.
Exactly, Cool Character. The principle you are explaining imitates the spacing of the harmonic series, where, in a few words, you have bigger and consonant intervals in bottom (octave, 5th), then a major triad and finally 7th and tensions very high and close together. Classical theory adheres to this strictly, but in modern music it’s just a suggestion ;)
I’m glad you like the lesson. Right now I’m working on a final 3rd part where we will mess with power chords even more adding tensions.
Hi Guys,
some of you sent me e-mails about my setup and I’ve decided to post it here instead of replying to all the single messages.
This is what I use for the video tutorials:
Mayones Setius Custom Joe Kataldo, loaded with Bare Knuckles’ Black Dog Bridge and The Mule Neck pickups. The guitar goes straight into a Mesa Mark IV. A small 1×12 cabinet is miked with an SM57 and MD421, then mic pre, m-box pro and protools. From Protools a mono bus sends the cumulative mono mic signals to a G-Force input and then back in stereo to the m-box. I recorded everything on separated tracks. This way I have full control of the balance between the two mics dry sound and the stereo fx.
When I have to speak and play at the same time, not having (yet) an ISO box in my studio, I use a pod straight into the m-box and a capture the voice with a lavalier mic.
Would the same pattern of chords can also be applicable for a left-handed guy? Are you going to make a separate music lesson for it.