It's Not Just About Power Chords!

I don't mean to be a narrow-minded person; power chords are quite good. They're possibly one of the best chords invented for guitar, and they certainly sound nice. It's just that overuse of them in songs nowadays (and even in the older days) has led to their use becoming really unoriginal.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing really wrong about power chords. Go ahead, use them if you want, but I just want to emphasise the fact that overuse of them will get boring and quite monotonous. Besides, there are plenty of other types of chords you could put in place of a power chord and it would still sound relatively the same, though in most cases it actually sounds better. Here are a few things you could just pop in there instead of a power chord and it would still sound great.

Full Chord

Since a power chord consists only of the root note, the fifth, and occasionally octave, the chord simply cannot be major or minor. If you want your song (or just a part in your song) to specifically sound major or minor in key (e.g. major if it is seemingly happy or uplifting, minor if it should be depressing in some way), then it would be much better to play a full major or minor chord. For instance, if you want something to sound specifically C major, then just play a C major chord. A C power chord won't quite sound either major or minor, it will be teetering on the fence, but that extra stress of major will be enough to push it over the edge. Though in most cases the full chord is harder to play (especially to form the chord shape in time), but this is quite worth it.

Perfect Fourth Double-Stops

What exactly is a perfect fourth double-stop? It's when you just play the root note and then the perfect fourth, at the same time. For instance, sticking to C, a C perfect fourth double-stop would call for a C and then an F. So, in other words, a 5th string 3rd fret and 4th string 3rd fret is a perfect fourth double stop.

Anyway, these really spice up your song. If your style is metal, then double-stops such as these go great in your rhythm guitar parts. They provide a much "heavier" sound than a power chord. Some great examples of good use of perfect fourth double-stops in metal would be the main riff for Metallica's "Creeping Death" and the opening riff for Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes To Midnight". These double-stops also sound good in solos, particularly anything country and blues. If you're doing, for instance, a hammeron in between two notes, just whip a perfect fourth up above your first note and hold it when you hammeron to the next note. Sounds great in most cases.

Move the Bass Line While Keeping The Same Riff

There's nothing worse than an extremely repetitious riff played over and over and over for an unnecessary amount of time. That being said, don't include a really great riff just once or twice, because that leaves the listener wanting more and then feeling disappointed. If you do happen to have a really great riff, it's nice to repeat it a while; in fact, it may be crucial to repeat it because most listeners will like it. So how do you repeat a good riff and not make it get old and sound monotonous? Move the bass line around. You will still keep the same riff but it will sound a bit different if, say, the bass goes down two steps, comes back up one, and then goes back to the original bass line. Iron Maiden are prime examples for this, and this technique is used in a mass number of their songs. To name a few, "The Trooper", "Aces High", and "Die With Your Boots On". So, if you're ever stuck with a great riff that repeats twenty times before your verse or something (or, in most cases, if it's for the intro), just move the bassline around each time you repeat the riff, so the riff will be the same, but it won't always sound exactly the same because of the bass.

Harmonize

Any riff can pretty much stand on its own, but it never hurts to harmonize. In many cases harmonizing can take a riff to new heights, and really make it shine. When harmonizing, experiment harmonizing with fifths, fourths, major and minor thirds... just about anything. They sound so much better than just one set of notes. Once again, Iron Maiden were probably the pioneers of this concept... either them or Thin Lizzy. Speaking of Thin Lizzy, think about the harmony interludes in between each chorus in "The Boys Are Back In Town". Think how bland they would have sounded if just the lower notes or just the higher notes had been played. Sure, it still would have sounded decent, but harmonizing it really makes it sound a hundred times more interesting. The great thing about harmonizing is it can be used in both rhythm parts and lead parts. Doing rhythm in lead parts can be strenuous, because you'll probably have to have two guitarists play two different sets of notes and stay in perfect in-synch tempo. Overdubs, however, can be done during the recording process and are probably much easier than trying to get both guitarists to play every note at just the right time. But when you pull it off, harmonizing sounds beautiful.

Inverted Chords

Inverting a chord is exactly how it sounds: invert the order of the notes. Staying in C, the notes of a C chord are CEG. If you play any other combination of those notes (EGC, CGE, GEC, GCE, EGC), you're still playing a C chord, only the different combination of notes can sometimes sound quite a bit different than the original combination. Experiment with them sometimes, you may just find a great combination.

Chord-Shape Variations

Whether you're a beginner guitarist or not, learning first-position chords is important, no doubt. But later down the road you're going to find that different chord shapes form interesting variations to just the regular first-position chords. Try each root note higher up on the neck, trying to map out where each next note will fall. Since you know a C chord is CEG, you know you need to find a C root note. Here is a lits of every single C root note on the neck:

1st string: 8th fret, 20th fret
2nd string: 1st fret, 13th fret
3rd string: 5th fret, 17th fret
4th string: 10th fret, 22nd fret
5th string: 3rd fret, 15th fret
6th string: 8th fret, 20th fret

Knowing that those are all the root positions for your C chord, you can use any one of those as your root note and try to find the E and the G that goes along with it. And, of course, E and G could also be your root note, just so long as you stick with CEG, so you can start on any one of the CEG's on your fretboard and form the other two notes and you've got your C chord. Countless combinations. A good example of different voicings would be the intro to Megadeth's "Hangar 18". It starts off with a chord progression of D minor, D minor #5, D minor 6, and A minor add 11. Only after those four chords are played, they are played again in a different chord variation, giving them a higher-pitched sound. Whereas just playing those four chords twice for one phrase, they were translated into different voicings to make them sound different, yet they are the same chords. Pretty amazing, huh?

Well, those are the main things you can do instead of a boring old power chord. Of course, there are many others, such as barred chords, chords with different notes in the base (or bass? Or both?), augmented and diminished chords, flatted/sharped chords, usage of different intervals in double-stopping, and maybe the verse in major and the chorus in minor or something like that. Hey, it's your song, do with it whatever you want. Just letting you know that some of the greatest and most influential bands of just about any given era would have thrown up at the thought of constant power chords.

Comments

[Tom]

very nice

[the_pick_gnome]

nice lesson

[WilliamVN'R]

yeah i agree with the power chord bit, but you could have mentioned more chords than just a C, so that the peeps that arent familiar with music theory would know how to form them in different places on the neck. Btw this is constructive criticism not moaning! apart fromt hat great article!

[nirvallica]

ohh yeah btw good article... power chords do get very repititive in, unfortunently, the music i like

[prhann]

Good article!

[AC/DC Dude8]

good, the only thing is power chords sound the best with distortion.

[mnbaseball91]

A major or minor chord isn't the only thing that makes a song major or minor. If you play a C powerchord and then an E powerchord, you're obviously in C major. Make it a C and an Eb, and you've gotta be in E minor.

[dk2906]

Thank you very much. I've been trying to move away from power chords and tabbed music and learning more traditional musical theory. I had trouble getting started, but this might help.

[CLOWNDEACAN]

double stops -> smoke on the water

nice article

[jamis8891]

i agree with everything. powercords are overused and unorigional

[The_New_Slash]

nice article! 5/5....LOL i thought u had the whole "where is the C on each string"-thing wrong, but then i remembered that the 1st string is at the bottom :S

[haunted_soul]

haha 12th !!
nice article bro. good for the newbs. but yeah nicely done

[metalicarules24]

great article. another great harmonizing band is the Hellecasters if any of you guys have heard of them

[Rune Playaz]

awesome article... AMEN!

[RedlightningYes]

I have to agree with u, too many bands now adays including greenday use nothing but powerchords it's too damn predictable, i think alot of modern bands should really add more bass in their songs, rarely can u hear a bass, it needs to be turned up, secondly riffs can be played without all powerchords but with notes like sunshine of your love

[guitar_freak523]

useful this is what i have been moving on to for while now,i find power chords lame sometimes

[theonlybman]

Good article. But, I am so sick of people writing the major key gives a happy feel and a minor chord gives a sad feel. Guess what there are more than two feelings that music can give you. Only junkass musicians can only give those two emotions. Both keys can do much more than happy and sad. At least say minor gives a dark feel. Just thought I'd clear that up.

[slashtobe]

Very Nice

[Tyler the Great]

great article. I agree 100%.

[leijsa]

Great article, it was useful.

[wookieonfire]

good one

[kevinm4435]

Neato. I'll use some of this stuff definately.

[Newbie Rocker]

Sounds Good

[clwy87]

good article

If you play a C powerchord and then an E powerchord, you're obviously in C major. Make it a C and an Eb, and you've gotta be in E minor.

More like C minor

-SD

[NowTheWorld]

Nice article!
Other good alternatives to power chords are sus2 chords, they sound pretty good with distortion (unlike msot barred chords)
That, and using intervals (as in just playing a note and its 3rd, or its 7th) sounds good, can be used in almost any genre, and helps set the key. Octave chords work nicely, too.

If only a powerchord will do, though, try adding an octave into the chord (for example, if you play an F powerchord, play the F, the A#, and then an A# an octave up.) It requires a bit of finger stretching, but it's useful if you don't have a second guitarist to harmonize with (as most punk bands, who are the main perpetrators of powerchord overkill, usually only have one guitarist)

[deansouthpaw]

u can play reggae in a minor key but that doesnt mean it sounds sad....maybe just a little more mellow than a major chord would be

[BlindingStrings]

How about thirds? A great way to spice up music

[The Big Irish]

Good article but you should have included a visual aid for beginners that don't know musical terminology

[lost_it_again]

awsome, very useful, well done 5 stars

[Scourge441]

This was actually a good article instead of a rant on why music today sucks, which is what I thought it would be when I read the title. (I should pay attention to the article categories more).

5 stars.

[atc228]

nice article man, ive been recently getting into using "full chords" as u call them, but thanks-i didnt know about fourth double stops or any of the other things (except the harmonizing, but i didnt know to much about it) so thanks a bunch!

[flyboy959]

wow. helpful

[BadAssElmo]

i ilked it

[thefinalcut]

Someone said many of today's bands (Top 40 Rock) neglect the bassist, so so so true. You almost never hear a bassist anymore. Anyway, you're right about powerchords being overused. Like you said, there's nothing wrong with them but to me it just seems like too many bands max out their distortion and start bashing out boring powerchord progressions.

[atm_sk8er]

k, for people reading my comment, with the part where the article talked about the full chord...remember to try the chord as a barre chord, and just as a regular chord, cause they sound different.(just a suggestion that the article left out).

good article, solid, and told me shit i didnt know that would definitly help. 4 1/2 *'s

[Punk_Dude2005]

Scourge441:
This was actually a good article instead of a rant on why music today sucks, which is what I thought it would be when I read the title. (I should pay attention to the article categories more).

5 stars.
[POSTED: 08 July 2005 - 13:22]|

I agree with you Scourge

[Pimpinguitarist]

great article. 5 stars.

[slipknot5556667]

5/5 great article

[WishIHadAGibson]

i thought i thought of everything in that article until i read the inverted chord shape. very nice.

also, the c root notes and their octaves could be useful for some n00bs trying to make a solo.

[Metallicam]

Weird, I was under the impressin most people started learning on full chords. I know I did and then later learned the power chords. One more thing to add, if you put all these different chords onto piano chords, it's very easy to understand the whole 1st, 3rd, 5th note thing.

[new_decade]

i really need to start learning theory lol, that went straight over my head

[folk_rocknroll]

great article. no bull shit here

[wanna_lick_me?]

new_decade:
i really need to start learning theory lol, that went straight over my head

lol and that was pretty basic sh.it man...

back on topic, sweee..t article

[#1 nirvana fan]

hey have u ever thought of being a teacher? very well explained i think im ready to try this stuf. 5 stars

[ce12872001]

pretty good aricle man this guy must be a big iron maiden fan I'm not sure they are the best example for these situations...maybe thats just me?

[elenano_x]

pretty good article
a good exaple of a bass movement during the riff is the "sweet child o' mine" riff

[metalnazi7]

good article...that could definitely be useful to guitarists of all levels, not just beginners

[dan_the_pie]

agreed, despite my love for grunge and alternative.however, powerchords dont mean the song sucks

[DisturbedIbanez]

Good article. Powere chords are still fun as hell though.

[darkstar9814]

good article

[Dexter Smith]

nice article, very good stuff for all people that want to sound with a bit of originality

[ArtOfSuffocatin]

I use powerchords sometimes, but I'm starting to try to use less and less of them. Though powerchords are still useful. Good Article.

[black_sabbath85]

Good article.....makes you think!
5 starts ***..

[Hellraizer31990]

very helpful i am one of those ppl who just got a guitar and then just try and go play tabs but i want to actually learn music and this will really help...iron maiden kiks ass

[LordoftheDorks]

nice dude, i liked what you said about old music and new music. like black sabbath (iron man in particular) they used powerchords in every song but they never just used powerchords, plus they used alot of riffs with single note progressions and i would have liked to hear about those, tony iommi was one creative dude :P

[Nesk_101]

major if it is seemingly happy or uplifting, minor if it should be depressing in some way

Thanks genius, i'll be sure to use THIS gem next time i'm in the studio. go skeet yourself.

[Muppet]

I liked the article. It helped a bit.

[Covin]

Really good article, except for the stereotyping of major and minor chords.

[JorisBlack]

Nice...
however : don't forget that power chords DO have to be used sometimes! It would sound horrible if you constantly play other chords...oh and have u tried some of those not-power chords while your distortion is on?
I suggest just adding a finger to your powerchord. It helps and is good for the sound. (see : No One Knows - QOTSA)

[whitebluesboy]

nice

[Abyssal]

Good lesson, really helps..

[Spl!nTeRgu!tAr]

awesonme article

5 stars

[shadows666]

Thank you for this refreshing article. Im sick of all the emo pop shit that is mainstream and everyone goes crazy for and say that they have talent when all they are doing is playing power chords and no solos. Screw that.

[The Lost Within]

enjoyed the article. good job. heh i learned this last month with my guitar teacher.

[Marlboro_Rob]

Very interseting article!! Good research & Well written!!!

[elmolikepie]

Power chords are unorigional and overused but mainly because people just shove them in when hey run out of ideas, Kurt Cobain an Josh Homme use them very effectivly.
You could also consider using arpegios (i think thats how you spell it) or just experimenting with a pentatonic or major/minor scale. Also I know a few people have already mentioned them but octivs are a great way to liven up powerchords, just listen to 'Its not a fashion Statement its a deathwish' by my Chemical Romance an ul c wot i meen.

[thedankle]

Inverted Chords

Inverting a chord is exactly how it sounds: invert the order of the notes. Staying in C, the notes of a C chord are CEG. If you play any other combination of those notes (EGC, CGE, GEC, GCE, EGC), you're still playing a C chord, only the different combination of notes can sometimes sound quite a bit different than the original combination. Experiment with them sometimes, you may just find a great combination.

I'm a little confused. Instead of playing a CEG, I change the order, right. Is that how you get 7'ths and 9th's and such?

[bassmonkey16]

yeah too many people do it easy and just do power chords, ive been doin fulll chords since i started. reasons being A) sounds better and B) it takes more skill, and practicing full chords can make you a more talented player
5 stars

[Sum1]

full chords dont always sound good in a distorted mode, and just cause you use a minor chord doesnt kill the whole mood of a happy song, ie Nothing Else Matters.. you have to understand the progression of chords and how even though its mostly in Em, he uses 7ths chords and such to resolve to certain chords creating an ultimately happy feel...

[guitarman_61690]

Whow that was great. For begginners and basic stuff but that's what most artists are doing. That was so well explained. Read this word per word and print. Try this stuff now

You should be a teacher

[guitarman_61690]

Whow that was great. For begginners and basic stuff but that's what most artists aren't doing. That was so well explained. Read this word per word and print. Try this stuff now

You should be a teacher

[metaljunkie]

and i still dont understand how green day is coming up with stuff....its funny if you listen to some of their songs they are acctaully taking the progression of one of their other songs and just reversing it, it is really funny...i hate the green day fanboys that say billie joe is the best, i mean i am a bassist and i can play all of their stuff, i just need to learn the pace and beat

[FlyingBeerman]

Someone said many of today's bands (Top 40 Rock) neglect the bassist, so so so true. You almost never hear a bassist anymore.

What the hell are you talking about? With funk becoming an increasingly important component of today's rock scene, the bass player is more prominent than ever. Hell, I'd say even Green Day lets their bass player play louder and more noticably on CDs than Led Zeppelin or The Beatles ever did. I'm not comparing bands or anything, just saying it's a lot easier to hear the bass player today than it ever was before.

Any riff can pretty much stand on its own, but it never hurts to harmonize. In many cases harmonizing can take a riff to new heights, and really make it shine. When harmonizing, experiment harmonizing with fifths, fourths, major and minor thirds... just about anything. They sound so much better than just one set of notes. Once again, Iron Maiden were probably the pioneers of this concept.

Iron Maiden pioneered harmony? WTF? Other than that, good article.

[IlIk2plygUItAr]

Good article. Perfect length. Its like what a girls skirt should be like: long enough to cover everything, but short enough to be interesting.

[gmsje]

Very helpful in many ways, both for full and power chords which I didn't understand at all.

[5:15_Whofan]

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't a perfect fourth double stop just 5th power chord but the root is the fifth instead of the tonic? for example: C p.f.d.s. goes CF but F 5th just goes FC, i was just wondering.
good article by the way, 5 stars.

also, i think think that IlIk2plygUItAr is a poet

[metalmonkey666]

kik ass

[shadowofbodom]

that was awesome. only thing is a visual would have helped kinda... i still understood it all though.

5 stars

[Bassplayer17]

Great. Too bad half the powerchord loving guitarists don't know what a fifth is.

[Guitar_Poet]

Sum1:
full chords dont always sound good in a distorted mode, and just cause you use a minor chord doesnt kill the whole mood of a happy song, ie Nothing Else Matters..

Nothing Else Matters is a happy song? pshh...

[bigrd15132]

I gave you 4 stars. You could've covered a little more about adding the major or minor 3rd to the power chord itself. Yea, I have nothing else to say.

[quesoso]

To 5:15_Whofan - you are partly correct. It depends on the context, whether or not a chord voicing with C and F is a 5 chord or a 4 chord. If the chord you're playing the voicing on is a C7 chord, then you'd be playing a 4 chord. If the chord was an Fmaj chord, you'd just have your standard 5 power chord.

Extra music theory for those interested:
The 4 is not usually played on a dominant seventh chords. Voicing a dominant seventh such that you bring out the 4th is called a suspended chord, or sus4 for short.

[mikeman]

Iron Maiden pioneered harmony? F.uck that! Bach Pioneered harmony. Stupid Article that everyone should know.

[whitebluesboy]

another cool chord thing to do is to split hte notes chord in half using either another guitarist with different tone, or a bass.....like some plays the rote and the 3 and another plays the 5th and the octave

[metaljunkie]

FlyingBeerman:
What the hell are you talking about? With funk becoming an increasingly important component of today's rock scene, the bass player is more prominent than ever. Hell, I'd say even Green Day lets their bass player play louder and more noticably on CDs than Led Zeppelin or The Beatles ever did. I'm not comparing bands or anything, just saying it's a lot easier to hear the bass player today than it ever was before.

I concur on how the bass is getting louder, being a bassist, it makes me happy! but yea metal is starting to do that, but there is a little too much distortion that is sounds like a guitar tuned really far down, but then again would that make it a bass?

[PearlJamania]

nice article

[Boot]

In A Word...Awesome. Great One Dude!

[Spity90]

yea this is a great article 5 stars.. i use a melody instead of a riff in most of the songs i come up with.. gives it the whole 2 violins effect lol great article keep it up!

[cucumber1990]

Good Article but in some genre's power chords that sync up with the bass is all the guitar part is but it's mostly old Punk and Hardcore from the 80's(bands like Minor Threat and State of Alert) but most of those songs were too short to have anything else

[nightprowler]

50 1/2 Gold Stars!

[ChordProgressiv]

Thats an amazing article, really helpful to anyone who wants to find a new way to do things

[SingingSabre]

A great start to expanding guitar!

[mesaboogieman]

cool

[nightrune]

great article, but i love power chords, but i dont use them like punk rock, way too over used, i hit it like once or twice and then throw a lil fill in the key of the chord

[aboywhodestroyd]

I know this has been said, but it needs to be said again. Iron Maiden did NOT pioneer harmonizing, its been done since classical. However, I will agree with the statement that Iron Maiden pioneered harmonizing guitar parts in rock music (used very generally), but this needs to be cleared up, because everything uses harmonizing. If I sing a melody and play chords at the same time, then I'm harmonizing.

[Sum1]

Nothing Else Matters is a happy song? pshh...

yes, if you didnt know it was about love, thats normally a happy song, unless its "i love death" or "i love pain" did you think it was a sad song?

[Overrated]

Is it still pedophilia if the kids dead?

[manson2482]

hello i dont mean to sound rude or nothing but all iron maiden is, is power chords. sorry to say it

[negrotaurist]

nothing else matters isnt realy happy or sad, its just like thought provoking. It gets me pumped man.

[acknowledge_me_cas :(]

Although, there are exceptions. :P I think Alice in Chains did a great job of using power chords, and not sounding bland or overused. I mean hell, Angry Chair and What's My Drug Of Choice are all power chords for the most part. :P Otherwise, yes, powerchords get a lil unimaganitive.

[burndttoast]

Is it still pedophilia if the kids dead?

No. It would probably be "pedonecrophilia." Hah.
As far as the article goes: nice. You elaborated on this subject superbly.

[liam177lewis]

very cool, and very useful

[SethMegadefan]

manson2482:
hello i dont mean to sound rude or nothing but all iron maiden is, is power chords, sorry to say it

You name one--ONE--Maiden song that's all power chords. Go ahead, do it. You can't.
Sorry; I didn't mean to sound like a complete Maiden freak because that's really not what I'm like, I just thought their style fit many of the examples I listed. And when I said they pioneered harmony, I meant in metal/rock/whatever. This article was geared more towards guitar players writing their own rock songs; not people writing symphonies. Although classical music will give you a hell of a lesson on music theory.

[MetallicAhead]

ive started to use power chords alot recently, ill try some of the stuff suggested in this article, hell it cant make my playing any worse than it is now . . .

[Drazil]

Nice article. Does anyone know Billie Joe Armstrong's e-mail address? This article might come in handy for him. I mean, his most popular full chord progression is a rip off from Wonderwall, after all....

Peace,
Mike

[scarified53]

good article but you should have givin a deeper explaination about harmonising, apart from that, 4 stars, well done

[lacey_the_crazy]

Great article, I'm glad you actually offered practical advice rather than simply complaining about the overuse of powerchords

[scumfuc_69]

If there's nothing wrong w/ just powerchords, then why all this?

I'm not complaining about the article, so don't respond w/ bullshit

[aldude]

this reminds me of when me and my freind made a song and then at the end we realized that it sounded extremely emo... what a waste of time.. this should help us a lot in maknig songs 5 stars!

[rancidrocker]

I don't even bother with power chords, never have. I tought myself open and barre chords and rarly use power chords...good article though. I espeacially like the part about inverted chords, those make for a nice hcange of pace.

[jimmcs2000]

Great article. I use alot of power chord when i write and i've been throwing in some full chords and inverted. It really fills up your sound, especially with one guitar. Works pretty good for Incubus.

[SMFar2112]

kick ass article very well done

[Roadkill_1]

I suppose this article would be useful for beginners, but that's why you could maybe have used some diagrams. They might not understand all the terminology. Still, decent article.

[ReD RoCkEt MaN]

Nice article. But i think its also unoriginal using just full chords and the like. Try using a mix of power chords and full chords. You'd be surprised how cool it sounds.

[Kai-7]

burndttoast:
Is it still pedophilia if the kids dead?

No. It would probably be "pedonecrophilia." Hah.

no, it would be necropedophilia

[jez_hybrid]

Bein a piano player as well it is very interesting to see the inversions you can make. As for power chords... If they are used well they can work and sound very good

[jase_connor]

thats hawt

[stumaster18]

nice

[greg1988]

Nice piece mate. Glad to see you appreciate Thin Lizzy - they're top-notch

[popomitohren]

thedankle:
I'm a little confused. Instead of playing a CEG, I change the order, right. Is that how you get 7'ths and 9th's and such?

I don't know if you have this answered yet, but no. Those are just taking a C major chord and changing the order of the notes. A C7 chord would be C-E-G-Bb, and a C9 would be C-E-G-Bb-D I believe.

[popomitohren]

quesoso:
Extra music theory for those interested:
The 4 is not usually played on a dominant seventh chords. Voicing a dominant seventh such that you bring out the 4th is called a suspended chord, or sus4 for short.

I don't think that's entirely correct. First, if the 7 is there it'd be a 7sus4, but more importantly, you should add that in order for a chord to be a sus4, you have to eliminate the 3rd. For example, a C major chord is CEG. to make it sus4, you replace the 3rd with the 4th (CFG). If you have CEFG, then you have a C major added 4th (Cadd4). The same applies to suspended 2nd chords. Csus2 is CDG, CDEG is Cadd2.

^ That's not entirely correct either, often jazz pianists will add 3rds to 7sus4 chords voiced outside of the initial triad, i.e. a chord voiced 1 4 b7 3 (low to high).

-SD

[ruberducky]

great artical!

Super Duper

hehe

[Gothic_ed]

right you talk of inverted chords and what did you call them, ah yes perfect fourth double stops. What a stupid name, did you think you were being smart? Check the notes they're just inverted powerchords

[pilonic man]

sweet

[TheGimpMaster01]

that was a GREAT article! Write more! I am really into song writing and this kind of stuff is perfect!!! thanks!

[rajp]

good critiq article!!! i normally enjoy playing power chords along with full chords and few licks here and there!!! besides i find most of the rock troops use power chords with distorsion with out distorsion it will not sound good at all

[mikeofthechimps]

nice, but i'm sure that when most of us use powerchords its because we're using distortion - 3rds are just too thick and sound too mushy while a powere chord sounds (ahem!) powerful!

but hey, you're right, they are a little overused

[Sexy_Guitarist5]

TheGimpMaster01
wrote:

that was a GREAT article! Write more! I am really into song writing and this kind of stuff is perfect!!! thanks!

Agreed....

[tweeres04]

One of the best articles ever. Keep writing!

[sherwin]

very interesting....good work...definitely

[The master]

First of all im new to this site and i would just like to say this was a very good artical allthough i dont argee with some parts if a song has power cords you are basically a just starting and you dont now how to do anything else but im also contradicting my self when i say they can livin up a song...NIRVANA USES WAY TO MANY AND I THINK HES WAY OVER RATED AS A GUITARIST!...good article.

[The master]

to my last quote i ment kurt cobain ^^^

[indiecult99]

good article.

[KnightValor]

Good article... Powerchords ARE way overused... But I think you are going a bit too black and white. Nirvana was a great hit, whether you like them or not, whether you think Kurt cobain (The Master: no, his name wasn't "nirvana") was overrated or not... And Perfect Fourth Double stops are NOT heavier than three note powerchords. Otherwise, good review.

[KnightValor]

I liked it... But if I'm doing them right, Perfect Fourth Double Stops are NOT heavier than three note powerchords! Close, yes... but no cigar.

[Children Of War]

cool,now my songwriting has become more linear

[spunkeymonkey36]

Yeh I agree, I fed up with the Kurt Cobain style 3 power chord long songs and a bearded shouting man. Very unmusical. What ever happened to Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin or Guns N Roses sort of guitaring, i.e sweet child of mine. I dont see how anyboby could prefer mindless powerchords to the magic that Eddie Van Halen or Slash could come out with. Probably thanks to the wierd youth culture known as punks who were the kids who hated pretty much anything tasteful. We can only thank Cobain for the crappy teenage bands we have today.

[sexihobo]

IlIk2plygUItAr wrote:

Good article. Perfect length. Its like what a girls skirt should be like: long enough to cover everything, but short enough to be interesting.

haha good way of saying it. nice article by the way

[Vaul96]

Double stops are power chords, just without the root note on the lower string. One thing alot of people don't realise, and this comes from my theory training, are that a 4th and a 5th are the same thing, just that the power chords 5th note becomes the 4ths root note and the power chords root note becomes the actual 4th.


For some great power chord work, and I'm agrreing with the author here, Creeping Death is a stand out track for me. As well as "Skin O' My Teeth" by Megadeth. Mustaine and Hetfield widely popularised the use of power chords, although it was already being done by the original metal guitarists, Iommi, Page and Young

[Vaul96]

Double stops are power chords, just without the root note on the lower string. One thing alot of people don't realise, and this comes from my theory training, are that a 4th and a 5th are the same thing, just that the power chords 5th note becomes the 4ths root note and the power chords root note becomes the actual 4th.


For some great power chord work, and I'm agrreing with the author here, Creeping Death is a stand out track for me. As well as "Skin O' My Teeth" by Megadeth. Mustaine and Hetfield widely popularised the use of power chords, although it was already being done by the original metal guitarists, Iommi, Page and Young. Those 3 used power chords all the time, but very innovativeley

[samerika]

Powerchords weren't invented, they were discovered