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Old 04-18-2014, 06:49 AM
ddaugherty27 ddaugherty27 is offline
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Default how do power chords unleash the beast?

I have been hearing alot of ppl tell me that i need to learn to play power chords and that it will help me progress so much faster. Why is this?
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:00 AM
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fazool fazool is offline
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Originally Posted by ddaugherty27 View Post
I have been hearing alot of ppl tell me that i need to learn to play power chords and that it will help me progress so much faster. Why is this?
Playing power chords will not help you "progress" faster.

A power chord is a simple formation consisting of a root note and a fifth interval. A full chord consists of the root, third and fifth, so a power chord leaves out the third interval. For example a C chord consists of C-E-G (1-3-5) but a C "power" chord is just C-G (1-5).

Its simply a different sound. Its easier to play and you can move around faster playing them. They are commonly played in hard rock and on electric guitars.

Its just a type of chord. Playing it will not help you progress. It may help you play some simpler formations faster.
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:10 AM
DupleMeter DupleMeter is offline
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"Power Chords" are 5ths, not true chords. A chord needs to have 3 notes (typically root, 3rd & 5th - but there are other options.) Because of this Power Chords are ambiguous structures. Without a 3rd you do not define the quality of a chord (major or minor). So while they are called chords, they aren't...they are intervals (2 notes with some measurable distance between them).

That all said, they serve a purpose. They have a very identifiable sound and can be quite useful. They are usually notated as "5" chords (G5, D5, E5) or "no 3rd" chords (G(no 3rd), D(no 3rd), E(no 3rd)).

Will they help you progress faster?? No more than learning any other chord form. They're just one ore piece of the very large puzzle we call learning to play the guitar.

Hope that puts it into some perspective.
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:11 AM
mc1 mc1 is offline
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Default how do power chords unleash the beast?

the beast views power chords like scooby views scooby snacks.

hth.
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:18 AM
ddaugherty27 ddaugherty27 is offline
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the beast views power chords like scooby views scooby snacks.

hth.
HAHAHA so i guess i need to progress into a beast.... I'm just learning and have been looking at power chords....I still have SO MUCH TO LEARN....I just find it hard to change between chords that require alot of movement....I practice everyday though....so it will pay off.
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:58 AM
T1mothy T1mothy is offline
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Thats the right attitude. Keep at it!
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Old 04-18-2014, 08:52 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Play an E5, then a Bb5. You will hear the beast become restless.
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Old 04-18-2014, 09:15 AM
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The nice thing about playing electric guitar (I assume you're talking about electric) in a rock band is that that you don't have to use all of the strings all of the time, because there are other instruments carrying some of the sonic load. In fact, partial chords such as "power chords" are often preferable to full chords in order to give the other instruments their space within the mix.

Solo acoustic guitar....completely different ball game. One guitar has to cover the bottom end, the melody, and the rhythm.

So yeah, for learning electric guitar for a band situation, it's good to know a lot of partial chords...including power chords.
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Old 04-18-2014, 10:19 AM
Davis Webb Davis Webb is offline
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I use power chords in a few ways. Firstly, if you are alternating rhythm with lead lines, a power chord is faster to form and holds the rhythm pattern. If you can let it ring out as you do a lead line, it lets you carry a song solo well.

I also use them for their namesake, power. They have a dominant psychological effect and can really add energy to a performance.

I also use them when I only need a leading tone from one of the notes and the rest of the chord doesn't really add much embellishment.

Learn em! They are the basis of rock. A big part of a contemporary guitar toolkit.
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Old 04-18-2014, 11:02 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddaugherty27 View Post
I have been hearing alot of ppl tell me that i need to learn to play power chords and that it will help me progress so much faster. Why is this?
Hi dd....

Probably because something clicked for them when they began playing power chords. And it might be connected to the style of music they are/were playing.

I have no issues with power chords, as they can be effective in creating/setting/changing the mood of a piece. They however can become either overbearing or under satisfactory if they are all you use.


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Old 04-18-2014, 11:42 AM
ddaugherty27 ddaugherty27 is offline
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well....I can not use them I am practicing them.....Right now really all i can use is a C, D, G, Em, and A hahaha...and i can't switch really fast through some of them....
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Old 04-18-2014, 02:39 PM
Davis Webb Davis Webb is offline
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I see...well at your level don't worry about them. I would master basic chord shapes for all keys first. Power chords are just one technique and are no substitute for learning the basics.
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Old 04-20-2014, 05:59 AM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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There really is nothing to a power chord. Handy if you want to do some James Hetfield (Mettalica) rhythm! Or think of early Kinks (probably the first to use them in rock 'n' roll), Boston (the choruses), Sabbath, Green Day... to me it's more commonly used in rock and metal. Basically one simple shape that is easily moveable up and down the neck, and you can use the same shape on the 4-5-6 string or 3-4-5 string.

Whether they're usefol for you depends on what songs you want to play. If you like some of the bands I mentioned above, then it certainly helps to learn them now. Otherwise, you can wait till youu learn a song that has them.
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Old 04-20-2014, 07:57 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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As mentioned (kind of), power chords are really an electric guitar thing, and particularly a distorted electric guitar thing.

It's no coincidence that they started to become common around the same time distortion began to be widely used (mid 1960s, although the history can be traced back a few years before that).

Distortion compresses the sound, which enhances all the (normally inaudible) overtones of the notes. That mains that any single note sounds a lot more interesting timbrally (ie "dirtier" ) than it does on when clean. (Clean electric, that is. Acoustic tone is quite interesting in itself, but a clean electric tone can be quite thin and weak, lacking character or subtlety.)
And if one note sounds nice dirty - then two together (power chord), even better! But add a 3rd (or even 4th) note, and the dirt starts to pile up... The sound of a triad chord, when distorted, has a kind of "muddy", "mushy" sound, mainly because of clashes between the enhanced overtones of root and 3rd. Leave the 3rd out, and - hey - you get a more powerful sound: more sustain, but still with enough grit and edge. (And leaving out the 3rd of the chord leaves an overtone of the root to act as a "pure" major 3rd, more in tune acoustically. So a distorted power chord will naturally have a kind of "major" sound.)

That's not to say that the "mush" of a more complex chord, distorted, is always a bad thing. Hendrix in particular liked the sound of 7#9 chords distorted. Even clean, a 7#9 chord is a complex pile of clashing frequencies (in a good way). Distort it, and .... well, let's just say there's "power" and "power"....
Jimi, of course, knew (and knew how to control) the difference between "wall of lovely noise" (distorted 7#9), and "pure sustaining power" (root-5th power chord, or his favourite sus2, voiced 1-5-9, two stacked 5ths, ie one power chord on top of another).

On acoustic guitar however (check title of site ), power chords are somewhat - er - less powerful. They kind of lose their point. They have a kind of "so what?" sound. They might still be useful at times, of course, but - as mentioned - have nothing to do with "progressing" on your instrument; except in the sense of one more tool in your box. (If it's a tool you can imagine yourself using.)
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Old 04-21-2014, 10:14 PM
j3ffr0 j3ffr0 is offline
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Power chords are a gateway to better technique and playing up the neck for a lot of beginners. A person cannot play a full bar chord if they can't play a power chord. However, if they can play a power chord -- well they just might be able to play a full bar chord. It's also hard (not impossible) to play them with bad technique. Working on power chords can get people moving their thumb to the back of the neck instead of keeping it up high like they do for cowboy chords. Being able to play comfortably with the thumb behind the neck instead of hanging over the top is important for lead playing and other more advanced chords. In addition to unleashing the beast (Iron Maiden, Metallica, you name it) -- power chords can serve as a gateway to more advanced guitar playing.

Speaking for myself, power chords absolutely did unleash the beast when I first played through an amp with some distortion. It took many years to put that beast back in it's cage.
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