This is an article for the budding Rock guitarists out there!
Playing a distorted electric guitar is quite a different beast to playing a clean electric guitar or an acoustic one.
One of the big differences is in the way chords sound through distortion verses being played clean. Complex chords, such as the more extended jazz chord turn into mush. On the other hand, simple chord voicings, which would sound dull and lifeless on a clean guitar, become focussed, full and rich.
Power chords are a perfect example of this in action.
Interestingly, the theory behind the power chord is almost the opposite of Sparse Chords mentioned in a previous article. So while Sparse Chords try to create the most harmonic colour in the least number of notes, a power chord simplifies the harmonic structure to 2 or 3 notes based on the root and a 5th tones only.
This means that the chord has no “Major” or “Minor” quality to it, so you can use the power chord in place of either a Major or Minor chord.
Let’s draw some out.
As you can see, the top row are the 3 note versions, the bottom row are the 2 note versions. I tend to prefer the sound of the 3 note versions, but there’s not a lot of difference especially when you have the distortion cranked up!
Lets hear what these sound like - powerchords!
Once you get the hang of them you’ll be thrashing along to your favorite rock band in no time.
Double Stops
There’s a variant of the power chord that is well worth exploring. These are called “double stops”. A Double stop is essentially the top 2 notes of the 3 note power chord.
Again I’ll draw these out.
As you can see, the interesting thing about these are that the 2 notes are (in all but one case) on the same fret, but consecutive strings. This means that you can fret both notes with the same finger at the same time, and gives you real speed and freedom to play some great riffs.
Lets listen to some so you can hear them in action. doublestops
Once you get these under your fingers you’ll really start to have a ball!
Enjoy and let me know how you get on.
Written by admin
Topics: Basic, Chords, Lessons