How often do you look up the tab for your favorite song and find a page full of troublesome looking power chords?
For some unknown reason years ago in the "land of TAB" some clever fellow made a decision to make power chords tough to play by making all power chords three finger formations.
I don't have any idea why they did this, as you'll discover at once ... Two of the notes in the formation are exactly the same letter name.
Since a couple of the notes in the three note power chord share the same letter name no further harmony is formed, therefore you can successfully drop one of these notes and create a way more user friendly two finger power chord shape.
The Two Finger Power Chord :
After a large amount of random test guitarists discover the best and most "powerful" sound was created by playing two notes together, therefore the name "power chord". Speaking technically a chord is 3 different notes played together, but new music requires new theoretical terminology to describe the sounds.
A fine example of power chords is the introduction to "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple ... Please note these are 2 note power chords frequently incorrectly written as three note power chords.
The First and the Fifth :
The 2 notes that produce the most satisfactory results are the first and fifth notes.
Here's some examples for you to try ...
Scale of G : G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G
First note is "G" and the 5th note is "D" when these two notes are played together they produce a "G" power chord.
Regularly power chords are written with a number 5 after the letter name i.e, G5 is an alternate way of writing a "G" power chord.
Here is an example in the key of D.
Scale of D : D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D
First note is "D" and the fifth note is "A" when these two notes are played together they produce a "D" power chord.
And another example in the key of A.
Scale of A : A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A
First note is "A" and the 5th note is "E" when these 2 notes are played together they produce a "A" power chord.
Two Note Power Chord vs The 3 Note Power Chord :
The notes in a two note G5 chord are G & D
The notes in a three note G5 chord G,D and G
Can you see the duplication?
So, don't make things hard for yourself ...carting that additional note all over the fingerboard is like pulling and elephant up a hill, make it simple and play the 2 note version, it will sound a heap better. - 32526
For some unknown reason years ago in the "land of TAB" some clever fellow made a decision to make power chords tough to play by making all power chords three finger formations.
I don't have any idea why they did this, as you'll discover at once ... Two of the notes in the formation are exactly the same letter name.
Since a couple of the notes in the three note power chord share the same letter name no further harmony is formed, therefore you can successfully drop one of these notes and create a way more user friendly two finger power chord shape.
The Two Finger Power Chord :
After a large amount of random test guitarists discover the best and most "powerful" sound was created by playing two notes together, therefore the name "power chord". Speaking technically a chord is 3 different notes played together, but new music requires new theoretical terminology to describe the sounds.
A fine example of power chords is the introduction to "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple ... Please note these are 2 note power chords frequently incorrectly written as three note power chords.
The First and the Fifth :
The 2 notes that produce the most satisfactory results are the first and fifth notes.
Here's some examples for you to try ...
Scale of G : G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G
First note is "G" and the 5th note is "D" when these two notes are played together they produce a "G" power chord.
Regularly power chords are written with a number 5 after the letter name i.e, G5 is an alternate way of writing a "G" power chord.
Here is an example in the key of D.
Scale of D : D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D
First note is "D" and the fifth note is "A" when these two notes are played together they produce a "D" power chord.
And another example in the key of A.
Scale of A : A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A
First note is "A" and the 5th note is "E" when these 2 notes are played together they produce a "A" power chord.
Two Note Power Chord vs The 3 Note Power Chord :
The notes in a two note G5 chord are G & D
The notes in a three note G5 chord G,D and G
Can you see the duplication?
So, don't make things hard for yourself ...carting that additional note all over the fingerboard is like pulling and elephant up a hill, make it simple and play the 2 note version, it will sound a heap better. - 32526
About the Author:
Learn more about left handed guitar lessons and guitar chords for beginners by taking a look at the above websites.
