Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Power chords

These technically aren’t chords because they only consist of two notes (technically they are an interval). These
are mostly used in heavy metal music, so they’re not really applicable to country.

Power chords are typically a rock guitar type thing. However, the term can be used for piano and other chordophonic instruments, & by other styles than rock (such as jazz or pop or folk, etc.)
What are they exactly? This an interesting question. We'll define them with 3 ideas in mind (what we'll call the 3 criteria): voicing, relative strength of the sound, & their application (style usage) - see below. These are subjective lines we draw for ourselves.

E Form Power Chords [R5 = Root & 5th only = EB = E5]

Note Names for 6th String (the Roots)

Another Fingering (larger fragment)

The simplest definition of a power chord may just be: any chord with a root/5th in the bass of the chord. For this definition, full versions or non-fragmented chords, such as your basic E, could be called a power chord (since what we call a power chord - R5 - is within the full version). The full version of an E or A form moving up the fretboard could also be called the same (they have the R5 in the lowest tones).
Relative Strength of Sound: A power chord should stand up to its name. It should be powerful. Yet, where does the line get drawn between power and not power? Typically, for the strength to get the name, it must be in the lower range of the frequency spectrum.
So your question here is, at what pitch level is a chord with a P5 (or P4) no longer a 'power chord'?
Also, to get the strength, does your distortion have to be cranking? Not necessarily. Acoustic guitarists (with or without distortion) utilize these types of chords.
Application (Style Usage): These chords are typically used in rock & punk music. Most Green Day, Scorpion, & Ramones songs use them. Jazz players use R5 chords sparingly.
If a jazz song happens to use a 'power chord', they wouldn't necessarily be called that (they might just be called a voicing). Similar to hammer-ons (hammers) and pull-offs (pulls) in classical guitar, simply being called slurs.
In summary, we use the term power chord, most commonly, to refer to chords with a root and 5th only, where there is a strong strength of sound, & used in rock & punk guitar music.
Every guitar style has particular voicings which define its overall sound.

A Form Power Chords

A Form power chords are Root-5 chords based on the 5th string (the open A). When we think of forms, we are considering the nut as an origin (there are 5 chord forms - CAGED, where 3 of them A, E, & D create R5 type chords).