Thanks eh! Rawk and Rule !!!
--Gord.

[This message was edited by Gord Cole on 04 February 2004 at 02:38 AM.]

For me on E9 it's
pedal up strings 8 6 5 4 or with flat 3rd G
AB down strings 6 5 4 3 or with flat 3rd Eb

But a good power chord will just ring.

Think Joe Walsh Rocky Mountain Way, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Van Hallen etc.

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 04 February 2004 at 05:29 AM.]

Shaan

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The Pickin' Paniolo

Power chords come from R@R 6 string players. Use only the low tonic,the fifth and an octave IE E,B,E if you are in the key of E.

It's called a power chord because it is usually loud and strong with savage amounts of distortion.

Primarily it is used to introduce a new section in a song such as the chorus. You hit that big power chord on the downbeat and just keep hitting it at maybe four bar intervals as it will sustain for quite a while.

A powerchord can be A major @ 5th fret all notes.
Like Pete Townsend.

It is common to use power chords as movable chords, and so to march up the neck playing the root/fifth/root of the I chord, IIIb chord and IV chord. Obviously that works as good or better on pedal steel than on a 6-string. Sacred Steel tunings commonly have a strummable 1, 5, 1 chord on the bottom. With a uni, C6 or ext. E9 you have to pick that interval with a three finger grip. On a uni (or ext. E9) you can get the IIIb chord not only by marching up the neck, but by hitting the AB pedals and dropping back two frets. Then come back to the tonic fret holding the pedals down and you are at IV.

Bo Diddley played his famous signature licks by using an open tuning on 6-string, and simply stomping up and down the neck with power chords (or full 6-string chords) using his finger as a bar. You can get that on a uni by playing power chords and stomping the AB pedals.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 04 February 2004 at 09:38 AM.]

If you are correct, it's a very common misconception.

[This message was edited by Chris Walke on 04 February 2004 at 09:47 AM.]

quote:

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..unless every guitarist I've every met in my life is incorrect (I guess it's possible), power chords omit the 3rd.

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It all depends on how much overdive you use. The overdrive adds overtones which quickly becomes very ugly if the chord includes a third.
Guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who is one example of a guitarist who gets away with 'full' power chords (and he is a master of those) because he use a fairly small amount of overdrive.
But the more overdrive you use, the more important it is to stay away from anything outside the 1-5-1 chord.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

That gives them their unique sound, neither Major or Minor.

They sometimes contain more than two notes, which are a root or fifth in another octave.

When Townsend plays a 1 3 5 chord, such as in the intro to Pinball Wizard, before the sus4, those aren't power chords, at least not by my definition. (They are indeed Powerful chords.)

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 04 February 2004 at 12:19 PM.]

Anyway,- I think we agree really, my point is 'use whatever sounds good', if the third doesn't fit - drop it. I drop it most of the time, but there are times when the third adds a flavor that is needed AND works if the sound is right.

So - use the good old ears, that's what we got them for, and that's what we've trained them for.......

Steinar

BTW - I'm a 'Power Chord Veteran' but now all this steel playing has started to soften me up, and all my friends shake their head in bewilderment.....

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www.gregertsen.com

That's my whole point in this,- there are degrees of distortion, and the more you use, the more you need to stay away from the thirds.
No need to split any more hairs over this.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 04 February 2004 at 02:45 PM.]

The bottom 2 strings are .090". You've probably noticed the high E on the 2nd string. Sometimes it gets played.

One of the interesting things about overdriven diads and chords, is when the overdriver is generating sum and difference tones. For instance sometimes an overdriven root and octave will generate a p5th (C + C8va = G) because 1 + 2 = 3, 3 being the 3rd harmonic. 2 - 1 is still 1, the root.

So C and G, a 5th apart would generate: 2 + 3 = 5, the 5th harmonic, E and 3 - 2 is 1, the C an octave below 2.

Never heard the term until sometime in the 80's... it's a post- Eddie Van Halen expression, coined by teenagers who didn't know what to call an open fifth with the root in the bass. I don't know any serious musician who uses the term, as it's unspecific and silly. Just say, "play it in fifths"- then you'll sound erudite and you'll teach your bandmates something useful!

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Rick McDuffie

Marlen SD-10, Sho-Bud Professional S-10, '78 Howard Roberts Custom, '72 Les Paul Deluxe, Fender Telecaster Custom

quote:

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perceptions were formulated several decades earlier and might need updating takes a pretty big man and David L Donald is just that kind of guy. Aaaackkk Aaaaaccckkk! (Sorry; hairball)

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I see you are preturnatually kind to your long haired cats.
They don't even have to lick themselves!

This is like Shrodingers Cat in a box.
If you haven't looked in the box is the cat still there.
And if you look at the cat, it will then be different.
I looked at powerchrds again, and they changed LOL.

But I believe there are 2 previous recorded incidents here in past times where I was actually wrong and noted said fact.
Sometimes the grey cells turn a little mauve.

"a pretty big man "
Now I REALLY must go on that diet

I think Won't Get Fooled Again is the essence of powerchords...
when it was originally coined.

Marshal major on 11, 4 cabs and that big swing across all strings 1-3-5 no 6's 7s or 9s and ringing like all get out LOUD.

Since then, in the heavy metal world, I think the term has narrowed ; as the cascading 12AX7's multiplied and were overdriven to near physical limits,
and then that change trickled down to teenagers... and steelers.
And that I am showing my age.
A dilatory victim of etimological entropy.
That oughta keep Hankey happy.
DD

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 16 February 2004 at 06:42 AM.]