UM how cna i get started i get confused idk how bands do this they use powerchords in their riffs and when they solo it mixes in with thier riffs like i know its based on the guitar keys and stuff but what the real question is like what scale are power chords in like for example like e5 g5 and those basic power chords what scale are they in in fact i need to know about this crap immediately

this is a good question and it is somewhat subjective. but i mighy suggest trying an E minor pentatonic or E minor blues over an E5 power chord or Gminor pent for G5. the major scale will also work i believe as well. power chords are niether major nor minor there for will accept many scales that wll layer over them. you might note that and E or B note plays well over an E5 chord. there are many others but this migth get you started. let me know how this works for you. if not or ths doesn't wrk for you let us kow someone can help i am sure. you can find the scales mentioned in the scale feature on this web site.

a powerchord or "5" chord is niether major nor minor and the key is determine by the entire progression and not by each indivudual chord.... for instance in the key of Em your chords could be E5 C5 D5 and soloing with an E minor scale would sound killer as would E blues Or E Mixolydian there are quite a few options....really The key is determined by the scale.... like in Em the notes of the scale are E F# G A B C D so The key contains every chord made with those notes.. I dont know if this is making any sense....but chords are made from the scale not scales from the chords.....so learn your scales first and then you willl start seeing chord shapes within the scales and then I think you will begin to realize how they fit together..there is no quick substitute for musical knowledge.

'Power chords' aren't really chords so they don't have to follow rules.

Also the proper way to use power chords involves scooping the mids.

scooped mids sond great recorded however live its pretty muddy and I suggest haing your mids atleast half way up the mid range really helps cut through the rest of the band

Negative. Only metal uses power chords and it's only metal if you scoop the mids. I recommend setting them to zero. If you have a mid-heavy amp like a 5150, put an EQ with a V curve in the effects loop.

So by extrapolation we can see that power chords rely upon scooping the mids and using EMGz in the pickup holes.

shaidtan wrote:

Negative. Only metal uses power chords and it's only metal if you scoop the mids. I recommend setting them to zero. If you have a mid-heavy amp like a 5150, put an EQ with a V curve in the effects loop.

So by extrapolation we can see that power chords rely upon scooping the mids and using EMGz in the pickup holes.

punk is usually solely power chords also and you can set the mids however and it should sound fine
and since punk started metal we know where the heavy use of power chords came from
and 5th chords are just as much chords as any open or barre chords.

if you just play the two not version the root and the fifth its doesn't really fit the note minimum of the
triad or 3 notes. but if you play the root the 5th and the octave focusing on those 3 notes its a legit chord
sounds more full. then you can break it into the root and fifth version to play faster like thrash parts

Ok in all seriousness (before Bob hunts me down)....

civicstar98 I was indeed referring to the three note definition when I said that a power chord is not technically a chord. While adding the octave should fulfill this requirement it's not as commonly used as it would seem. Most tab out there seems to favor it but it's not often used. I honestly wouldn't say that it makes the 'chord' sound more full. I'd say it adds the sound of the octave of the root. It sounds different and at least within metal, it's not always a desirable difference.

As for mids, yea I know. I'll let everyone in on a secret. Much like the perceived constant use of power chords, there are a lot of misconceptions about metal. One of those being the perceived scooped sound. Crank the lows and highs and dump the mids. In reality very few guitarists do this, and most that do haven't even figured out that they need to turn their gain down yet.

For the record I have my mids at about 11:30 right now, and I switched to Vintage 30 speakers mostly because I didn't like how scooped the G12T-75s sounded.

I tend to disagree about punk being the origin of metal. While some 90s metal was partially influenced by punk, both punk and early metal were influenced equally by music that originated nearly a decade earlier. I'm of course referring to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, as well as bands like Motorhead.

In the early 90s there were two camps of 'metal'. There was your Def Leppard, Warrant, Poison, and the rest of the glam metal scene. I honestly don't know where they came from and am glad they faded into obscurity.

Then you had your more extreme bands such as Motley Crue, Bathory, Metallica, Megadeth, etc. This latter category, which in large part is the ancestry to modern metal, actually came about in part as a rebellion against glam and punk, which were seen as watered down and overly happy/complacent. These more 'extreme' musicians had generally speaking moved beyond senseless anarchy for the purpose of anarchy and womanizing and were moving towards more political, personal, and social commentary types of subject matter. This genre eventually became known as Thrash but was sometimes lumped in with the more general metal moniker.

Most thrash bands had kept true to their roots and retained popularity worldwide (primarily in the US and Europe) some American musicians yearned to show their darker, faster, more technical, and sometimes more sadistic musical side. We saw bands like Death, Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel. This annoyed Europeans who didn't like this clearly Americanized version of Metal. As a reaction Black Metal was born.

Going back to Thrash, we see Punk comes back in in a rather obscure way. Punk had suffered a falling out with the public at large, but by the late 90s was experiencing a small renewal. Some musicians began to combine the renewed Punk with the still popular Thrash and Hardcore was born. Hardcore eventually fractioned, one of the results eventually becoming the popular Static-X and Disturbed music you hear on the radio today.

Metal as a whole has evolved so much that now have a multitude of sub-genres. Certainly too many to easily count and ironically, enough that 'metal' is again a valid genre description in some cases. We even have metalcore, deathcore, and the atrocious (but funny) crabcore.

At any rate, now that I've completely hijacked the thread, it's too broad and in my view inaccurate to say that metal was spawned from punk. They evolved around the same times with punk in the mid 70s and metal seeing it's roots a decade earlier and maturity a decade later. Two separate paths when you get down to it. Connected, sure. And I'm sure that without one the other may not exist in its current form.

Take all that for what it is. My opinion based equally on what I witnessed and what I've read. Don't take offense though (not that anyone should).

Now back on topic. Power chords are essentially used as a way to accentuate the root note being played. They're quite common (as has been stated) because they're simple, fast, to the point, and they do their job well. They're not a substitute for single notes though and you'd be doing yourself a disservice to abuse them. They come in two and three note forms, those two being different and often used for different things. They sit along side 3rds and 4ths, all serving different functions.

As for soloing over them, they're used often as in most cases the guitarist playing the solo is no longer contributing to the rhythm so a heavier rhythm sound is needed. Often a riff from the song, or a variant of it, is used during the solo with the solo being based on the root or 5th, although there's certainly no hard rule making this the case. Often a solo will begin being based off the rhythm notes but quickly move away in order to differentiate itself.

Take that with a grain of salt as I'm not big into soloing. I've always been a rhythm guy so you know, my two cents here.

again its all about what key your in....what is the root note the "tonal center" of the piece once you figure that out youve found your key...then use either blues scales or the natural minor...  

...using a power chord (X5) is simply a "short cut"...a 'legal' cheating chord

...it's just two notes, the root and the 5th, *SO* you can use it with ANY chord, major or minor...(hence, legal cheating).

...if the melody is MAJOR, the X5 power chord is the same, but the melody will contain a Major 3rd note (somewhere).

...if the melody is MINOR, the X5 same power chord can be used, but now the melody will contain a flatted (minor) 3rd note (somewhere).

Thank you OTM for the explaination.
I tried to make the same point in another thread, but apparently didnt get the point accross.

J

its hard to think of power chords as cheats for me. cause lets say you fret an Em or G chord
then decide that you only want to strum the bass strings or the treble strings nobody would call that cheating
it would simply be playing the part of the chord you think fits the section of the song best.
lets say you bar a G chord on the E string then then remove your second finger then decide
to only strum E,A,D stings or if you want to play it faster you only strum the E, A strings
still seems pretty legit. or if you bar a C chord on the A sting where you bar the 3 fret and
your hand forms the shape of an A major then you remove your bottom finger and decide
to only strum A,D,g strings or just A and D pretty much makes a power chord.

...by musical definition, a chord contains three or more notes, ie: I, III and V as a Major chord, or I, mIII and V as a minor chord.

...as my weasel-wording states: a power chord (X5), having only two notes, is a legal "cheating"...an OOPs, I left a note out thingee.

Power Chords may be cheating, but they sure do wonders for punk rock xD