Today, as promised, a short powerchord idea on the low E and A string. For those of you who are not aware what powerchords are: Powerchord is a chord constructed from only two notes, instead of the usual three notes in a chord. The notes used for a Powerchord are the Root and the 5th. [The 5 in the name of the chord relates to the 5th] Sometimes Powerchords are played with three notes, in this case the Root is often dubbled to create a fuller sound:
E5
D —2—-
A —2—-
E —0—-
In the example above we have an E powerchord with three notes. The low E contains the Root, which
is dubbled on the D string. Leave out the note on the D string and you have the same E Powerchord but now with only two notes. Listen to the difference in sound!
Okay here is the short chord-idea:
E5 A5 E5 G5 E5 A5 B5 G5
A –2—7– –2—5– –2—7– –9—5–
E –0—5– –0—3– –0—5– –7—3–
Observe two chords per bar, all chords are played for 2 beats only. Use of distortion is optional, although you may feel it will make it sound better.
Playing Vartiations:
Play straight 8ths on the E string of every first chord of each bar, mute the low E string, let second chord ring out. The result? You create a contrast with the first and second chord: First chord sounds dark because low E is muted, second chord sounds bright because it is ringing.
Experiment with where you play these chords on the fretboard:
Play same sequence now using open postion for your A and G chord. Listen to the sound! Forget muting here, as it will be much harder to do so because of the open strings! The sound you get is more of a dirty Blues Rock sound as opposed to a Rock sound in the first example.
Explore also higher registers on the fretboard such as the G, B and E string, listen to how the same sequence sounds using these strings.
For next blog more practical tips on practising to speed up your own development to become a creative guitar player.
Have Fun and see you next time!
Eddie