Claim a 30% off ToneGym voucher here: www.tonegym.co/coupon/view?id=BJCX5YS0RZ1&aff=2104👂🏻Sign up for ToneGym: tonegym.co/?aff=2104 📌📌 REVISION: I decided after publishing to cut out a segment from this video about how the harmonic series causes major and minor chords to sound muddy when distorted. This is because, on reflection, I feel my explanation for why this happens was incomplete and really that topic was beyond the scope of this video anyway. I will revisit the topic in a dedicated video in the future. Sorry for any confusion caused.
It’s nice hearing you break down so many songs with distortion. It’d be cool to hear you break down genres by how they tend to utilize music theory and contrast it with examples that break from “tradition” if you will. Great content man
This could be filled with countless rock and metal songs but power chords can be used on bass as well, with some of the most well-known examples being While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles, the intro or Orion by Metallica, John the Fisherman by Primus, Ace of Spades from Motörhead (and just a majority of songs from the latter two bands), Money by Pink Floyd (based around a B5 power chord), Sober by Tool and numerous other songs
Wow!!! Really awesome analysis on distortion and harmonic series. I’ve played the guitar for 25 years and am pretty knowledgeable about music theory but never knew any of this. Very cool!!
Another thing to remember with distortion is that it adds over/undertones that can enhance the harmonic richness of a guitar sound alongside the vocals. Another interesting thing to consider is that there are cases of major/minor chords being played on a distorted guitar adding character in certain contexts, like when playing a Neapolitan chord before the tonic, or when a guitarist goes HAM with minor chords in a black metal song.
The reason distortion makes minor chords sound muddy is that it brings out natural harmonics of strings, including the major 3rd, which creates a bit of dissonance. For that reason major chords do NOT sound muddy on a distorted guitar. For instance, Jimi Hendrix's typical "power" chord was thumbing the low root note, not fretting the 5th at all, and instead fretting the octave, the major 3rd and then the higher 5th. This sounds powerful even with fuzz, the muddiest of all distortion effects.
@@Pandamasque I've never even noticed the dissonance, oasis use an awful lot of distorted minor chords and I can't say any of the music sounds ugly at all.
If you listen carefully to Teen Spirit, you can hear not only fifths but fourths too. For example, the opening F5 also has a Bb, played on the third fret of the third string.
I should clarify. You can hear fourths being played over the F and Ab power chords. But Kurt uses the same fretting technique for the fifth string rooted power chords, but that produces major triads (you can hear D and F being played over Bb and Db respectively).
Kurt Cobain is perhaps the best example of how you can use power chords in your music really creatively. This was because he was able to make incredibly rich and catchy vocal melodies.
The reason the harmonic series is related to distortion artifacts is a little more complicated than you make it out to be in this video. When you play two notes at the same time through distortion, you also get distortion from the *beat* between those two notes, not just the two notes individually. So you get undertones, too. Those undertones are related to where the chord tones nearly line up in the harmonic series of lower frequencies, which is why root plus fifth gives you an undertone an octave down. More complex intervals have lower and lower undertones. And the more chord tones you add, the more undertones there are competing for space. This affects the harmonic overtones, too, but by making new, more complex overtones, not (just) by making the overtones of each individual note fight for space.
Thank you for explaining this. It seems I have oversimplified the explaination in my video so I have now actually edited out that whole section... I will tackle that topic again in a future video!
@@althealligator1467 The lowest undertone you get is related to how long it takes for every note combined to line back up right where it started. The more notes you add, the longer that takes, the lower the lowest undertone frequency is, and the closer together its overtones are. And because we play 12-tet chords, not harmonic series chords, they don't perfectly line up, so there's a lot of close-but-not-quite undertones fighting for space. These undertones (and their new overtones) are usually out of key, so they're dissonant. A harmonic series or just intonation major triad sounds consonant; the lowest undertone is the tonic two octaves down.
@@wareya That's a great explanation, thanks. I would also argue, though, that literally every overtone you hear is technically out of tune relative to 12TET, but I've never found them to be that shocking, like for example the loud b7 there seems to be on a piano, or the loud C and E I hear when playing an F-A major third low on a piano, which are the fifth of each of these notes respectively. They're technically out of tune, but that's not that egregious, since our brains are pretty good at approximating. I thought because distorted sounds are extremely rich in harmonics, the combination of them in ways that are relatively more complex will sound relatively more dissonant. This same thing happens when phrasing a chord too low in range, as there are literally just a greater amount of overtones that are perceivable in a note whose fundamental is lower. And it's probably the reason dissonant intervals with more complex ratios sound more dissonant in the first place, since for example there will be very simple interference with the harmonics of a perfect fifth but extremely complex interference with the harmonics of a minor second. But then a lot of it is also learned. I don't know though, I'm just theorizing. Edit: I guess a good question for me to ask would be whether a justly intonated major triad played on a distorted guitar sounds consonant or not.
Pete Townshend has talked a lot about this issue, explaining that he avoids the third when playing live with distortion to avoid the muddiness and complexity of the resulting chord. You can see this when he plays live. He plays an E chord shape with just one finger, muting the G string to get a power chord. He plays an A chord shape with his pinky on the 5th fret, thus avoiding the third and adding an additional 5th and octave. And he usually plays a G chord shape that avoids all thirds.
Townsend was kind of the George Washington of power chords. I can't think of a power chord riff more iconic than the ones accompanying 'Baba O'Riley" or "Won't Get Fooled Again"- for example.
@@spindriftdrinker 'Won't get Fooled Again' came out right after my 15th birthday and my learning all Neil Young acoustic songs. My 12 string didn't distort and even though it had sustain, nothing the over drive of electric. To this day Won't get fooled has been my anthem, but more so with the country moving to cashless? it's the end bro...
Funny thing about "all of me" by John Legend: When I play It on the guitar with the capo on the first fret, the Eb5 chord (which usually would be a E5 chord), can be switched for a Em and it'll harmonize well enough.
dude, you have such an excellent way of breaking down and explaining theory. It really makes all the difference and is a main factor in keeping my attention. Also, what a beautiful guitar you've got there... wow😍
Nice that you emphasized the use in distorted guitar. Vacuum tube amps produce 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion (really just overtones) primarily, so that harmonic relationship has to work with whatever is being played on the stirngs themselves.
One trick to thicken up power chords off of the low E string is to add in the octave down of the fifth, so a D5 would be 5 5 7 7 - - on a chord tab. It’s simple just to bar the 5th fret across the low E and A string (in standard tuning, this would be harder in drop D since that lower root note is now up two frets and a 7 5 7 7 - - shape is not as comfortable to play (and good luck getting all 4 notes to ring out clearly without practicing.)
Power chords and drop tunings were the lifeblood of grunge rock. For whatever reason, it always appealed this caveman listener's ears. Put on some Chevelle and I am a happy camper (in my little cave).
Top content, I love your theory videos as you start from fundamentals. As someone without formal training but a passion for music, it helps to fill in the holes in my knowledge and solidifies what I already know.
I went on to subscribe your channel after realizing that I already watched half of the videos you uploaded. I want to better my music theory and your vidoes referencing my favourite bands are perfect for this. There are so many hidden flavors in music. It is the best art! Editing my comment, because I really want to emphasize you're making great videos about music theory. Thank you for taking your time to explain certain concepts in the way that you do!
I think part of the "power chords aren't real chords" thing comes from classical theory, where "chord" really means something like "the basic harmonic character of a short unbroken span of music" rather than "a group of notes played on an instrument more or less simultaneously" as it usually does in pop/rock/jazz theory. Suspended chords are similar: classical theory doesn't consider them chords, but pop/rock/jazz theory does. And I think this really comes down to how the two approaches, despite using similar terminology, have different purposes. Classical theory is geared more towards analysis of full pieces after the fact, while pop/rock/jazz theory is more about telling individual musicians what to play. This is an oversimplification of course.
inverted power chords are great as the bass will be playing the root low note and the 5th and 1st on the guitar will cut through the mix so much more, ZZ Top did this all the time
Then you have the extended of *that*, where you have the 5th in the root, followed by the root, followed by an octave of the 5th. Visually it looks like an upside down power chord (and the open G that uses 2nd string 3rd fret incorporates it). It's used to add twang or a ringy-ness, even though it is technically the same notes as a power chord.
When I saw the title of this video, I was thinking…. “Like 99% of rock” and was expecting a somewhat pointless video. I don’t why after so many videos I’d question David. It’s so obvious now, but I never considered how the vocal can imply the quality of 5th chords. David really is one of the best there is.
Me learning power chords on western guitar from a friend: "Yeah certainly a thing for rock guitarists because they are so much easier to play". Me 30 years later learning about the harmonic series and sound of overtones of the third in a distorted guitar: totally thunderstruck about the music theory genius that invented power chords. (But it still helps that they are easier to play)
I took piano lessons as a kid and thus had a very rudimentary understanding of chords were (and specifically for the kids songs and classical songs I was learning for piano). Then as a I got older and got more into rock music I would always hear about power chords, but never really understood what exactly they were. This video was a great explanation and now I feel like I really understand it for the first time.
I've heard other music theory RUclipsrs talk about this technique before (omitting the 3rd degree in the chord, but adding it back in through the vocal melody), but this is a great explanation of why you would need or want to do it at all.
Another thing people do is when they play a power chord starting on the A string, they also play the E string. This adds a lower 5th to the chord and makes it sound really heavy. E.G every Weezer song ever.
Nice change from your usual piano-focused content. I was almost afraid you'd change your channel name to David Bennett Guitar! I feel like even guitar players who think they know everything about power chords could learn something here. I didn't know about distortion being the reason for removing the third from guitar chords. By the way, have you heard the new Smile single "Bending Hectic"? How do you like it?
The power chord is ubiquitous when I learned guitar. That was the starting point & I still write songs today using it. Bands like Nirvana, Green Day, Black Sabbath, Less Than Jake- and the whole punk,grunge,ska movement was born from the use of that “chord” #GreatVideo
A lot of Country songs use the 5th to harmonize so they essentially are using power chords. I think a lot of people don't even recognize that there is even harmony happening, as it really just brings out the lead vocal (just like the Seven Nation Army riff).
Power chords sound great player on an acoustic guitar as well. Polly by Nirvana is a good example and a great song for practicing moving the shape around the fretboard. Love is Everywhere (Beware) by Wilco is another great acoustic power chord song.
I don't have electric guitar with me right now so only play acoustic. And power chords are sounds powerful even without distortion, especially when you add dynamic to your picking.
I wanted to hear American Idiot in Minor by only changing the notes that vocals are singing. It would be cool to show how it could show the result it has on changing just a small part.
6:42 It is, though. It's a chord progression with a very fast and syncopated harmonic rhythm. Just like you could say the "melody is harmonized in fifths," you could say "the melody is harmonized in power chords." Both statement would be correct here. You'd get the say thing with Smoke On the Water, except while the riff melody is harmonized in power chords just the same, it's harmonized in fourths rather than fifths. That's the thing, a chord is just something you play, not something that's intrinsic to the music. The example I love to use is Don't Stop Me Now. In the "Don't. Stop. Me noooow" part, every note of the melody is harmonized with a full chord, Gm, F, C, Gm, as in the entire band specifically _plays_ those chords. However, while not as interesting to listen to, the whole band could have just stayed on a Gm chord the whole time and it would have worked. In fact, the whole band could have been playing anything, even if they're different chords, and it wouldn't be "wrong" even if it doesn't sound good. It just wouldn't necessarily sound good, that's it, nothing more. A chord is just a collection of several notes, much like a scale is. They're actually very similar concepts, honestly they could be one and the same and music theory would not be affected. An interval is just a specific voicing of a two note chord, of a dyad.
I would argue that technically a chord is only a 5 chord if it has a minor major ambiguity. If a melody on top of a chord solves the ambiguity, it becomes a regular major or minor chord. This happends for instance on the Ab5 in Teen Spirit: The melody adds a C, so the Ab5 chord loses its major-minor ambiguity and becomes a regular Ab ;) (btw, this does not happen with the other three chords during the verse)
2:18 This happens because the third on the equal temperament isn't the "true" harmonic third, it's an aproximation for convenience's sake. It sounds dirty with distortion because it's a little bit dissonant, and the distortion makes dissonance evident. There is, however, a way of making a clean distorted chord with the third. Try this: play a distorted full chord with the third on one string (the classic open E chord, for example) and then tune up the string where the third note is being played just a little bit, until you notice the distortion becomes clean, and voi la, you found the harmonic third. Problem is, now the guitar is tuned to play specifically that format of chord, and can only be used to play when that string is used for the third note.
I wonder if this is a question of "which side of the pond" you are from, but... in place of "bare 5ths" I've always heard and used the term "open 5ths." And I do like the term "open" 5ths, as it does indeed convey how they sound, harmonically - they sound open! Also, your guitar demonstration of 5ths versus chords got me to thinking: the distortion on a guitar provides so much color that the third is unnecessary. It just gets in the way. Certainly, there's plenty of songs out there with open 5ths that are not distorted, but on that distorted guitar, yeah, there's already a lot of color there.
Actually, there is a video with Ritchie Blackmore explaining not only how he got inspired by Beethoven to write the basic riff of Smoke On The Water (as mentioned in this video), but also explaining how he actually does NOT play power chords and how most guitarists therefore play the riff sort of wrong. His original way of playing it is actually with the same notes as in the classic power chord grip, but he does it in a different setting on the guitar, by which it sounds slightly different as when played in common power chords.
I thought it was just that he plucks both strings simultaneously rather than using a pick, because the riff is accompanied by a distorted hammond organ so he wanted to match the timing of that with the guitar.
The big reason why guitarists don't play thirds in distorted chords is because distortion makes the inherent out-of-tune thirds (because thirds, especially major thirds aren't in tune with the rest of the chord on fixed-note instruments) even more harsh and dissonant. Just listen to the riffs in Holy Wars...The Punishment Due by Megadeth. There are a few spots (namely during the middle section verse and the riff right before the final guitar solo where he alternates between playing the riff with root-5th and root-major third dyads) where Dave Mustaine is playing major third dyads with a heavily distorted tone, and they almost sound alien.
The white stripes one did have more than two notes played simultaneously. Almost sounds like another track exclusively playing the maj 3rds w a slide and the tone rolled off, more quietly in the mix.
As a guitar player, another way I see this notated is, for example, G# (no 3rd), although that's a bit wordy for 2 notes. Having said that, power chords do not always have the octave. In metal, it is *very* common for a power chord to simply be the root and 5th, with no octave. And in hair band metal, it's quite common to see formulations with a Root and #5. An example of this is I'll See The Light Tonight from Yngwie Malmsteen, but really it's used in nearly every hair metal song you've ever heard. A band that made it central to their sound is Ratt. Def Leppard, too. Scorpions use it in their song Big City Nights.
Anton Bruckner, whose 5th Symphony inspired "Seven Nation Army," uses thirdless chords regularly, such as at the end of the coda to the first movement of his Ninth Symphony.
Of course, some artists purposefully want that muddy sound that including the third gives you, so they avoid power chords. But they do tend to only use as little distortion as they need to get the effect, using reverb, chorusing and delay to help bulk it out. It's a delicate balance.
If you are talking about power chords on the piano, then you could argue that the left hand of the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" has many power chords, making for a cleaner sound in the lower register.
Great as usual. However, for the first time, I might critique that so much more could be said. First, when harmony emerged during the Medieval/Renaissance the “power chord” was recognized as the Shell Harmony giving much precedence to modal neutrality. Second, yes distorted guitar was a major factor in establishing power chords but so was rock’s Blues influence. In Blues, the accompaniment at times keep major/minor chordal quality ambiguous leaving it to the lead (e.g. vocals) to meander between modes. Finally, in Jazz the approach is the opposite - avoid the 5th (and even the root) to highlight the upper chord extensions. The exception in Jazz would be Wes Montgomery who had a unique style of soloing with root-5th-octave root.
Another song that has a fifth chord, albeit in its bridge is Tous Les Garçon et Les Filles, by a singer-songwriter that might be worth mentioning on this channel at some point - Françoise Hardy.
Smells like teen spirit uses a bunch of sus4 chords and major chords because kurt barred the higher frets in each chord (almost) straight across and just muted higher strings as needed. Idk if he even fully knew what those chords were, but to him they were all the same chord shape and a ton of his songs are actually sus4 chords if the root is on the E and major barre chords if its on the A.
You know the Beatles didn't write any of their music? Its how Michael Jackson was able buy all the songs. The Beatles were a product of Tavistock. And Lennon was an wife beating (Cynthia), adulterous, child abusing (Julian- emotional abuse), hypocrite. Sorry if that was offensive, but thats the problem because people are believing a fabrication and lie.
I wonder if anyone has played sections of one song with distortion in power chords, then either improvised or written the same (Or at least similar) sections without distortion with the different third note. Alternatively I wonder if anyones modified songs without distortion and with that change and whether that works in many cases or not. (Im guessing it wouldnt work so well for those songs just replacing that note with another instrument or the vocals as in the Greenday example.)
I’m glad you’re anticipating it! It should be out the first week of July. It was delayed as I wanted to have time to film with an actual trumpet player 😊
I think it's worth noting that woth distortion a power chord has a bunch of overtones that do kind of elevate it from just being an interval to an actual chord. These overtones are what makes distorted full chords sound a bit yuck, because some of them dissonate. The power chord mostly aligns better with major chords because one of the overtones is a major third.
Power chords are difficult whilst learning. I was doing Paperback writer with my teacher today and currently I can not stretch from the 3rd to 7th fret. I will practice. Maybe I'll get it.
Actually, I think missed out on a huge factor that needs to be put into the discussion -- which is overtones and the conflict with well-tempered instruments. The reason that adding the third muddies the sound when playing with distortion on the guitar or with the sustain pedal on the piano in the final example is that the overtones for each note a produced with much more prominence and that exposes just how flat the third is on the well-tempered instrument as it clashed with the third being produced in the overtone. Meanwhile because the interval of the fifth in well-temperament is far closer to the true perfect fifth and there is far less conflict. Also, given the prominence of the overtones with distortion devices and sustain pedals, I think it's not actually correct to say that the third is absent when playing a power cord as it is being audibly prodcuced.
Something that I have known for decades (full chords with distortion sound shitty). But after watching hundreds of videos from guitar channels, it is a channel with piano in it's name that explains why😂
OMG,once again an extremely helpful, useful and captivating episode of Your channel😊😊 Really helped me understand better the concept of frequences and the fact, that why P5 interval sounds so smooth and complete, if compared to e.g M3 interval 😊😊And in addition, that Tone Gym is a pearl 😊😊😊🥳
I had to open the video just to see how he managed to compress "songs that use power chords" to just 9 minutes. Jon Lord of Deep Purple played a lot of power chords. Coincidentally he played through a guitar amp with distortion.
Interesting. I've played a lot of guitar, but never distorted guitar - doesn't appeal to me. Now I understand how the seemingly vacant power chord actually works, and why. Thanks, David!
@@headlessnotahorseman Different strokes. For me the best tones are not in western music. Oud is much nicer than any guitar, also. Check out Ahmed Alshaiba's take on Despacito, for example, here on youtube. Of course he used a bunch of western instruments to back it up as well.
awesome video!!!! what i never understand is which strings to pluck when doing power chords, this is coming from a very new learner who never learned music before, but if i play the second note in "Smells Like...", the B5, do i pluck starting from the E or A string?
Claim a 30% off ToneGym voucher here: www.tonegym.co/coupon/view?id=BJCX5YS0RZ1&aff=2104👂🏻Sign up for ToneGym: tonegym.co/?aff=2104
📌📌 REVISION: I decided after publishing to cut out a segment from this video about how the harmonic series causes major and minor chords to sound muddy when distorted. This is because, on reflection, I feel my explanation for why this happens was incomplete and really that topic was beyond the scope of this video anyway. I will revisit the topic in a dedicated video in the future. Sorry for any confusion caused.
"Songs that use Power Chords"
Not an exhaustive list, I hope. Or this is going to be a very looooooong video.
@@klaxoncow It's in the style of most titles on this channel. Just read it as "How Songs use..."
Conversely I read somewhere recently that when distorted enough you can pretty much hear a third in the harmonics.
Personally, I like using third diads to avoid that problem, or even have one guitar play that double-stop while another plays power chords.
It’s nice hearing you break down so many songs with distortion.
It’d be cool to hear you break down genres by how they tend to utilize music theory and contrast it with examples that break from “tradition” if you will.
Great content man
Yes we definitely need this🙏
All music can be understood using music theory
This could be filled with countless rock and metal songs but power chords can be used on bass as well, with some of the most well-known examples being While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles, the intro or Orion by Metallica, John the Fisherman by Primus, Ace of Spades from Motörhead (and just a majority of songs from the latter two bands), Money by Pink Floyd (based around a B5 power chord), Sober by Tool and numerous other songs
Freakin' ADORE this channel!! The very best and clearest explanations of music theory on the internet that i've yet to find.
He’s so good.
This video could’ve been 15 hours long bc there’s so many songs lmao
Punk alone would get you at least thirteen of those hours.
All of rock...lol
Metal…
Before clicking this video I said “pretty much every song with an electric guitar has power chords”
nah you think so einstein?
Wow!!! Really awesome analysis on distortion and harmonic series. I’ve played the guitar for 25 years and am pretty knowledgeable about music theory but never knew any of this. Very cool!!
Since you brought it up briefly for context in this video, I think dedicating an entire video to explaining the harmonic series would be cool!
Another thing to remember with distortion is that it adds over/undertones that can enhance the harmonic richness of a guitar sound alongside the vocals. Another interesting thing to consider is that there are cases of major/minor chords being played on a distorted guitar adding character in certain contexts, like when playing a Neapolitan chord before the tonic, or when a guitarist goes HAM with minor chords in a black metal song.
The reason distortion makes minor chords sound muddy is that it brings out natural harmonics of strings, including the major 3rd, which creates a bit of dissonance. For that reason major chords do NOT sound muddy on a distorted guitar. For instance, Jimi Hendrix's typical "power" chord was thumbing the low root note, not fretting the 5th at all, and instead fretting the octave, the major 3rd and then the higher 5th. This sounds powerful even with fuzz, the muddiest of all distortion effects.
Yes, distortion makes the wave squarer, and square waves are rich in harmonics. Less is more.
I have never once noticed this, starting to think there’s something wrong with my ears. Distorted minor chords sound great to me.
@@kantina4765 "Great" is subjective. Dissonance is the spice of music.
@@Pandamasque I've never even noticed the dissonance, oasis use an awful lot of distorted minor chords and I can't say any of the music sounds ugly at all.
@@kantina4765 It's very subtle. We're talking about harmonics after all. And most people born after the 1950s grew up hearing and loving those sounds.
If you listen carefully to Teen Spirit, you can hear not only fifths but fourths too. For example, the opening F5 also has a Bb, played on the third fret of the third string.
I should clarify. You can hear fourths being played over the F and Ab power chords. But Kurt uses the same fretting technique for the fifth string rooted power chords, but that produces major triads (you can hear D and F being played over Bb and Db respectively).
Kurt Cobain is perhaps the best example of how you can use power chords in your music really creatively. This was because he was able to make incredibly rich and catchy vocal melodies.
Except that Pete Townshend was doing that shit before Kurt was even born
@@pulsarlights2825 true but I think the melodies in the Who while great at times are quite a lot weaker than Kurt's melodies
Agree, smells like teens spirits harmony all together is like a classical piece
The reason the harmonic series is related to distortion artifacts is a little more complicated than you make it out to be in this video. When you play two notes at the same time through distortion, you also get distortion from the *beat* between those two notes, not just the two notes individually. So you get undertones, too.
Those undertones are related to where the chord tones nearly line up in the harmonic series of lower frequencies, which is why root plus fifth gives you an undertone an octave down. More complex intervals have lower and lower undertones. And the more chord tones you add, the more undertones there are competing for space. This affects the harmonic overtones, too, but by making new, more complex overtones, not (just) by making the overtones of each individual note fight for space.
Thank you for explaining this. It seems I have oversimplified the explaination in my video so I have now actually edited out that whole section... I will tackle that topic again in a future video!
@@DavidBennettPiano Looking forward to it! Thank you for a great video as always.
That's really interesting, but what do undertones have to do with a full triad being dissonant?
@@althealligator1467 The lowest undertone you get is related to how long it takes for every note combined to line back up right where it started. The more notes you add, the longer that takes, the lower the lowest undertone frequency is, and the closer together its overtones are.
And because we play 12-tet chords, not harmonic series chords, they don't perfectly line up, so there's a lot of close-but-not-quite undertones fighting for space. These undertones (and their new overtones) are usually out of key, so they're dissonant. A harmonic series or just intonation major triad sounds consonant; the lowest undertone is the tonic two octaves down.
@@wareya That's a great explanation, thanks. I would also argue, though, that literally every overtone you hear is technically out of tune relative to 12TET, but I've never found them to be that shocking, like for example the loud b7 there seems to be on a piano, or the loud C and E I hear when playing an F-A major third low on a piano, which are the fifth of each of these notes respectively. They're technically out of tune, but that's not that egregious, since our brains are pretty good at approximating.
I thought because distorted sounds are extremely rich in harmonics, the combination of them in ways that are relatively more complex will sound relatively more dissonant. This same thing happens when phrasing a chord too low in range, as there are literally just a greater amount of overtones that are perceivable in a note whose fundamental is lower. And it's probably the reason dissonant intervals with more complex ratios sound more dissonant in the first place, since for example there will be very simple interference with the harmonics of a perfect fifth but extremely complex interference with the harmonics of a minor second. But then a lot of it is also learned.
I don't know though, I'm just theorizing.
Edit: I guess a good question for me to ask would be whether a justly intonated major triad played on a distorted guitar sounds consonant or not.
Pete Townshend has talked a lot about this issue, explaining that he avoids the third when playing live with distortion to avoid the muddiness and complexity of the resulting chord. You can see this when he plays live. He plays an E chord shape with just one finger, muting the G string to get a power chord. He plays an A chord shape with his pinky on the 5th fret, thus avoiding the third and adding an additional 5th and octave. And he usually plays a G chord shape that avoids all thirds.
Townsend was kind of the George Washington of power chords. I can't think of a power chord riff more iconic than the ones accompanying 'Baba O'Riley" or "Won't Get Fooled Again"- for example.
@@spindriftdrinker 'Won't get Fooled Again' came out right after my 15th birthday and my learning all Neil Young acoustic songs. My 12 string didn't distort and even though it had sustain, nothing the over drive of electric. To this day Won't get fooled has been my anthem, but more so with the country moving to cashless? it's the end bro...
@@noscrubbubblez6515 Twelve strings are too tough on my delicate fingers.(🙂 But if I had one, I'd be playing songs of The Byrds.
Funny thing about "all of me" by John Legend: When I play It on the guitar with the capo on the first fret, the Eb5 chord (which usually would be a E5 chord), can be switched for a Em and it'll harmonize well enough.
dude, you have such an excellent way of breaking down and explaining theory. It really makes all the difference and is a main factor in keeping my attention. Also, what a beautiful guitar you've got there... wow😍
Nice that you emphasized the use in distorted guitar. Vacuum tube amps produce 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion (really just overtones) primarily, so that harmonic relationship has to work with whatever is being played on the stirngs themselves.
Explaining power chords : You Rocked it like a Hurricane !!
Your videos that deal with harmony.....are hands down my favorite.
You are SO good at that.
Please....more of THAT! :}
One trick to thicken up power chords off of the low E string is to add in the octave down of the fifth, so a D5 would be 5 5 7 7 - - on a chord tab. It’s simple just to bar the 5th fret across the low E and A string (in standard tuning, this would be harder in drop D since that lower root note is now up two frets and a 7 5 7 7 - - shape is not as comfortable to play (and good luck getting all 4 notes to ring out clearly without practicing.)
Power chords and drop tunings were the lifeblood of grunge rock. For whatever reason, it always appealed this caveman listener's ears. Put on some Chevelle and I am a happy camper (in my little cave).
Top content, I love your theory videos as you start from fundamentals. As someone without formal training but a passion for music, it helps to fill in the holes in my knowledge and solidifies what I already know.
2:24 Perfect Norwegian Black Metal chord there David! 🤘🤘
I'm glad I caught the discussion on harmonic series and muddiness of sound, I thought it was really interesting!
I went on to subscribe your channel after realizing that I already watched half of the videos you uploaded. I want to better my music theory and your vidoes referencing my favourite bands are perfect for this. There are so many hidden flavors in music. It is the best art!
Editing my comment, because I really want to emphasize you're making great videos about music theory. Thank you for taking your time to explain certain concepts in the way that you do!
I think part of the "power chords aren't real chords" thing comes from classical theory, where "chord" really means something like "the basic harmonic character of a short unbroken span of music" rather than "a group of notes played on an instrument more or less simultaneously" as it usually does in pop/rock/jazz theory. Suspended chords are similar: classical theory doesn't consider them chords, but pop/rock/jazz theory does. And I think this really comes down to how the two approaches, despite using similar terminology, have different purposes. Classical theory is geared more towards analysis of full pieces after the fact, while pop/rock/jazz theory is more about telling individual musicians what to play. This is an oversimplification of course.
Great content. Thank you for this.I learned so much from you ❤Heartfelt thank you from Miami
Thank you!
Thank you David for the well presented information. Brilliant in fact.
inverted power chords are great as the bass will be playing the root low note and the 5th and 1st on the guitar will cut through the mix so much more, ZZ Top did this all the time
Then you have the extended of *that*, where you have the 5th in the root, followed by the root, followed by an octave of the 5th. Visually it looks like an upside down power chord (and the open G that uses 2nd string 3rd fret incorporates it). It's used to add twang or a ringy-ness, even though it is technically the same notes as a power chord.
They could be called fourth chords.
When I saw the title of this video, I was thinking…. “Like 99% of rock” and was expecting a somewhat pointless video.
I don’t why after so many videos I’d question David. It’s so obvious now, but I never considered how the vocal can imply the quality of 5th chords.
David really is one of the best there is.
Me learning power chords on western guitar from a friend: "Yeah certainly a thing for rock guitarists because they are so much easier to play".
Me 30 years later learning about the harmonic series and sound of overtones of the third in a distorted guitar: totally thunderstruck about the music theory genius that invented power chords.
(But it still helps that they are easier to play)
You are a great music instructor, thanks for your channel!!
Thank you!
I took piano lessons as a kid and thus had a very rudimentary understanding of chords were (and specifically for the kids songs and classical songs I was learning for piano). Then as a I got older and got more into rock music I would always hear about power chords, but never really understood what exactly they were. This video was a great explanation and now I feel like I really understand it for the first time.
I've heard other music theory RUclipsrs talk about this technique before (omitting the 3rd degree in the chord, but adding it back in through the vocal melody), but this is a great explanation of why you would need or want to do it at all.
Its nice to see David with his guitar Oo nicee videos
Another thing people do is when they play a power chord starting on the A string, they also play the E string. This adds a lower 5th to the chord and makes it sound really heavy. E.G every Weezer song ever.
Nice change from your usual piano-focused content. I was almost afraid you'd change your channel name to David Bennett Guitar!
I feel like even guitar players who think they know everything about power chords could learn something here. I didn't know about distortion being the reason for removing the third from guitar chords.
By the way, have you heard the new Smile single "Bending Hectic"? How do you like it?
The power chord is ubiquitous when I learned guitar. That was the starting point & I still write songs today using it. Bands like Nirvana, Green Day, Black Sabbath, Less Than Jake- and the whole punk,grunge,ska movement was born from the use of that “chord” #GreatVideo
Dude its so fun to see someone like you with this guitar, im too a pround owener off Guild Starfire DC 1! amazing video thank you
A lot of Country songs use the 5th to harmonize so they essentially are using power chords. I think a lot of people don't even recognize that there is even harmony happening, as it really just brings out the lead vocal (just like the Seven Nation Army riff).
Power chords sound great player on an acoustic guitar as well. Polly by Nirvana is a good example and a great song for practicing moving the shape around the fretboard. Love is Everywhere (Beware) by Wilco is another great acoustic power chord song.
I don't have electric guitar with me right now so only play acoustic. And power chords are sounds powerful even without distortion, especially when you add dynamic to your picking.
I wanted to hear American Idiot in Minor by only changing the notes that vocals are singing. It would be cool to show how it could show the result it has on changing just a small part.
That’s a good idea!
This is my first time seeing David on the guitar
Correction: at 6:36 these are full major chords. The third of the chord is definitely audible
You sure those arent harmonics? The third sounds a bit too low to be harmonics but whatever
6:42 It is, though. It's a chord progression with a very fast and syncopated harmonic rhythm. Just like you could say the "melody is harmonized in fifths," you could say "the melody is harmonized in power chords." Both statement would be correct here. You'd get the say thing with Smoke On the Water, except while the riff melody is harmonized in power chords just the same, it's harmonized in fourths rather than fifths.
That's the thing, a chord is just something you play, not something that's intrinsic to the music. The example I love to use is Don't Stop Me Now. In the "Don't. Stop. Me noooow" part, every note of the melody is harmonized with a full chord, Gm, F, C, Gm, as in the entire band specifically _plays_ those chords. However, while not as interesting to listen to, the whole band could have just stayed on a Gm chord the whole time and it would have worked. In fact, the whole band could have been playing anything, even if they're different chords, and it wouldn't be "wrong" even if it doesn't sound good. It just wouldn't necessarily sound good, that's it, nothing more.
A chord is just a collection of several notes, much like a scale is. They're actually very similar concepts, honestly they could be one and the same and music theory would not be affected. An interval is just a specific voicing of a two note chord, of a dyad.
All your video are super interesting!!!
Pls Do “song that use harmonics”.
Fantastic video as usual!!! Keep going David 🙃
I would argue that technically a chord is only a 5 chord if it has a minor major ambiguity. If a melody on top of a chord solves the ambiguity, it becomes a regular major or minor chord.
This happends for instance on the Ab5 in Teen Spirit: The melody adds a C, so the Ab5 chord loses its major-minor ambiguity and becomes a regular Ab ;)
(btw, this does not happen with the other three chords during the verse)
I'd heard the term, "power chords" but had no idea of the meaning. Thanks for a succinct and interesting explanation.
You say it sounds muddy but I love the extra distortion playing the minor third on top adds.
Very powerful explanation!
Great show as usual i allways come here when im up for some music theory
2:18 This happens because the third on the equal temperament isn't the "true" harmonic third, it's an aproximation for convenience's sake. It sounds dirty with distortion because it's a little bit dissonant, and the distortion makes dissonance evident.
There is, however, a way of making a clean distorted chord with the third. Try this: play a distorted full chord with the third on one string (the classic open E chord, for example) and then tune up the string where the third note is being played just a little bit, until you notice the distortion becomes clean, and voi la, you found the harmonic third.
Problem is, now the guitar is tuned to play specifically that format of chord, and can only be used to play when that string is used for the third note.
Power chords are great for quick and harmonious chord progressions.
I wonder if this is a question of "which side of the pond" you are from, but... in place of "bare 5ths" I've always heard and used the term "open 5ths." And I do like the term "open" 5ths, as it does indeed convey how they sound, harmonically - they sound open! Also, your guitar demonstration of 5ths versus chords got me to thinking: the distortion on a guitar provides so much color that the third is unnecessary. It just gets in the way. Certainly, there's plenty of songs out there with open 5ths that are not distorted, but on that distorted guitar, yeah, there's already a lot of color there.
Actually, there is a video with Ritchie Blackmore explaining not only how he got inspired by Beethoven to write the basic riff of Smoke On The Water (as mentioned in this video), but also explaining how he actually does NOT play power chords and how most guitarists therefore play the riff sort of wrong.
His original way of playing it is actually with the same notes as in the classic power chord grip, but he does it in a different setting on the guitar, by which it sounds slightly different as when played in common power chords.
I thought it was just that he plucks both strings simultaneously rather than using a pick, because the riff is accompanied by a distorted hammond organ so he wanted to match the timing of that with the guitar.
Amazing video! Can you upload a video about songs that use the Enigmatic scale? Yeah that gonna be a tough one😂
Kraftwerk's "The Model" uses bare 5ths in one of the main synth parts!
The big reason why guitarists don't play thirds in distorted chords is because distortion makes the inherent out-of-tune thirds (because thirds, especially major thirds aren't in tune with the rest of the chord on fixed-note instruments) even more harsh and dissonant. Just listen to the riffs in Holy Wars...The Punishment Due by Megadeth. There are a few spots (namely during the middle section verse and the riff right before the final guitar solo where he alternates between playing the riff with root-5th and root-major third dyads) where Dave Mustaine is playing major third dyads with a heavily distorted tone, and they almost sound alien.
The white stripes one did have more than two notes played simultaneously.
Almost sounds like another track exclusively playing the maj 3rds w a slide and the tone rolled off, more quietly in the mix.
As a guitar player, another way I see this notated is, for example, G# (no 3rd), although that's a bit wordy for 2 notes. Having said that, power chords do not always have the octave. In metal, it is *very* common for a power chord to simply be the root and 5th, with no octave. And in hair band metal, it's quite common to see formulations with a Root and #5. An example of this is I'll See The Light Tonight from Yngwie Malmsteen, but really it's used in nearly every hair metal song you've ever heard. A band that made it central to their sound is Ratt. Def Leppard, too. Scorpions use it in their song Big City Nights.
Anton Bruckner, whose 5th Symphony inspired "Seven Nation Army," uses thirdless chords regularly, such as at the end of the coda to the first movement of his Ninth Symphony.
Diatonic power/"open fifth" chords in C:
C5, D5, E5, F5, G5, A5, Bdim(no3)
Of course, some artists purposefully want that muddy sound that including the third gives you, so they avoid power chords. But they do tend to only use as little distortion as they need to get the effect, using reverb, chorusing and delay to help bulk it out. It's a delicate balance.
Black metal very often uses minor chords with lots of distortion without anything else to balance it out, and it works very well imo
@@Wind-nj5xz they do in a non-standard way though.
Even then, I guess that shows that you either use a little, or a lot. Not a moderate amount.
Please make a video about songs that use a time signature with a bottom number that isn't 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32.
Bette Midler‘s “The Rose“ is based on power chords too
Never thought I'd see tablature in your channel
If you are talking about power chords on the piano, then you could argue that the left hand of the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" has many power chords, making for a cleaner sound in the lower register.
Wrong tab for Smoke On The Water. It was played on the A & D strings and plucked with first finger and thumb. Blackmore said so in an interview.
It's great to have such a precise explanation. Thank you.
Anyway, Owner of a Lonely Heart comes to mind.
Great as usual. However, for the first time, I might critique that so much more could be said. First, when harmony emerged during the Medieval/Renaissance the “power chord” was recognized as the Shell Harmony giving much precedence to modal neutrality. Second, yes distorted guitar was a major factor in establishing power chords but so was rock’s Blues influence. In Blues, the accompaniment at times keep major/minor chordal quality ambiguous leaving it to the lead (e.g. vocals) to meander between modes. Finally, in Jazz the approach is the opposite - avoid the 5th (and even the root) to highlight the upper chord extensions. The exception in Jazz would be Wes Montgomery who had a unique style of soloing with root-5th-octave root.
Another song that has a fifth chord, albeit in its bridge is Tous Les Garçon et Les Filles, by a singer-songwriter that might be worth mentioning on this channel at some point - Françoise Hardy.
The piano riff on Free Fallin is played with power chords
I have seen sheet music call a G power chord “G no 3rd”. It was a three note chord with the root, the 5th and the octave.
What a great explanation.
Smells like teen spirit uses a bunch of sus4 chords and major chords because kurt barred the higher frets in each chord (almost) straight across and just muted higher strings as needed. Idk if he even fully knew what those chords were, but to him they were all the same chord shape and a ton of his songs are actually sus4 chords if the root is on the E and major barre chords if its on the A.
Yesterday is tuned down a whole step and play an open G5 shape chord
You know the Beatles didn't write any of their music? Its how Michael Jackson was able buy all the songs. The Beatles were a product of Tavistock.
And Lennon was an wife beating (Cynthia), adulterous, child abusing (Julian- emotional abuse), hypocrite.
Sorry if that was offensive, but thats the problem because people are believing a fabrication and lie.
13 year olds at guitar center: “allow us to introduce ourselves”
I wonder if anyone has played sections of one song with distortion in power chords, then either improvised or written the same (Or at least similar) sections without distortion with the different third note. Alternatively I wonder if anyones modified songs without distortion and with that change and whether that works in many cases or not. (Im guessing it wouldnt work so well for those songs just replacing that note with another instrument or the vocals as in the Greenday example.)
What's the news on the next part of the series on composing for an orchestra?
I’m glad you’re anticipating it! It should be out the first week of July. It was delayed as I wanted to have time to film with an actual trumpet player 😊
That's great! Take as much time as you need though :)
Excellent video!
Thank you!!
I think it's worth noting that woth distortion a power chord has a bunch of overtones that do kind of elevate it from just being an interval to an actual chord. These overtones are what makes distorted full chords sound a bit yuck, because some of them dissonate. The power chord mostly aligns better with major chords because one of the overtones is a major third.
Power chords are difficult whilst learning. I was doing Paperback writer with my teacher today and currently I can not stretch from the 3rd to 7th fret. I will practice. Maybe I'll get it.
Maybe the most iconic and instantly recognizable power chord riff to classic rock fans would be 'Aqualung'.
Sitting on a park bench
@@0000225500002255 First rock hit about a homeless dirty old man.
Actually, I think missed out on a huge factor that needs to be put into the discussion -- which is overtones and the conflict with well-tempered instruments. The reason that adding the third muddies the sound when playing with distortion on the guitar or with the sustain pedal on the piano in the final example is that the overtones for each note a produced with much more prominence and that exposes just how flat the third is on the well-tempered instrument as it clashed with the third being produced in the overtone. Meanwhile because the interval of the fifth in well-temperament is far closer to the true perfect fifth and there is far less conflict.
Also, given the prominence of the overtones with distortion devices and sustain pedals, I think it's not actually correct to say that the third is absent when playing a power cord as it is being audibly prodcuced.
Something that I have known for decades (full chords with distortion sound shitty). But after watching hundreds of videos from guitar channels, it is a channel with piano in it's name that explains why😂
OMG,once again an extremely helpful, useful and captivating episode of Your channel😊😊 Really helped me understand better the concept of frequences and the fact, that why P5 interval sounds so smooth and complete, if compared to e.g M3 interval 😊😊And in addition, that Tone Gym is a pearl 😊😊😊🥳
TONE GYM A GYM MUSICIANS. for example of an exercises: BENCH CHORDS, DEAD CHORDS, POWER LIFT CHORDS.
I also just thought of David Letterman‘s late night opening played by Paul Schaefer/company
I had to open the video just to see how he managed to compress "songs that use power chords" to just 9 minutes.
Jon Lord of Deep Purple played a lot of power chords. Coincidentally he played through a guitar amp with distortion.
Interesting. I've played a lot of guitar, but never distorted guitar - doesn't appeal to me. Now I understand how the seemingly vacant power chord actually works, and why. Thanks, David!
In my opinion the best tone ever is heavily distorted electric guitar backed by a violin and cello arrangement.
@@headlessnotahorseman Different strokes. For me the best tones are not in western music. Oud is much nicer than any guitar, also. Check out Ahmed Alshaiba's take on Despacito, for example, here on youtube. Of course he used a bunch of western instruments to back it up as well.
Is that the H&K switchblade 100? amazing amp!
This list could be nearly endless.
I find vacuum tube amplifiers are less muddy when playing chords that contain the third.
Every Tony Iommi riff ever
The 👑 KING of the HEAVY riff.
David Bennett Piano? More like David Bennett Guitar! lol... Nice Video!
List of songs that use power chords: *[INSERT ANY PUNK OR METAL SONG]*
awesome video!!!! what i never understand is which strings to pluck when doing power chords, this is coming from a very new learner who never learned music before, but if i play the second note in "Smells Like...", the B5, do i pluck starting from the E or A string?
@@Kmkz-1989 muting is the key then!!
best channel of all time
David telling every rock song in the universe to have a seat
There are some rock bands that use full major chords with distortion and sound good, anything by the Ramones for example!