Solved !!!!Powerchords!!!!!.....skilless

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EpiSGpl8r

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I play a lot of power chords and frankly i'm getting sick of them. when i play them i feel the same as i did when first started, almost like i never advanced wich i have i can play more than powerchords. I want to avoid playing more than power chords and just regular a,b,c,d,e,f,g so let me know how you get away from this or if you have any suggestions on how i could change. thanks in advance..
 
what kind of music are you into?
get into riffs. learn riffs from all genres.
 
I play rock Not metal or death metal or heavy metal just plain rock. I hope that helps but i'm kinda thinking it wont
 
can you be a little more specific? throw out some bands or tunes.
probably not the answer you're looking for, but the one thing that has helped me stay out of power chord hell was learning a lot of acoustic stuff and incorporating riffs with open strings that ring out, drones, etc.
 
I used to get bored with power chords until I tried stuff along the lines of JR#97's suggestion. Try altering the chords you know by adding a note or leaving an open string. Also, look for alternate cord fingerings. The old standby E5 at the 7th position can also be played at the second fret, barring the index finger over the 4th and 5th strings. And if that's just more monotony then try adding your ring finger to the fourth fret third string.

Speaking of the 7th position E chord, there is a myriad of variations that can be done in that position. If you barre all the way across, the F# on the second string can ring out and you'll get an E9 chord. Also while barring you can switch around your third and fourth fingers to add some minor third and minor sixth intervals..

Keep in mind that it takes experimentation, and just because you don't like the sound of the new chord you created doesn't mean it can't be used as a transition to a more stable power chord..

Also, remember those first open chords you learned like G and C? Try those same fingerings on different parts of the neck. You'd be surprised how well those work and how different they sound.

Cy
 
recomended listening: "the allman brothers at fillmore east", "lynyrd skynyrd street survivers" (jimi hendrix axis bold as love", anything by stevie ray vaughn.

if you play along with these recordings you will not be playing power chords
 
"power chords" are simply parallel fifths, you take the first note of a scale, the fifth note, and the 8th note (octave) and play them together.

all chords work the same way as this, they are all based on a certain type of scale, and combine certain notes in each scale to form a certain chord

if you want to move on to bigger and better things, you have to learn a little about music theory. you dont all of a sudden become a better guitar player and stop using power chords altogether, each type of chord has its uses, power chords are just generally associated with simple songs.

my suggestion is to buy a music theory book, learn about the structure of chords and why they sound the way they do. that way you will know WHY you are putting your fingers on the certain frets, not just blindly learn to play songs written by other people.

good luck.

and oh yea-
listen to classical music.
 
Also - if you play with a lot of distortion, you will find it difficult to get anything other than power chords to sound good.

The cool sounding notes do not ring together really well if you have mucho fuzzo on everything.

Try cleaning up your sound and you will be able to include a lot more choices in teh notes you play in your chords.

foo
 
I say, if you're bored with 5th's, try to play strictly acoustic for a weekend. If you don't have one, swap with a friend for a couple of days. There's nothing like going back and forth from acoustic to electric for changing things up.

Other ideas:
try slide guitar
try fingerpicking an intro
try alternate tunings
try a violin bow....:) worked for Jimmy.

good luck, epi-man.

stone
 
I second Stonepiano's notion. Playing an acoustic after months of electric kind of makes you go "oh yea I totally forgot about all this stuff". Then when you pick up your electric again after a few days of acoustic it feels versatile all over again.
 
Here's what I say:

Learn to play dominant 7 chords. That's what blues ( and hence, rock) are all about.

Take your average IV, V, I progression, i.e. A, B, E. Now play those as all dom7 chords, i.e. A7, B7, E7. Then you can play a pentatonic E minor over them, and you have something that's going to sound far more interesting that just power chords.

You may notice that the dom7 chords have a major 3, and the minor pentatonic has a minor 3, but that what makes the blues work! Crossing those 3rds is what makes it really blues!

Once you learn to this, you will find yourself playing stuff that sounds much more harmonically complex, and you will hear that it sounds much more like SRV or Hendrix and much less like (insert '80's band here).

If all this is totally foreign to you, then get a theory book and start reading. Some times the best hour you can spend practicing is training your head, not your fingers.

Best of luck,

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com
 
I like play octave intervals and flatted fifths and flatted octaves for a little bit of dissonance. A simple theory book can really help you understand, even if you are learning by playing other people's songs. I would reccomend it.
 
i play alot of chords that i don't even know what the correct musical name for them is....haven't seen them in any chord books. I call them blues chords.

is it just me or is this web site getting.... S L O W?
 
Don't restrict yourself to power chords on the distorted guitar. Using full chords is fine.

I don't know how long you've been playing, but it sounds to me like you haven't turned on to the bar chord yet. It's like an E chord that you lide up and down the fret board using your index finger as a capo and makng the makor or minor with your remaining three fingers. You can also use your index finger to bar the trable strings and wrap your thumb around for the low E. You can do the same thing with pretty much any open string chord one way or another.

Doug
 
Can I suggest Fretboard Logic SE from Bill Edwards? (that's both Fretboard logic I and II bundled together). You'll get a whole guitar oriented system of chords built around the "classic" shapes. And you'll get a lot of variations! Its anything less than boring!! ;-)
 
thequietcity — Great advice, IMO. Knowing why chords sound the way they do is a biggie to me.

Aaron Cheney — Thanks for the suggestion. Gonna try it when I get home!

matty_boy — I completely agree with the "touch o' dissonance" idea. And flatted fifths, to use a phrase from those crazy kids today, are the bomb. For anyone who doesn't believe me, check out Randy Rhoads' solos. He used 'em all over the place.

Dunder XIII — Is Fretboard Logic SE a software package? Seems likely from the context of your post, but I don't want to make an assumption because that makes an ass out of you and umption. :D
 
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