power chords

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

Can anyone tell me some basic power chords to which I can get started on heavy metal music with?

[zepo]

Here's a few that are EXTREMELY common in heavy metal. E5, F#5, G5, A5, B5,C5,D5 you'll hear the F#5 to G5 a lot in heavy metal take for instance in Enter Sandman (Tab monkeys don't kill me if i'm off i'm just using this as a example.)

g5 e5 f#5 e5 f#5 g5 f#5 e5
|---------------------------------
|---------------------------------
|---------------------------------
|---------------------------------
|-5---2---4---2---4---5---4---2--
|-3---0---2---0---2---3---2---0--

Anyways hope that helps out a little bit.

[brokenwallet]

power chords are easy you can take either the first 2 strings of any chord or the first 3 example

Em
e---0-----------------
B---0-----------------
G---1-----------------
D---2-----------------
A---2-----------------
E---0-----------------

E Power Chords
e--------------------
B--------------------
G--------------------
D---------2----------
A---2-----2----------
E---0-----0----------

[Leedogg]

Power chords are just a root and a fifth, generally played on either the 6th and 5th, or 5th and 4th strings. They sound cool with distortion because the tones are far enough apart that they don't clash together when you play them, most other chords sound like crap with distortion. If you haven't done so already, I really recommend learning all the notes on the E string as these are your root notes. From here you'll always know what name the powerchord you're using.



E5 F5 F#5 G5 G#5
A 2 3 4 5 6 and so on...
E 0 1 2 3 4

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

dude, leedogg, let me just tell you, that back then I had no idea what you were saying... lol

[Leedogg]

Glad it makes sense to you now :D. We have a habit of making things more difficult when we start out :D

[Jolly McJollyson]

Glad it makes sense to you know :D. We have a habit of making things more difficult when we start out :D
yeah, it's not that hard once you think about it now, is it?

[markc2005]

guess what this is play each cord n let it ring lots of distortion
|--------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------
|-5--8--10-5--8--11-10--5--8--10-8--5
|-5--8--10-5--8--11-10--5--8--10-8--5
|-3--6--8--3--6---9--8---3--6--8--6--3

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

guess what this is play each cord n let it ring lots of distortion
|--------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------
|-5--8--10-5--8--11-10--5--8--10-8--5
|-5--8--10-5--8--11-10--5--8--10-8--5
|-3--6--8--3--6---9--8---3--6--8--6--3
I'm too lazy to grab my guitar and try to play that right now...
btw, this post is over a year old, I just brought it back to life to show everyone what my first post was

[Leedogg]

That'd be Smoke on the Water!

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

That'd be Smoke on the Water!
really? I learned it in a different key I guess... I always played it as:
D|2-5-7-2-5-8-7-2-5-7-5-2
A|2-5-7-2-5-8-7-2-5-7-5-2
E|0-3-5-0-3-6-5-0-3-5-3-0
that's why I didn't recognise it.

[Leedogg]

I learned it as:

G--0--3--5--0--3--6--5--0--3--5--3--0--
D--0--3--5--0--3--6--5--0--3--5--3--0--

[Andrew Walton]

alot of metal makes use of the Phrygian Mode. If you don't know what it is there are alot of places you can look it up. Here's an example of the pattern though


e|-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|
G|------------------------7--9--|
D|------------7---9--10---5--7--|
A|-7--8--10--5---7---8----------|
E|-5--6---8---------------------|

fool around with it and see what you can come up with.

leedogg's version of Smoke on the Water is the most accurate if you want to play it the way Ritchie Blackmore plays it, otherwise it doesn't really matter, maybe you're looking to play an ultra heavy version of Smoke.