G

Power chords
Whether you're into g?ung'e, indie, meta,l or puu.k, power
chord.s a,re urha,t you need. EqNy srtuIlI:ER erplains how to uge
fifths, octa,ves, a,nd a,ll things powerful
PE-_ positiorl chords and si-x-6lger btrrre
chorcls can oftel sound too rnessr. or
cluttered rvhen plaved \l,ith distortion.
When using ar o-erdriven sourd you can achicr,e a
nuch tighter ard rnore easily-conirolled sound by
just usilrg t$o or three notes lrom a chord. These
srlallcr, crisper chords ar'c olieu referlcd Lo as
EiG
porvt:r chords the most common t)?e ol $.hich is
knotu as the fffth'. To play a 6lth shape, lret a
note on any bass rhing and add a note trvo fr.cts up
or the adiacent higher stdng (see fretboxes). *
I'IFTII CEA&

Muting
t lmost all
lilor'o"a"."" r"""
Dower
To highlight the differcnces in sound behveen
lilihs and standard chord shapes, I r,e recorded an
eight bar chortl sequence (Frc 1, cD TrL{cK 25),
6rst using lloflna] open position chords, thcn with
the chorils as fffths. Finally it is pliyed \i,ith some
'passing'fffths taket lrom the mitor scale added to
r
than six strlngs, the basic chorl sequence.
but if you're playing flri. Jl.o d, r ,ur,trdle. or.,,l'1he rnain rd?!E
rock, you don't wani
advantagcs ol using fffths itls much easier to rdd
to be have to avoid
fast passillg chords behveen the mail1 chords.
all the open ones.
Use any fingers
which arerx't
ffnEerinE tho
Erpednlent by converting solgs that y,or :rL.eady
plw nith open chords into a version using filihs.
Rock bands oftLe'70s like Judas Priest and
ffi
l"
current chord to
mute unwanted
open notes by just
restlng the fingers
Black Sabbath specialised in songs based on rilTs
plavcd ir lilihs, often adding an octave rotc to tle
chord to get an even more porverful sour'rd (see
fr'-.tboxes). The eutryle (rrc z, co rrucx z6)
(Frc a, cD TRACK 27) is trpical of this str,le
In the early 90s tLe r.r.hole Seattle gmlge
*, rr',1 '{a. ba..J nr, Ftl'r. Ho.., r -rri\r! .Lr.
!
over the strlngs - ',
enough to stop them
shows off this tcclniclue, with thc iiltbs and Pearl Jam, Soundgarlen and \iruana rrsed a le:. =
octaves gi\ing solidity and weight to the sourld. .listorted sorlnd than their metal predecessor .- :
sounding, but not
erough to actually During thr: B0s, bands like Iron Maiclen and also tended to stnln using dorvn nnd upstrokt.
fret them. Nletallica rNed lilihs in their songs, but often rather than just downstrokcs. The ffnal e:rarnpi;
vaded the shape bv using augrnented (increascd)
or dirninished (reduced) fflths to creatc :r darker
and less familiar sound.'fhe lext exarnple,
I IG 4- ( D TBr( I z4 illu.t.,re. llris. Tlri,,
used as a backing track {'or soloing iust use tl.i -
natural iriDor scale (see lretboxcs). El l*
Technique
a Adapt your hand stretch to the size
I of the fret posltton you re playtng
H
#
th6 ffr.t tEo crD be at - frets get narrower as you
prog?ess up the ffngerboaxd F5
,.13ts5/c5,tD5 D5/E51F5lc5 A5 (ore,i E5 (open)
C, Move youl whote hand (not just
e reachirg with the ffngers) wher
riftn
l-rtln
.trrrrrd ', T-r6ra
r1-rF [116]
you cha,nge fret position
a> Only htt the strings that you are /"
ffiffiffifr
6 66 6d4t lt6dl (, fretting - beware of hittinq i
scalo, whtoh cu be uuwaEted open strings r'ith the
used to tmDrovise r picking hand. See the separate box fo.
D5 (.pe,) G5 (o!e.) tlps on how to mute unwanted opeu l-ro-
|-8-
Anr lentatord. Amp€ntalontc strings with the fretttng hand.

!..E@t SEPTEITBER rg98 rssLi - rssuE 47 SEP]