Estimated reading time 2 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Power chords are an integral part of rock music’s electric guitar sound. However, you only get that exact sound when you use power chords with distortion. Why? Because a distorted electric guitar doesn’t sound quite as good with full major and minor harmonies. Why? Keep reading Can Somebody Explain Why Power Chords Sound Powerful? to learn why these powerful little two and three note harmonies work.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
Why Power Chords Sound Powerful: What Are They?
A power chord consists of the root and the fifth of the chord:
- For example, in a C5 power chord the root is C (the note the harmony is named for) and the fifth is G (five notes above the root).
- With the three-note version of the harmony, C is the root, G is the fifth, and a second C doubles the root one octave higher (eight notes above the root). (See the chart in the next section.)
- By themselves, the intervals within the power chord will be characterless and hollow.
However, when you add distortion, the magic starts happening on the electric guitar.
Why Power Chords Sound Powerful: How Does Distortion Make Them Sound Powerful?
Mobile users: for best results reading the example, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
What’s distortion?
- It’s that crunchy electric guitar sound used in many styles of rock and heavy metal music.
- It happens when your guitar signal exceeds your amplifier’s headroom causing the audio signal to clip.
- The clipped signal introduces new harmonic overtones.
How does clipping create new overtones?
- Each harmonic within a complex tone approximates a sine wave, which has a rounded, sand-dune-like appearance when graphed.
- The clipping lops off the top and bottom of the sine wave, which in essence, turns the sine wave into a square wave.
- A square wave has a more complex harmonic spectrum than a sine wave, and thus a more complex tone quality.
In addition to generating more harmonics, distortion also boosts the string’s preexisting harmonic overtones:
- Why’s this important? Because with most complex tones, you’ll hear just the three lowest harmonics (C C G in the root note on the chart above).
- When you use distortion, harmonic overtone number five (E) in the root note gets boosted along with the other harmonics.
- This harmonic turns the power chord into a just intonation major triad, yielding a harmony that’s close to perfectly in tune.
This is why they sound lifeless without distortion, because they lack the major third to make a complete triad.
- Also, it explains why major and minor triads don’t sound as good with distortion.
- The just intonation major third from the harmonic conflicts with the equal tempered major thirds in the major and minor triads.
- If you want to play full triads and have them sound stronger, you’ll need to retune your triads.
Video: How to Play Power Chords
Why Power Chords Sound Powerful: Does This Mean That They Can Conflict with the Synth’s Tuning?
Does this mean that the guitars’ harmonies will conflict with the synth’s tuning?
- Yes, the just major third in the electric guitar’s power chords will conflict with the equal tempered major thirds in the synth harmonies.
- It’ll be more noticeable with some synth patches over others, especially sustained programs like organ patches.
- However, if you have a micro-tunable synth, you can retune it to work seamlessly with the guitars. The tuning system you’d use to create your music is called Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET).
How to use SET in your band:
How to tune your guitar to SET:
SET and your synth:
Final Thoughts
The takeaway points:
- The power in the power chords comes from its harmonic structure combined with the amp distortion’s influence on the balance of the strings’ harmonic overtones.
- This in turn allows vocals, violins, woodwinds, and brass to accurately tune to the music.
- If you want your synths to also sound good, you’ll need to use the SET tuning. Then, your whole band can perform with accurate intonation.
Have fun playing!
Related Posts
- 2112’s Guitar Tuning
- How to Tune Like a Rock Star
- Play Like a Rock Star in Open G
- Sound Like a Rock Star in Open G
- Intonation and Supplemented Equal Temperament
© 2024 Geoffrey Keith
Join me for in-person or online lessons today!
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