Guitar question...

I was kind of wondering...I know there is no wrong way to play guitar really, but how acceptable is it to play tunes/riffs using just power chords (ala Nirvana)? Does that make you a scrub? lol...

 

I don't think so, i think if all your songs are only power chords it might get kind of boring for you and your audience, but if the music is good and the lyrics have a good melody it doesn't really matter to me.

Peace and Love,
Dan

 

confining the composition of a song to nothing more than power chords severly limits the quality of the music

not that anyone has anything against power chords, but theres hardly any range in that style of playing

 

a lot of guitarists start off doing that. I did. But eventually, you just can't anymore, and if you practice enough, and practice the right things, then you come across things that you'd rather play. Definately study up on music, but if you confine yourself to a exact way of playing, you'll either get bored and stop playing, or find new ways to play through what you know.

 

I'm stupid, so I have no idea what power chords are...someone please enlighten me.

 

What was the point of even responding to the question if you wren't going to answer?

 

Because there are people in the thread who do know about guitars, therefore making it one of the best places to get the information I'm looking for.

 

because hes trying to learn about it, you fucking idiot

I really hope I somehow misunderstood this statement...

 

Thank you!

 

"why post in a guitar thread if you know nothing about it?"

there are two possibilities here; the first one being that this comment was meant to be condescending (in an extremely childish manner I might add), the second one being that you are just incredibly stupid and have failed to understand something so very obvious. either way, you did deserve to be called a fucking idiot

no one else but oneself makes a "guitar guru", and not once did I claim to be one

on the other hand, who prevents me from being the guitar guru?

 

please explain how I am immature

I do believe I know more than "nothing" about guitar...

 

I see you enjoy reminding me of my age every time you post

if you wont bother to waste any more time on me, then why should I waste time on you?

and why is it me who has to prove himself? why dont you give me a link to a sample of your playing? youre the one who acts like you have all the authority to determine who can play and who cant...

 

First of all, power chords are fairly basic... It's kind of like pentatonics to me, you learn the feeling of it on the fretboard and you just have to get used to it. Of course, for Nirvana and whatnot, a Fenderesque guitar would work best for ease of the sound. I believe Kurt used a chorus pedal, but I don't remember.

This isn't really my forte in guitar technique. I'm more of a folk/blues/jazz/country player (Mostly combining them all into one). Check out the forums and everything on http://www.guitartabs.cc

They may have something in there. There's a few good threads and lessons in there. Also, it helps if you play along to it and just keep trying different things until you hit gold. My les paul cannn get the sound with a Fender amp if you know what you're doing with it. It's the second PAF decal style humbuckers from this company in England that is pretty new. The guy replaced the Burstbuckers with some better stuff that have a better tonal range (I'm sure a 500T style or ceramic pickups are good too, but I wouldn't worry too much about this thing, the main part is learning how to get the techniques down, although I could ramble on forever). Anyway, The PAF#2 style stickered humbuckers were made when Gibson switched over to a different type of winding machine with an automatic shut off when a certain amount of winds were on the bobbins. These are more consistant in output. Around this time Gibson changed the magnet size, they wanted to standardize the size so they could use the same magnet in all their pickups, like the P-90 and Melody Maker pickups. Of course, Heritage owns the factory now, but I no dealers carry them around here. The original PAF#1s varied a lot in output because they had inconsistant winding techniques at the time.

munchies time......

 

Sometimes I park in handicapped spaces, while handicapped people make handicapped faces...

 

Are there any other universal 2 or 3 string chords? (Like powerchords...that you can use up and down the fretboard) I know 1 or 2, like:

x
x
5
3
x
x

x
9
7
x
x
x

Know what I'm talkin' about?

 

its not considered a chord if it only utilizes two strings. but yes, there are countless two-note combinations... just play around with them

 

The three most common (and most pleasing to the ear) intervals are the 4th, 5th power chord, and the octave.

A 4th is merely fretting the same space on two strings next to eachother. For example, a 4th in the A position would be 5th fret on the low E, and 5th fret on the A string.

A 5th is a powerchord, which you already know.

An octave is playing the same note, only having one note exactly 12 semitones up from the root. For example, having on finger on the 5th fret on the low E string, and fretting the 7th fret on the D string, two strings up. It sounds pretty cool.

All of these intervals are movable around the fretboard, so experiment with them!

 

Yeah, though called powerchords, technically, they're not chords as they only consist of two strings.

002300

 

Power chords are a good way to learn in the beginning, but don't become dependent on them. Your goal is to become as good as you can be so you have to practice and then practice some more. Learn scales, alternate tunings, timing, structure, and by all means!,...get a metronome! Listen to other artist, country, jazz, blues, etc. (Just stay away from rap... haha) Good luck.

 

I use powerchords if I feel like hearing more overtones during playing acoustic stuff. I also learned how to use powerchords in playing jazz and learned some techniques from watching Eric Johnson.