What I like to do sometimes with simple riffs is turn it into a 2-string power chord. That idea lead me to this question:
If I wanted to find all the power chords in one scale, which of these two things is the "theoretically" correct thing to do:
1. Use every note of the scale as a root and add the 5th interval (7 frets...?) to turn it into a power chord, whether or not that 5th is within the given scale, or
2. Use only the notes within the scale and find as many power chords as possible within the scale.
So in essence, option 1 may go out of the scale building the power chord (but would have as many available power chords as there are notes in the scale), while option 2 always is in the scale (which means less "combinations").
Any help would be appreciated, as always. Power chords are simple and fun to play around with, but I'd like to know the scale theory behind making them.
"All I see is draining me on my Plastic Fantastic Lover!"
i like to call this the "Hey i found crown and coke and no nothing about theory anyways!" answer...
i would assume the root of the chord would be the most impornant note to hit. if you are playing a scale you would have to hit the notes within the scale to get to scale, right? so if you hit each note and then added the 3rd and 5th (a power chord is root-third-fifth right?) then i would think you would be golden. but then again i have no clue. it could turn out a lot like chord progression and two chords might not sound right together.
yeah i got absolutly nothing
"I got a woman, stay drunk all the time!"
-Led Zeppelin-
If you played the root-5th of all the notes in the scale, all the 5ths would fit the same scale except one, the 7th vii, because this has a diminished 5th (b5).
Let's look at the C major scale as an example, harmonized in 5ths:
I C-G
ii D-A
iii E-B
IV F-C
V G-D
vi A-E
vii B-F
All are perfect 5ths except the B-F which is a tritone or diminished 5th.
If you wished to, you could of course substitute either a B5 (B-F#) or a Bb5 (Bb-F).
This is of course a simplified version of how to harmonize the major scale:
Degrees of notes C major scale notes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 C D E F G A B C Chord no. Chord name.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 3 5 C E G I C major
2 4 6 D F A ii D minor
3 5 7 E G B iii E minor
4 6 8 F A C IV F major
5 7 9 G B D V G major
6 8 10 A C E vi A minor
7 9 11 B D F vii° B diminished
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
