Whats the difference??

A power chord is a special incomplete kind of chord composed of only two different notes (either of which may be doubled an octave higher) which are separated by the interval of a perfect fifth. (e.g., notes C and G). They can also be called 'fifth chords', or simply, 'perfect fifth intervals', but in high power amplified and distorted rock guitar contexts, 'power chord' is usually the preferred term. They're the big heavy growling chords you hear in songs such as Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit".

Power Tab is a company that produces (free?) tab creating/editing software called Power Tab Editor. The name has nothing to do with power chords, (although maybe it was inspired by them). You can download many song arrangements created by Power tab (called powertabs) from the net but you need the Power Tab software to play and display them.
You can get it here
http://www.power-tab.net

Normal Chords. Majors and Minors must contain at least three notes.....hence a "Chord".

The notes are the root or the 1 the third of the root and the fifth of the root making a major chord.
For a Minor Chord we use the 1 or the root, the flat third and the fifth.

Example: E as the ROOT!!


E Minor = E + G + B

e--0-- E (R)
B--0-- B (5)
G--0-- G (b3)
D--2-- E (R)
A--2-- B (5)
E--O-- E (R)

POWER Chords are sometimes called "5" Chords because they don't contain any 3rds Only the Root and the 5th. There are no Minor Power Chords... because we lack the 3rd of the root therefore we can't have a b3rd in the chord to make it minor.

E Power Chord

e--x--
B--x--
G--x--
D--2-- E (R)
A--2-- B (5)
E--O-- E (R)

If that doesn't make sense, don't worry, it will :o

Cheers.

Don't get sucked into thinking power chords are used for all rock though, bands such as AC/DC prefer to use open chords as they provide a 'fuller' sound.

Dom

You should also be aware - when talking about powerchords - that many guitarists tune to "drop D" tuning - ie tuning the 6th E string down to D. This way, you've got the root (D) and the 5th (A) on the same fret and can play powerchords with just one finger. Other guitarists take this even further for a lower, muddier tone and use heavier strings and tune the whole guitar down a semitone (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) or a tone (D G C F A D) and then tune the 6th string down a further tone to drop Db or Drop C!

:D :D :D

Vic

yup, agreed with everything said before, and to add to Vic's point - tuning to Drop D allows you to play fast power chord riffs (think of pretty much any recent metal band, Deftones, Linkin Park, Metallica quite possibly, Limp Bizkit, Korn). Some of those bands use 7 string guitars, so they have an extra low string, but the prinicple is the same. If you e.g. tune the low E down to D, use one finger to fret the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings at the 3rd fret, then make up a riff involving that chord, those strings played open, and a chord (G5 if my brain has woken up, lol) made by fretting those strings at the 5th fret, you'll find it is much easier to play than if you used standard tuning wher ethe 6th string is tuned to E.

Don't get sucked into thinking power chords are used for all rock though, bands such as AC/DC prefer to use open chords as they provide a 'fuller' sound.

Dom

I personally find playing full chords (3 notes) with distortion/overdrive too much. Powerchords (2 notes) sound much "cleaner" to my ears.

I personally find playing full chords (3 notes) with distortion/overdrive too much. Powerchords (2 notes) sound much "cleaner" to my ears.

Yes. That's what they were "invented" for. That's where the name comes from too.

Don't get sucked into thinking power chords are used for all rock though, bands such as AC/DC prefer to use open chords as they provide a 'fuller' sound.

Dom

I personally find playing full chords (3 notes) with distortion/overdrive too much. Powerchords (2 notes) sound much "cleaner" to my ears.
i find the same thing too, but i read an interview with angus and malcolm saying that they actually uses very litte distortion, and that the classic AC/DC sound comes mostly from raw volume! :D

Dommy,

I agree with you about AC/DC almost all there songs use open chords, they do use power chords at times but most of the time it's open chords.