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Power chords?
In the I Can See Clearly song, on the Rhythm Challenge, Tony mentions he used the power chords for the difficult barre chords in the bridge section. I did not see him doing that in the video where he says he did that, but sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly where his fingers are actually fretting. So, what would be the power chords for C#m, G, and Bm? He doesn’t explain that at all.
I have my own way of working around barre chords (playing the triad without the barre), but it would be helpful to know another way. Thanks in advance!
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5 Replies
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Tony just hinted at it, a power chord is typically just a 2 or 3 string chord. You make pretty much the same shape as the C# minor, but you don’t have to flatten your index finger or place the middle finger. So you’re only holding down the A string with your index finger (making a C# on fret 4) then you use ring and pinky on the 6th fret D and G strings (making G# and C#).
Adopt the same concept for the G bar chord. Instead on the A string you are holding down the low E string on the third fret to make a G, and place ring and pinky on the 5th fret.
These are 3 string chords, so you are only playing A, D and G strings for C#m power chord, and E, A and D strings for the G power chord.
Edit: finished listening all the way through and then realized Tony runs through the power chords starting at about the 10:15 mark of the Learn video. You can hardly hear the difference between them and the bar chords – wow, amazing when you have Tony’s playing skills!
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What I said wasn’t entirely correct. Starting at about 10:30 Tony plays 2 barre chords (C#m and G) followed by 2 power chords, a C major (open) and then he does the final Bm as a barre chord again. You’ll notice that for the C#m barre he uses his middle finger to mute the low E string in case he strikes it by accident.
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Thanks Pete, this is good information. So, since you didn’t mention it, the Bm power chord would be the second fret of the A string and the 4th frets of the G ad B strings, yes? Or would that be a B power chord; how to make it minor? Or do you? Oh wait, you are only concerned with sharps and flats, not major or minor. Since the C#m is only using the sharp of the C (4th fret A string, and moving up the other notes accordingly), the B would be one fret down from the C, since B and C are only one fret apart. So, second and 4th frets as I mentioned above.
Did I answer my own question? 🙂
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Yes, I didn’t mention the Bm since it is exactly the same shape as the C#m only 2 frets below. The index finger on the A string forms the B, the ring the F# and the pinky makes another B.
This question: “Or would that be a B power chord; how to make it minor?”
My reply: I think you are confusing sharp and flat notes with major and minor chords. What makes a chord minor is the flattening of one of the notes that would normally make up that chord. So your question is actually a good one, because what makes the barre chord minor is the minor third, the D note fretted by the middle finger on the B string. This is left out of the power chord, so it’s not minor anymore.
Power chords, by their nature are not major or minor:
I just googled and the AI returned this: “Power chords are neither major nor minor because they consist only of the root note and the perfect fifth, lacking the third that defines a chord as major or minor. This gives them a versatile sound that can fit in various musical contexts.”
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Thanks, Pete!
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