Mixing power chords with open strings isn’t new—bands like Pink Floyd, Rush and others have been doing it for a long time. Here’s a chart of the 5th-string power chords mixed with open strings (click for a fullscreen view):

Let me beak down each chord:

Asus2

Added onto the A power chord (A-E-A) are the notes B and E. B is a major 9th (or 2nd) away from A. E is a perfect 5th away from A, and it’s already in the power chord. Since power chords have no third, we have as A suspended 2nd chord, or Asus2.

Note: when you’re suspending a chord, it doesn’t matter which octave the suspension occurs is. It’s a 2nd even when the suspension is a 9th higher than the root.

Bsus4

Added onto the B power chord (B-F#-B) are the notes B and E. B is the root, so it doesn’t change the chord. E is the a perfect 4th (11th) away from the root of B. Since power chords have no third, we now have a B suspended 4th chord, or Bsus4.

Cmaj7

Added onto the C power chord (C-G-C) are the notes B and E. B is a major seventh interval away from C. E is a major third interval away from C. We now have the following intervals: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th and major 7th, which is the formula for a C major 7th chord. This is a very pretty chord; one of my favorites.

C#min7

Added onto the C# power chord (C#-G#-C#) are the notes B and E. B is a minor seventh interval away from C#. E is a minor third interval away from C#. We now have the following intervals: root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th and minor 7th, which is the formula for a C# minor 7th chord. This is also a lovely chord.

D6/9

Added onto the D power chord (D-A-D) are the notes B and E. B is a major 6th (13th) away from D. E is a major 9th (2nd) away from D. Since we don’t have any thirds in this chord, we have to fake the name of this chord a little bit. Guitar often leaves out key notes and guitar chords can be named a few different ways. For this one, I’m going to imagine that there’s a major third there and call it a D6/9 (D six-nine). Regardless of the name, it’s a pretty chord.

At this point, our power chords contains notes that are higher in pitch than the open strings we’ve added, resulting in a reversed, rolling sound that you can only get when mixing fretted and open strings like this.

E5

This is a cool chord because it’s still an E power chord (E5). The open B and E only double the notes in the E power chord (E-B-E), so this chord stays the same. It does get a thicker sound, though.

Fmaj7#11

Added onto the F power chord (F-C-F) are the notes B and E. B is a #11th (or #4th/b5th, depending on how you look at it/who you ask) away from F. E is a major 7th away from F. I’m also going to fake this chord a bit. There’s no major 3rd in the chord, but I’m going to assume it’s there and call it an F major 7th #11, which despite its complicated name is a common jazz chord. (I’m also forgiving the fact that there’s no 9th, but guitarists commonly leave that out of stock maj7#11 voicings all the time.)

F#min11

Added onto the F# power chord (F#-C#-F#) are the notes B and E. B is an 11th (technically a 4th, but I’m raising the name to make the chord spell a bit nicer) away from F#. The E is a minor 7th from F#. Yet again, we’re missing the 3rd of the chord, so some creative naming is in order. The minor 7th makes me want to call this chord a minor chord. As such, this chord is an F#min11.

But…I can also call this an F#7sus4. Here’s why: The minor seventh doesn’t make the chord minor. It could just as easily be a dominant seventh chord, which has the minor seventh as well. If I go that way and assume that it’s dominant, I look back at the 11th and call it a sus4, as 11ths and 4ths are the same note—only the octave they sound in is different.

Note: If this chord had a 3rd, we wouldn’t have this duality. It’s only able to be a sus4 chord because there’s no third. If I had the A (minor 3rd) or A# (major 3rd), this chord would be either F#min11 or F#7 add11 (which is an ugly chord).

G6

Added onto the G power chord (G-D-G) are the notes B and E. B is a major 3rd from G. E is a major 6th (13th) from G. We have the following notes: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 6th, which is the formula for a major 6th chord, which is written as G6—no need to write ‘major’ when writing out a major 6th chord.

Warp up

I chose to showcase only the chords that I thought sounded good when combined with the open first and second strings. I left out the ones that sounded too dissonant. I hope this lesson shows you some chords you may not have explored in the past. Don’t worry about the complexity of naming the chords. You don’t have to know how to name them in order to use them in a song! I hope you enjoy these new chords and use them into your own music.

Until next time,

Marc

The funniest thing happened while doing this. For the record: I’m not a lick player and it’s very hard for me to teach that way. One of the reasons I wanted to do this series was to try to teach licks. I wanted to grow my teaching. In doing so, I played the guitar very differently while trying to dissect my own playing into licks. And I fell in love. Not with licks, but with the guitar all over again. I spent every evening just jamming. Not thinking. Not practicing. Just playing. It’s been amazing. Now, I go to start up again, and I get a chance to edit a very important music book. I can’t say no. I shouldn’t say no. So, for the next 15-20 days, I’ll be tied up with this edit. What I plan to do is to roll out these lessons again. I even have the next five planned and I’ll try to get one or two out along with my other work. I’d like to find a pace to keep these lesson up well beyond a 30-day period. It’s been therapeutic to teach in this format.

I’m just loving playing the guitar again. It’s such a wonderful instrument. I know you feel the same way I do about it. I’ll be back soon with more lessons!

Marc

Sent from my iPad

Guitar is full of nuance and I’m shocked at how many players never use this natural tone control. In addition, the type of pick and pick material can have a dramatic effect on your sound. Try a few new picks of different thickness and materials. You’ll be amazed at how different they sound. Try it and let me know what you think!

Key of E:

Key of C:

Key of A:

In each of the examples, I used an ‘add 9′ chord, which takes the basic open major or minor chord, and adds the note that is nine notes higher to it. I love add 9 chords, and use them often in my playing. Try them out in yours!

Enjoy!

Marc,

I was wondering what the numbers after a chord meant. I see E6 and E7 all the time, and while I can play them easily, I’m not sure what they mean.

Thanks,

(name withheld)

It’s a great question. I’ll answer it and provide the chord forms as well. Chord names are like blueprints. In the case of E6, it’s telling you to play an E chord (which you assume to be major unless told otherwise, e.g. E minor 9) and add the 6th note higher than E to it. This becomes a 4-note chord: E G# B C#. You could also call it E major 6, but it’s more common to see E6.

In the case of E7, it’s alsoan E major chord, with the 7th note higher from E: E G# B D. There’s no simple way to explain all of the possible variations, but start from this basic bit of theory and work up.

As for the chord forms, here are the first places you should play E6 and E7 in the open position:

Full disclosure: the teacher in me is screaming, because I’m leaving some stuff out, namely that E6 is a major chord, derived from notes in the major scale, and E7 is a dominant chord, derived from the E mixolydian scale… Thankfully, there are plenty of days to explain that this month, and we’ll get to it in due course.

Enjoy!

Marc

I’m excited to do a month of lessons online. I’m usually a pretty conceptual guy, but I’m going to try something very different today. I’m going to teach small, digestible and useable topics every day. You should have no problem incorporating these into your playing immediately. I may miss a day here and there, but I’ll do my best to keep these going.

Lesson # 1 — (different) Power Chords

Everyone loves power chords. They rock. Turn up the distortion and they sound even better. My issue with power chords is that everyone uses them and it’s hard to sound original. From Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to Green Day’s “When I Come Around” to Black Sabbath’s “Ironman,” you’ll hear lots about them. Here’s a few ideas to spice up your power chords.

Quick theory: power chords are neither major or minor chords because they lack the 3rd of the triad. A power chord consists of a root and a fifth, and that’s it. (The 3rd tends to sound strange with distortion.) Because the only have root and fifth, they are often written as 5 chords, e.g. E5 or A5.

Don’t just play the two or three string versions you already know. One way you can open up power chords is to add more notes. You’ll do this by simply doubling what’s already there in other octaves. This makes the chords sound bigger. Here are a few examples:

1) The big E power chord:

2) A huge A power chord:

These sound really big, and they’re still just power chords! Another way to spice up your playing is to play power chords higher on the neck. Take a look at these chords with roots on the 4th and 3rd strings. Remember to slide them around the neck.

3) Moveable power chords on the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings:

4) Moveable power chords on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings:

That’s it. Enjoy!

See you tomorrow!

Open Chords

And let’s add the corrected MP3…

Latin

What has stirred this up? Recently, I’ve started to learn a new skill. I’ve taken up computer programming in my spare time. I’ve found myself in a position that I haven’t been in for years. I’m at the beginning. I’m doing this without a singular focus. I’ve become my own former students. And it’s wonderful.

With music, I was able to put 100% focus into my craft. I went to music school, which afforded me a singular focus, free of distractions. It was the ideal environment. My students studied guitar with me in their free time. After work and family, the guitar was their “me” time. As I struggle with syntax, memory management, pointers and looping constructs in C programming, I find myself rather amazed by many of my former students. The ones who had heavy careers (doctors, lawyers and business) and families, who found sufficient time to practice and became guitarists in their own right. As I struggle to find the time for something I truly want to study (programming), while my work and my family all vie for my time, I have a newfound empathy and respect for all of my former students. It seems simple, but it’s been a revelation to me. It’s going to make me a better teacher.

How many of us have forgotten what it feels like to learn something new? How many of us have forgotten what it feels like to be at the base of the mountain, gazing up to an end that we may never reach?

If I ever learn to program, I’ll be on the lookout for the next “thing” that I’ve always wanted to learn. It will likely be mathematics. Or maybe Physics. I know that out of each struggle, we learn something new about ourselves. That’s what teaching is all about—learning.

—

Marc

Let me start off by admitting that even with all of my education and degrees in music, I’m still a 100% “play by ear” player. I can hear very deeply because I’ve been trained to listen to music and associate it to tangible ideas, such as chords, progressions and intervals. My brain taught my ears some amazing tricks, but my ears are still in charge.

In the last lesson, I used an example about the chord progression E, D and A being a mixolydian chord progression. I broke it down into small parts to illustrate the process. The truth of the matter is that I knew it was mixolydian by ear as soon as my student played the song. The fact that I can hear it doesn’t help you at all. In order for me to help you understand what mixolydian sounds like, I have to teach you to identify if in some way. If your ears can’t do it at first, your mind will inform your ears. The final goal will always be about hearing. It will always be about music. The brain does not kill the soul…

So, with all of that said, why all the theory in my lessons? Simply, I have to communicate my ideas. In this medium, I am forced to communicate in words. Teaching is the art of taking the indescribable power of music and putting it into words. It’s really hard to do. When I play onstage, the communication between musicians is aural and takes place in real-time. When the piano player plays an interesting chord substitution during my solo, there is no time to think about theory. There’s no time to spell things out on paper. You have to react instantly to what you hear. Getting to that point takes practice and experience. Getting there is indescribably cool.

The process of learning to improvise never ends. It’s my favorite part about being a musician. I hope this helps you understand where I’m coming from and what my end goals are for all of you.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Shakespeare:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

It doesn’t matter what you call it. You can call it “The chord that expresses my pain” while I may call it “Cminor9add11/F;” the result to the listener is the same: we all feel it.

—–

Marc