Empower Chords

Let's have a frank discussion of power chords. Power chords usually are composed of the root note, a perfect fifth interval and the root note doubled at a higher pitch. They don't have a major or minor third interval, which is what a chord needs to make it a major or minor. Sometimes they get pitched in the middle register.

I have absolutely no idea what anything in the paragraph above means but I came across it on the Internet and it sounded important. All I know is that power chords are very easy and fun to play around with. Anyone can do power chords and, yes, that includes me. About all you need are two strings and two fingers capable of reaching across three frets on adjacent strings, much like in the ever-popular A5 power chord pictured on the right.

But when I'm playing power chords I sometimes feel guilty, like I'm cheating, which is somewhat the case. They're shortcuts, using only a couple of notes, instead of four or more with standard chords. You don't get the full sound so in some styles of playing power chords are no substitute for full chords but with electric distortion, you don't always need a full chord.

Still, power chords are enough to allow a beginner to create a little music and get a feeling of accomplishment. I especially like power chording my way through the Stones' "She's So Cold."

Link Wray is generally considered to have given birth to the power chord with his 1958 instrumental "Rumble" but Wikipedia says blues sidemen Willie Johnson and Pat Hare were using them in the early '50s. Either way, several billion rock guitarists have been banging them out since then with good results.

Link Wray is one of those guys who never got enough credit. He was partial to black leather, sunglasses indoors and greased-back hair and he was a little rough around the edges. "Rumble" was considered so subversive that many radio stations wouldn't play it. Even though it was an instrumental, its menacing, primal tone and the nation's fear of gang-fighting hoodlums at the time made it too edgy. It became a hit anyway and was a big influence on guys like Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Neil Young. Also, Wray was an early proponent of distortion and supposedly poked a pencil through the cone of his amp to get the fuzz that became his trademark.

Despite all that, Wray, who was living in Denmark when he died in 2005, isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think I'll boycott it until he and Stevie Ray Vaughan are inducted.