It's no secret to guitarists that the term "power chord" is a misnomer. Yes, they are certainly powerful. Just mentioning them tends to conjure up iconic rock images such as Johnny Ramone's ripped jeans or Angus Young duck-walking in a school boy uniform. It would be foolish to claim that power chords are not powerful. It's the second half of the phrase that is technically incorrect: chord.
The fact is that chords consist of three or more notes, while a power chord only has two. A power chord is merely a power interval, the perfect fifth, that has been utilized since Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages, before the concept of chords even existed. Hardly a chord, the perfect fifth is about as harmonically ambiguous as an interval can get.
But what if I were to tell you that you can play power chords in such a way that they would not only be proper chords, but also provide guitarists with new possibilities of replicating closed chord voicings that are normally exclusive to pianists and keyboard players? Sounds daft, no?
Well, it is entirely possible with the use of a common guitar effect: a harmonizer pedal.
As an example, let's begin with an F power chord in the key of F.
The F power chord consists of 2 notes, F and C, which are the root and fifth of the F major scale. However, when combined with a harmonizer pedal set to harmonize a major second above pitch, your two notes become four: F, G, C, and D. This is an F6sus2 chord, and a voicing that would involve treacherous, if not impossible, finger stretching to play traditionally for anyone with human hands.
Your possibilities are multiplied when a bass player is handling the root note your chord. For an Fmaj7 chord, not only could you use a F power chord with that same harmonizer setting, but also a G power chord (G-A-D-E), a Bb power chord (Bb-C-F-G), or a C power chord (C-D-G-A).
From the elegant ballads of Bill Evans to the funky neo-soul of D'Angelo, pianists and keyboard players have been utilizing cluster voicings such as these, and now you can too. By combining the harmonizer effect with the rock guitar staple of the power chord, our harmonic inventory as guitarists is larger than ever.
Note: There's no need to stop at playing power chords with a raised major 2nd harmonizer setting. Experiment with other intervals and/or other settings on your harmonizer, as well.
About the author: Charlie Button is a musician, producer, and educator from Upstate NY. His name has appeared in such music publications as Pitchfork, MySpace Artist of the Day, Dead End Hip Hop, All About Jazz, and more. Visit Charlie's website for online Skype guitar lessons, as well as to sign up for his newsletter that contains free video lessons and articles such as this one.
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