View Full Version : Power chords
SnapCut
Apr-27-2009, 9:55am
Can you do power chords on a mandolin?
None of my mandolin books mensions them.
Mandophyte
Apr-27-2009, 10:42am
Snapcut,
What you need is Niles Hokkanen's Guide to Mandolin Chords (and how to use them) $8.00.
Page 25.
A power chord being 1 and 5, what could be more easier on a mandolin??
EdHanrahan
Apr-27-2009, 10:46am
Easy stuff. Probably too easy:
Power chords consist of the root plus the 5th. Mandos are tuned in 5ths.
Pick a note, any note, on the 2nd thru 4th sets as the root. Now add the note at the same fret on the next higher string; that's automatically the 5th of the selected root. Result = power chord!
Getting 4-string power chords might require some actual, uhmm, technique!
Alex Orr
Apr-27-2009, 10:50am
Can you do power chords on a mandolin?
None of my mandolin books mensions them.
If I recall, a power chord is just a chord featuring only the 1 and the 5 of any key with the 1 being on the bass strings. You can play it on any instrument, however, the effect may not be as dramatic on a mandolin.
Tobin
Apr-27-2009, 11:21am
Yeah, not nearly as powerful on a mandolin as a guitar. But you can do just a two-string power chord of sorts by fretting the same place on both adjacent strings.
Or to use all four strings, use a 2200 pattern (that's an A). 4422 = B, 5533 = C, etc.
Santiago
Apr-27-2009, 12:20pm
Aren't open-type power chords kind of wimpy on the mandolin? -- fine for other purposes than what you would apply to guitar. IMHO -- On mandolon, you get more power out of the closed Chop cord? Is this correct? I don't claim to be an expert.
Power chords are big on electric guitar - with all that sustain, and probably would be with electric mandolin.
mandozilla
Apr-27-2009, 3:28pm
Somehow I just can't picture James Hetfield playing a mandolin!? :disbelief:
~o):popcorn:
Somehow I just can't picture James Hetfield playing a mandolin!? :disbelief:
~o):popcorn:
Didn't Kirk Hammett play a mandolin in one of the songs on the "...And Justice For All" album? I recall it was towards the end of the album, one of the last few songs.
Santiago
Apr-27-2009, 5:13pm
Power chords are big on electric guitar - with all that sustain, and probably would be with electric mandolin.
Yeah, I didn't see the Mandoblaster avatar when I made the comment.
mandocrucian
Apr-27-2009, 7:23pm
Aren't open-type power chords kind of wimpy on the mandolin?
No
(I should qualify that - if you have a no bass/no sustain F-hole BG mando, it loses a lot in contrast to doing them on roundhole.)
NH
journeybear
May-08-2009, 9:43am
Somehow I just can't picture James Hetfield playing a mandolin!?
Shoot! You just tumbled onto my true identity! :disbelief:
Yeah, something like a 2200 works, and can be barred. Me, I use the 2245 a lot. Yeah, I know, there's that nasty little 3rd note, but it's offset by having that high tonic. Also you can do things with flatting the 3rd and hammering on ...
The 2002 D chord can rock pretty hard, too. Also the 1224 E, which gets a lot of work when playing the blues or with guitarists. Also the 2455 D, which works so well with the 2245 A.
In fact, look at "All Right Now" by Free. Here's how I play it: 2245 2455/ 2245 .../ 4557 2455 / 2245. There's a bit o' power. :mandosmiley:
I guess I just don't care about the 3rd tones. I use a 5230 C a lot, too. In fact, rather than using the "Forbidden Fifth" so much, try the inverted 20xx approach, or as in E, 4220. And for Em try 0220.
jim_n_virginia
May-08-2009, 10:01am
Can you do power chords on a mandolin?
None of my mandolin books mensions them.
Yes you can!
And the reason it is not mentioned in most mandolin instructional books is because many people don't know how or don't want to use them.
I wrote a cool jam tune a while back that is almost ALL power chords and one day I'll put it on YouTube when I get around to it!
:mandosmiley:
sgarrity
May-08-2009, 10:12am
I use them all the time, especially on the oval hole.
Marcus CA
May-08-2009, 11:14pm
Can you do power chords on a mandolin?
Yes, as everyone has told you, but it's like listening to the angry bark of a chihuahua. They sound way better on an OM, when you play them on the lower two string sets on a mandocello, they rattle your bones!
Jim Broyles
May-08-2009, 11:29pm
Yes you can!
And the reason it is not mentioned in most mandolin instructional books is because many people don't know how or don't want to use them.
I wrote a cool jam tune a while back that is almost ALL power chords and one day I'll put it on YouTube when I get around to it!
:mandosmiley:
Here's one, Jim: