What is a fifth and how do they play the guitar?

Quint chords became popular at the time of the development of rock music and the appearance of various lotions (sound effects) for the electric guitar, which greatly overloaded the amplifiers. Against the background of such overdrive, the usual chords (minor and major triads, seventh chords, non-chords and other polyphonic sounds) played on guitars have become rather clumsy by ear, if not fake. It is still unknown which of the musicians-guitarists first guessed to play their accompanying part on the rhythm guitar and thereby open the fifth chords for rock. It is only known that it was these chords that created that weighted style in rock that is still used by musicians playing hard rock, metal with all its directions (black, death, and so on), as well as blues rock and even fusion.

In fact, the fifth chord, if we turn to the chord rule from elementary music theory, is not a chord at all.

There are only 2 sounds in the fifth chord: root and fifth (I and V steps of any key). The third (third level of the scale) is completely absent. This means that fifth chord - double sound.

Besides, such consonance has no modal affiliation, since in a triad it is the third that determines the mode of the chord (major or minor). In the fifth chord, the modal identifier is absent, that is, such a construction can be called impersonal in harmonic terms.

However, all the misunderstandings that were clarified did not prevent the popularity of fifth chords among the musicians of famous rock bands and their millions of fans. For example, it is enough to name such groups:

• The Rolling Stones;
• Led Zeppelin;
• Deep Purple;
• Metallica;
• Slayer;
• AC / DC.

The guitarists of these groups fully used power chords (another name for fifth chords) in their imperishable compositions. And the first three of them, quite possibly, was the "inventor" of these "not quite chords".

The secret to the success of power chords is pretty easy to explain. The ensemble also has other musical instruments (keyboards, second guitar, bass), as well as a vocalist that can reproduce (and do) the harmony sounds missing in the rhythm guitar part. As a result, the composition takes on a full-fledged key - minor or major.... Thus, no violations of the laws of harmony actually occur when playing fifth chords as part of a group.

The rhythm guitar part in an ensemble score or textbook for beginners is usually indicated on one single ruler, on which the duration is written with the corresponding notes and the alphanumeric designations of the chords.

Power chords denoted by a Latin letter of the main tone and the number 5 next to it (for example, C5, E5, B5). The number 5 is just the "calling card" of the fifth chord, meaning the fifth (the fifth degree of the key) in the chord. This is how it looks on the rhythm ruler and tablature:

The power chord consists of three notes:

• bass sound (low pitch);
• quint tone;
• one more fundamental tone (one octave above the bass).

For example, take riff from the hit "Smoke over the Water" by Deep Purplewho played Ritchie Blackmore... Here's how to play it with fifth chords:

Now let's see the schematic images of the fifth chords used in the riff. G5, Bb5, C5 and Db5:

As you can see from the diagrams, all chords are taken with the same "grip", called "fatal" by the musicians:

• the bass root is clamped with finger 1 of the left hand;
• fifth - through the fret up the fretboard on the string adjacent to the bass - with finger 3;
• high fundamental tone - also through the fret on the string adjacent to the fifth string - with finger 4.

The only difference is in the strings: the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings are clamped in the G5 fifth chord, and in the others, the 5th, 4th and 3rd strings. Of course, positions also change:

• G5 - third position (that is, finger 1 of the left hand is on the third fret of the neck);
• Bb5 - the first (finger 1 is located on the 1st fret);
• C5 - the third (finger 1 is located at the 3rd fret);
• Db5 - the fourth (finger 1 is located at the 4th fret).

Quite comfortable and simple fingering. Such accords can be played from the beginning to the end of the composition, without ever changing the fatal grip.... Sometimes, to play your favorite riff, it is enough to move your hand to the desired positions along the same strings.

Using this fingering, it is easy to build power chords even for a beginner rocker.... True, for this one should know by heart what sounds (notes) are on the strings in all frets, understand the theoretical foundations of chord formation, learn and understand the intervals between different steps of all keys, both in minor and major.

But as is the case with full-fledged guitar chords, there are also so-called open fifth chords: E5 and A5... In the first of these, the 6th open string is the bass tonic, and in the second, the 5th open string. Therefore, only the 5th and 4th strings at the 2nd fret are clamped when playing the E5 fifth chord and the 4th, 3rd strings at the same fret when playing A5.

To learn how to build power chords for beginner guitarists, you should first of all find out which steps of a particular key are the main ones.... It is on the main steps that the chords of almost any musical composition are built. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the main degrees of major and minor on the example of C major and A minor keys. They will become a model for any other scale from any sound..

Thus, in both minor and major the main ones are I, IV and V scale steps.

This means that you need to play quarts chords in a C major composition. C5, F5, G5... In A minor, their functions are performed by chords A5, D5, E5.

To determine the harmony in other tonal scales (for example, D major and D minor), you must first build the appropriate scales from the sound "re"And mark the necessary steps on them.

Here is an example of defining power chords in the key of D minor.... There should be the following sound intervals between the steps: tone-semitone-tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone.

We see that all sounds (notes) of the D minor scale are clean, except for the sound of B (B). This sound had to be lowered by a semitone in order to maintain an interval of 1/2 tone between the V and VI steps. It turns out that the key in D minor contains the note B flat in its scale... Main chords in D minor: D5, G5, A5.

Major scales from any sound are built according to the intervals indicated above in the C major scale: tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone.

For example, let's define the main steps of the D major scale:

There are 2 sharp signs in this key: F sharp and c sharp... The notes F and C had to be raised by 1/2 tone in order to maintain the necessary intervals of 1 tone between III and IV, as well as between the VI and VII degrees of the major key. Main chords in D major: D5, G5, A5. Exactly the same as in D major.

You can play such consonances in two types of fingering: either with the one indicated in the diagrams above (fingers 1-3-4), or with only two fingers - 1 and 3... In the second case, finger 1 grips the bass tonic of the chord, and finger 3 simultaneously rests on both the string with the fifth sound and the string with a high tonic sound, which are at the same fret.

You should try both methods of clamping the strings in order to find the one that is more comfortable for you.

Fatal grip involves the sound of only those three strings that are involved in the reproduction of the fifth chord.... All other strings should be muffled so as not to create unnecessary dissonances.

Both the right hand and the left are involved in muffling unnecessary strings. That's why in a fatal grip, the thumb of the left hand, grasping the neck from above, at any time can reach not only the 6th string, but also the 5th, hold them down, replacing the same first finger when playing a power chord or just a bass, and also muffle them. Finger 1, when playing fifth chords, has the ability to muffle all other strings by lightly overlapping them.

Sometimes the bass strings are muffled with the free finger 2 of the left hand. Thin strings (3rd, 2nd and 1st) are muffled with either finger 4 or finger 3, depending on how the fifth and high root of the chord are clamped.

For beginner rockers, the sequence of consonances should be chosen based on the selected key of the exercise. It is better to start with the keys of C and A. The following chord moves can be recommended for the first exercises:

1. C5-F5-G5-C5;
2. C5-D5-G5-C5;
3. C5-F5-E5-C5;
4. C5-D5-E5-A5;
5. A5-D5-G5-C5;
6. A5-F5-E5-A5.

The right hand plays with a pick, all strokes are from top to bottom. The main task is to try to muffle unnecessary strings in consonance..