In this lesson, we are going to talk about the 5th, the Octave and even mention a bit about the importance of timing. The great thing about the guitar is that once you get an idea of the interval distance between two notes, it is generally easy to think of it as a shape and move that shape all over the neck. For example, we could create a simple power chord as follows:


[E8i, A10r, D10p]
[C, G, C]

We notice that G is a 5th (or 7 half steps) above C, and the octave on D10 is 5 more half steps above G. This chord shape is used all over the place--especially in rock music. This chord also takes the following shapes when the B and high E strings are involved in forming this chord.


[D10i, G12r, B13p]
[C, G, C]


[G5i, B8r, H8p]
[C, G, C]

Some people prefer to simply drop the octave when playing these types of chords. It is really just a matter of preference and giving heed to how rich you want the sound to be when playing. Adding the octave tends to give you a little richer sound, but dropping the octave makes the chord easier to move around on the neck for a lot of folks. Another trick that jazz and instrumental rock guitarists use a lot is to drop the 5th, and just play the first note and the octave, while allowing the index finger to rest on the string between the two notes very slightly to mute the string. When I do this on the lower strings, I tend to alter my fingering a bit for improved comfortability and ease.

[E8i, A10x, D10m]
[C, x, C]

Where x denotes that the string is being muted. And you will notice that I use my middle finger to grab the octave on D10 this time instead of my pinky. You can continue to use your pinky if you like, I just find it is easier to use my middle finger when adjusting my index finger to dampen the vibration of the A string. When the B and High E strings are involved, you pretty much have to use your pinky to grab the octave. So, you will get a work out for your pinky with octaves in those situations.

Once you know how to play these basic power chords and octaves, then it is a matter of moving these shapes up and down the neck to try and construct progressions with them. For example, we could have a four chord progression, such as,

[E3i, A5r, D5p]
[E7i, A9r, D9p]
[A7i, D9r, G9p]
[A3i, D5r, G5p]

It sometimes helps to rest the palm of your picking hand on the strings to give a more percussive muting sound when using power chords. It just depends on how percussive you want the progression to sound verssus how much you want it to ring out. If you are wondering how to get some life out of your progressions, the trick is in how you strum the progression. You could strum each chord down once and then move on to the next chord and the progression would sound very lifeless and uninteresting to a lot of folks. But, if you used a strumming pattern of down, up, down down, where you mute the last two down strums with your palm for each chord, these sorts of techniques can go a long way to making your progressions build more character.

It is important to think in terms of how the progression might sound if you were a drummer, rather than a guitarist, when playing this piece. Because a drummer thinks in terms of beats and timing, where a beginning guitarist often gets stuck thinking in terms of chord arrangements and notes. It is important to think in terms of beats and timing as much as you think of chord arrangements and notes. Because, your sense of timing is what will guide you to more interesting sounding music when all else fails. Actually, it isn't uncommon for me to leave the guitar in its case and sit down with a metranome a couple of times a week and work on drum patterns to help improve my timing. By working on various drum patterns, it gives me a deeper sense also of how my drummer and bass player are communicating rythmically. The ability to communicate with the other members of your band rythmically is what leads to tight playing. It takes a little extra effort, but it makes you a better musician all around to go ahead and put in the extra practice.

What I want you to do for homework is to play around with power chords and octaves. Feel free to move these shapes around the neck and develop your own progressions. When you find something that sounds good, make sure you write it down for future reference. All these notes become great references for future practice sessions. So, don't cheat yourself out of a library of your own notes on what works and what doesn't. Also, I would like you to pull out the metranome and start working on some basic drum patterns a couple of times a week. Here is a pattern to start with. I'll use R and L for your right and left hands respectively.

R, R, L, R

L, L, R, L

You will want to set the metranome on a very slow tempo and gradually work this up to getting faster and faster over time. At first this will seem a bit tricky, because the second line is backwards from the first. But, if you work at a slow even pace, your brain and hands will start to work it out in no time and you will be able to play through this pattern with amazing speed. For my serious students, it wouldn't be bad to dedicate ten minutes a day to working on your timing for a few weeks. But, I'll leave it up to each individual to determine how much practice they really need in this area.


Corey J. Bray