| | | Hey Friend,
Oh yeah, here it is! Another rocker from my youth...
Let's take a quick minute to look at a song that uses power chord shapes very effectively. The song is "Hitch a Ride" by Boston and the intro/verse progression sounds a lot more difficult than it actually is.
Lesson materials here...
"Hitch a Ride" is from the second side of Boston's self-titled debut album. Tom Scholz recorded the entire album in his basement studio using equipment he invented to get many of the unique sounds found on the album.
These sounds gave a depth and other-worldly effect on the guitars that was quickly adapted by other artists.
The song was recorded in the key of A# which would normally require you to either tune your guitar up a half step to F Standard tuning, or use a capo at the first fret. If you do this, you have to shift all your fingerings up one fret to compensate for the difference. It was originally recorded on an acoustic guitar.
I want to point out the technique he's using along with the power chords. The chords are played out note by note, which is know as an arpeggio. The chords are fingered on the neck but you play the notes individually.
I've transcribed the music in the key of A for simplicity, so you can try it out here and then make the tuning change if you feel the need for authenticity. Personally, I've always just played it in A with standard tuning.
A couple things...
Pay attention to the chord change in the first bar from the A5 chord to the Gsus4 (G suspended 4) chord. You actually slide the chord fingering down two frets. You can hear that in the recording of the song, and there's no need to pick that fifth note in the first bar.
As you can see in the sheet music, there's that sliding-down notation between the A and G notes on the fourth string.
Also, as I noted in the music, this is transcribed at 60 BPM (beats per minute). The song is recorded at 120 BPM, so I did this to allow you to hear the changes easily. Work with a metronome to gradually increase your speed until you can play it at speed.
By keeping the fifth string open and using it with various power chord shapes, you get this very cool riff that helped define a shift in Rock music back in the late 70s.
This is the type of experimentation I love to do because you never know how a combination of open notes and power chords will inspire you. I'll often just start out playing a power chord and then start changing fingering to see what results I can come up with. I'll strum them and arpeggiate them to test how they sound and to see if an idea starts to formulate.
That's another great reason to learn power chords. They give you a base to work from - the core notes of a chord that you can then add to and experiment with. Get your hands on hundreds of power chord shapes and ideas and start exploring with Easy Power Chords today!
Peace~
Dave |
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