Hey Friend,
As I was digging out of the accumulation of email from the weekend, I came across Brad's email with an interesting question about omitting notes from a chord, specifically the fifth note. He says:
Got a question for you - how often do you come across omit 5 chords?
When I just play my own stuff, experimenting and winging it, I always come across chords I just love- then I look them up, and find out it's yet ANOTHER omit 5.
So, just curious about whether there are many songs with those, or what kind of genres I may see those in.
Thanks, Brad!
I had to admit I'd never really given any thought to these special chords. You know I talk a lot about the '5' chord, or power chord. This is a very common chord form in Rock and Country (well, more modern Country) used to fill the role of major and/or minor chords.
What makes them "power" chords is that the use of the 1 and 5 notes has a doubling effect. From a sonic perspective, the sound waves for the 1 and 5 notes are very similar and tend to strengthen each other. To really make a differentiation of a chordal sound, we need another note, and in most situations, it's the 3 note that determines the feel of the chord.
So the 5 note is normally a given in the chords we encounter as Rock players.
Turns out that according to music theorists, the 5 note isn't as necessary as I thought. Because it doesn't have much effect on the emotional feel of the chord, you could just as easily leave the note out and not hurt the sound. Take a look at this article about omitting notes.
I'd like to explore this a little further before we get back to the key of A major. Unfortunately, the work siren is going off and I've got to get some laundry out of the washer. If you'll indulge me, we'll come back to this tomorrow. Have a great one!
Peace~
Dave | 
