Power Chords, yay or nay?

[bleed for me]

i never use power chords for clean rythm guitars but i do sometimes for distorted

 

[PHalse proFit]

borknagar make AWESOME music only using power chords. its just personal taste mainly

'tis true, borknagar are fucking excellent, but they are not a guitar based band, oystein (*sp) is the main songwriter, and he uses piano based instruments to compose, borknagars guitarwork is used as an extension of the sound, as opposed to the central basis of which the music revolves around, like opeth.
borkie also have an incredibly creative bass player and an awesome drummer, who never go over the top and stay steady and easy the whole time, despite their obvious talent.

anyway.... i use power chords when i think they are necessary, but i think its stupid to limit yourself by making unjustified radical decisions eliminating them from your musical arsenal.

....yup......

 

[Nocturnal Emperor]

power chords can be great if used well and can be utter shite if over used. see punk rock

 

[fadingessence]

I tend to use triads a lot more, even as a standard power chord that extra note fills in the sound more, and playing Opeth you almost have to in order to get the dissonance. You can switch around power chords a lot though, and they can be very effective when a lot of other things are going like. Like Borknagar, Agalloch (most distorted parts are just power chords), Katatonia. ect.

 

[coronerox]

power chords can be great if used well and can be utter shite if over used. see punk rock

You said Everything

 

[Kate Bush Rules!]

So, the power chord was invented. Its basically a chord with only two tones - typically the root note (first) and fifth note of a standard chord. There are variations of course.

There is also an octave of the root note, but most metal bands don't use it because it's "heavier" without the octave. Most rock does include the octave however.

I don't see why everyone hates punk. It's like people are just assuming all punk sounds like the Sex Pistols cliches or something. There's some crappy punk yes, but listen to At The Drive-In and they have some good riffs there that aren't just powerchords.

 

[Jeremy]

Pennywise sounds nice too... and some bands mix punk and ska, and that's cool too.

 

[Mr. Shred-ididle]

A power chord is good to use in a very tight persision prog-metal riff. When the keys are play the chord in the background and you want something fast and tight. Just the root note can sound also sound really awsomme if your playing a fast riff for (eg. Symphony X - Evolution) or a pinched harmonic (Zack Wilde is a good example). But then you can get very interesting dissonence in using more than the root and 5th. It can create alot of different moods with them. But sometimes with distortion is just sounds like mud.

 

[narcisco]

power chords are an essential part of metal. There would be no metal without power chords. Anyone listened to Black Sabbath lately. The key is use your ears and your creativity. Power chords are just one of a myriad of techniques available to any talented guitarist. Look even Petrucci from Dream Theater uses them as a foil to his incessant chop busting lead breaks and single note lines. Maz from Sepultura used a guitar with just 4 strings.
Sometimes the simple crunch of root fifth is all you need. To me the power chord is essentially a bassline with distortion. Approach the sound of the distortion with creativity and you can generate a multitude of rhythmic soundscapes. As an exercise limit yourself to power chords and try to compose a melodic line for example, There are rules in music but once you learn those just break them like everyone does.
Then mix it up.
Use your brain, not your fingers as your ultimate guide.