Thinking Power Chord songs are hard to do

[Listener1254]

I listen to metal and think the musicianship is great but one thing is bothering me, when i pick up the guitar, I can't really play power chords that good and my friend told me "well thats because punk is a lot harder to play than metal" and i asked him why and he said "because you gotta think of so many songs to write, about 17-22 songs per cd, write lyrics for those songs and make up so many different riffs. At live shows the singer also plays the guitar and in metal they have a seperate singer cause they aren't as talented. Metal is uncreative because they can't make that many songs on a cd so they only make 8-10 or so. Good bands are Rancid cause the bassist is awesome and the ataris are awesome too." I don't know how to respond to this. Since you guys are more skilled musicians than me and have probably played for a long time, what do you think of this? Why is it so hard for me to make power chord songs? Everyone tells me im pathetic if I can't write a power chord song.

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

The kid is just throwing aruond numbers, the actual talent of each member of a punk band usually goes unnoticed because the music is very simple. Power chord songs are easy to write, unless you try too hard, then you won't write anything that you think is decent (believe me, i was in a punk band for 2 years). If your friend thinks metal is uncreative have him listen to the Blackwater Park album by opeth thorougly and have him repeat that line. Most metal albums will work too, i just happen to be listening to that one right now, and the musicianship of opeth is just phenominal (Fan of them for years, and they still impress me every time i listen to one of their cds)

 

[Listener1254]

The kid is just throwing aruond numbers, the actual talent of each member of a punk band usually goes unnoticed because the music is very simple. Power chord songs are easy to write, unless you try too hard, then you won't write anything that you think is decent (believe me, i was in a punk band for 2 years). If your friend thinks metal is uncreative have him listen to the Blackwater Park album by opeth thorougly and have him repeat that line. Most metal albums will work too, i just happen to be listening to that one right now, and the musicianship of opeth is just phenominal (Fan of them for years, and they still impress me every time i listen to one of their cds)

Well why do punk cds have so many songs while metal has so few? why doesn't metal make more songs per cd? If punk can do it and their musicianship is easy you say, metal bands should have no problem doing it. But I don't get why they don't.

 

[fadingessence]

Are you just ignorant?

There are 17-20 punk songs on a cd because they are all very short...follow me so far?

Now take an epic metal album, fully 70 minutes...maybe only 6 songs...but 70 minutes long...you still following?

Here we have equal amounts, in numerical value, of music and you are saying that the punk band that bashes out 17 crappy songs all with powerchords with maybe 2 riffs a song shitty lyrics shitty singing and no originality whatsoever is somehow more talented then oh...lets say Opeth...that puts out a monster album with 8 songs..we'll talk about Blackwater Park here...with perfect production, incredible complexity and more riffs in a single song then any punk band could dream of?

I really can't comprehend how you could be this stupid and think that somehow the number of songs has to do with how good the music is and totally miss the point that most metal songs are more then 2 fucking minutes long. I'm going to paraphrase Mikael from Opeth here by saying that it doesn't matter whether the 60 minutes of music is from 15 pop songs or 6 of our songs...there is still 60 minutes of music. And don't you think (well obviously you don't think) that a band with the ability to coherently put together a 12 minute song with only one repeated riff, time signatures that I would dare any punk band to play, guitar work I would dare any punk band to attempt, singing that well...punk bands can't sing...drumming that goes from Jazz to Metal to back again (not just that one stupid punk beat) and well the list goes on.

so really....you won't understand any of this but....just go listen to your shitty punk bands and don't bother the real musicians with your ignorance. Punk died with the Ramones, get over it.

Now to pick apart your original post.

Metal singers can't play guitar...LOL...Opeth, Megadeth, Slayer (bass), Metallica, Emperor, CHILDREN OF BODOM (best shredding you will hear AND singing). Once again...ignorance. Did you also ever consider the fact that no punk singer actually has to sing or really play guitar? Neither of the things they do qualify as such.

If you can't make power chord songs you just suck and thats about it. If you can't play power chords just give up the guitar and stop before you hurt yourself or others.


Reading that more I started really hoping this was a sarcastic post against punker fucks...if it was then this flame is all in good fun and you can send it to all the punker fucks. If not and you were serious...well you really are a dumb ignorant redneck son of a bitch and you should really listen to more punk because it is the only thing your pygmy brain can understand.

god I feel good

 

[Furious B]

 

[Listener1254]

Are you just ignorant?

There are 17-20 punk songs on a cd because they are all very short...follow me so far?

Now take an epic metal album, fully 70 minutes...maybe only 6 songs...but 70 minutes long...you still following?

Here we have equal amounts, in numerical value, of music and you are saying that the punk band that bashes out 17 crappy songs all with powerchords with maybe 2 riffs a song shitty lyrics shitty singing and no originality whatsoever is somehow more talented then oh...lets say Opeth...that puts out a monster album with 8 songs..we'll talk about Blackwater Park here...with perfect production, incredible complexity and more riffs in a single song then any punk band could dream of?

I really can't comprehend how you could be this stupid and think that somehow the number of songs has to do with how good the music is and totally miss the point that most metal songs are more then 2 fucking minutes long. I'm going to paraphrase Mikael from Opeth here by saying that it doesn't matter whether the 60 minutes of music is from 15 pop songs or 6 of our songs...there is still 60 minutes of music. And don't you think (well obviously you don't think) that a band with the ability to coherently put together a 12 minute song with only one repeated riff, time signatures that I would dare any punk band to play, guitar work I would dare any punk band to attempt, singing that well...punk bands can't sing...drumming that goes from Jazz to Metal to back again (not just that one stupid punk beat) and well the list goes on.

so really....you won't understand any of this but....just go listen to your shitty punk bands and don't bother the real musicians with your ignorance. Punk died with the Ramones, get over it.

Now to pick apart your original post.

Metal singers can't play guitar...LOL...Opeth, Megadeth, Slayer (bass), Metallica, Emperor, CHILDREN OF BODOM (best shredding you will hear AND singing). Once again...ignorance. Did you also ever consider the fact that no punk singer actually has to sing or really play guitar? Neither of the things they do qualify as such.

If you can't make power chord songs you just suck and thats about it. If you can't play power chords just give up the guitar and stop before you hurt yourself or others.


Reading that more I started really hoping this was a sarcastic post against punker fucks...if it was then this flame is all in good fun and you can send it to all the punker fucks. If not and you were serious...well you really are a dumb ignorant redneck son of a bitch and you should really listen to more punk because it is the only thing your pygmy brain can understand.

god I feel good

I get what you are saying but on punk cds most of the songs are between 2 and 4 minutes long and they could make a 17 song cd. What about bands like Arch Enemy's Burning Bridges that only has 8 songs and the songs are between 3 and 4 mnutes long? How come they can't think of more material?

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

I get what you are saying but on punk cds most of the songs are between 2 and 4 minutes long and they could make a 17 song cd. What about bands like Arch Enemy's Burning Bridges that only has 8 songs and the songs are between 3 and 4 mnutes long? How come they can't think of more material?

Its not that they can't think of more material, they choose to put as many songs they want an an album. Also (yeah i know feeding the troll, but hey i gotta, its my duty as a music fan and human being to bash ignorance), id like to see any, ANY punk band write and play the same guitar and drum work that arch enemy does on Burning Bridges. The length of an album is not what makes it good. I can pull 30 punk songs out of my ass in about 10 minutes, that does not mean they are good, but i bet your average punk fan would enjoy them. Metal songs take me much longer to write, ive been working on this one song for the last 2 weeks (about 3 hours a day). I think there is your answer, not the actual length of the song, but the effort and time put into the song is where the difference is

 

[Dead Winter]

This is why punk and nu-metal are basically one in the same....crappy riffs, crappy vox, simple chord structures, basic 4 time rhythms just sped up so punks can think it's good, and so they don't notice how the guitarists are fucking up the three chords they ARE playing.

I'd like you to go visit Alexi Laiho and tell him that he can't sing and play guitar very well. After you wipe your brain matter from the wall behind you from having blown your mind, use it to think of something NOT dumb.

Also, I hate to break it to you, but your friends are musical lepers, and blithering idiots on top of that. If you are going to put stock into what they say, just kill yourself right now to save you the mental anguish you will endure the moment you realize that they are complete retards. Either stop listening to them or get new friends.

 

[Listener1254]

Its not that they can't think of more material, they choose to put as many songs they want an an album. Also (yeah i know feeding the troll, but hey i gotta, its my duty as a music fan and human being to bash ignorance), id like to see any, ANY punk band write and play the same guitar and drum work that arch enemy does on Burning Bridges. The length of an album is not what makes it good. I can pull 30 punk songs out of my ass in about 10 minutes, that does not mean they are good, but i bet your average punk fan would enjoy them. Metal songs take me much longer to write, ive been working on this one song for the last 2 weeks (about 3 hours a day). I think there is your answer, not the actual length of the song, but the effort and time put into the song is where the difference is

I doubt you can think of 30 punk songs with LYRICS and drums and bass work in ten minutes. That's the hard part about punk, they write a lot of songs but then you gotta think of lyrics and all these different riffs for each song and that's tough. If they write 3 songs, they could just combine them all into one song to have a long song and that would save them from writing lyrics to 3 songs, they would only have to write them for one. Metal has a lot of riffs in their songs but they only have to think of lyrics for 8 songs, not 17-20 songs. This is tough to do cause you gotta think of so many different subjects to write about. It's like a TV show. What's harder to do? Make an hour show about a few topics? Or make four 15 minute episodes each about different things? I'd say the latter is harder.

 

[Dead Winter]

Yeah, but usually punk lyrics have such mind-blowingly original subjects such as anti-government, fuck the system, anti-government, fuck society, anti-government, and anti-government. Really deep, heartfelt lyrics...yeah....really hard to do.

This is the stereotypical punk downfall...no creativity.

 

[Listener1254]

Yeah, but usually punk lyrics have such mind-blowingly original subjects such as anti-government, fuck the system, anti-government, fuck society, anti-government, and anti-government. Really deep, heartfelt lyrics...yeah....really hard to do.

This is the stereotypical punk downfall...no creativity.

I'm sitting here trying to make up power chords and it's harder than you think. Each time I try it sounds the same as the last one I made up, I have to think up at least 3 to 4 power chord riffs per song and think of about 15 songs. It's kinda hard to do. It's not simple and lacking in creativity. And what about my tv analogy? you ignored it.

 

[Dead Winter]

Dude, I come up with new riffs every day...several times a day...but that's just what they are: riffs.

A song should consist of more than two riffs. This is where punk and metal differ. Metal plays music, punk plays riffs. Metal is more than just power chords; in metal there are hammer-ons, pull-offs, licks, drastic rhythm changes, alternate picking, sweep picking, etc.

I play Damage, Inc. by Metallica about 3 times daily to keep my right hand in shape, and I ATTEMPT Holy Wars to keep my left hand in shape. Now show me a punk who concentrates on EACH HAND when practicing, just to be able to play his own music the way he/she wants. This is every punk song:

Power chord, preferable frets two and four, then they'll drop an octave and play the same frets. Then they'll slide down the neck and play a different power chord, then slide back up the neck. That's the song. That's every punk song. I've yet to see any punk band start tapping...

See, what you don't understand is that you think just because it's got distortion, that it's good and heavy. And we haven't even gotten into different tunings.

What about theory? Let's talk about modes and scales, such as Lydian, the quintessential metal Pentatonic scale, Dorian, and Locrian. Let's also bring up the fact of the certain music genres that are associated with said modes and scales. Yeah...if punk is harder to play than metal, you must be a quadraplegic (sp?).

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

you forgot my favorite mode: Mixolydian

i agree that doing exercises to keep up your hands speed and coordination is a good idea, but i have exercises that do both simultaneously so i dont have to play other bands songs, but thats what guitar lessons for 5 years will teach you, and then 2 years of music theory classes for the modes and all that good stuff. Man music is fun.

 

[Dead Winter]

what kind of exercises do you recommend?

 

[iAMtheblackwizards]

it sounds real stupid when you hear it being played, but it works. play frets 1, 2, 3, 4 on the low e, alternate picking, then go down a string, without breaking your alternate picking pattern. WHen you hit the high e, after you do the frets 1,2,3,4 then do 2,3,4,5, then go down the strings, once your pinky hits the 12th fret, go backwards back to 1. if you screw up your rhythm at all, then start over. I usually do that about an hour in the morning and an hour at night, then in the middle of the day do a few sweeping exercises .

I guess over all i play guitar about 7 hours a day or so, so im due for arthritis soon, but its okay.

Whenever im playing the rest of the time i spend it either trying to write stuff, learning songs from other bands because i wanna play them, or i practice scales.

 

[nergal_S]

I am quite shure this guy is joking.

Punk music is not ment to be hard to play. This is why every 12 year old is in a punk band.

Power chords are the first thing you learn on the guitar. What is so hard about playing 5ths all day.

I hope you are joking, if not you need help

 

[fadingessence]

"I'm sitting here trying to make up power chords and it's harder than you think. Each time I try it sounds the same as the last one I made up, I have to think up at least 3 to 4 power chord riffs per song and think of about 15 songs. It's kinda hard to do. It's not simple and lacking in creativity. And what about my tv analogy? you ignored it."


Omg that is hard to do? You're saying punk is better because they can make songs out of power chords? LOL!

oh god....gotta stop laughing....holy fuck you're stupid

btw the reason it sounds the same is that you suck

and the reason punk sucks is that all the songs sound the same

and because you suck....a lot...

you mindless ignorant piece of shit excuse for something called a musician that is too stupid to play the easiest most idiot form of music ever created and still insists on giving your sorry excuse for a brain a workout trying to argue with us just for the fun of it.

I know I know...we should just ignore the troll...but can't I try to feed him so much he chokes?

 

[Astral Poetry]

I hope he's a troll, otherwise he is a very ignorant human being that shouln't be listening to metal.

 

[Dead Winter]

Hey wizards, I actually do that exercise a lot myself. I didn't know if anyone else did it, so I just figured that if I alternate picked the chromatic scale...I think that's the chromatic scale, still learning all my scales...it would improve my dexterity and picking.

 

[HappyHelloweenEdguy]

I'm sitting here trying to make up power chords and it's harder than you think. Each time I try it sounds the same as the last one I made up, I have to think up at least 3 to 4 power chord riffs per song and think of about 15 songs. It's kinda hard to do. It's not simple and lacking in creativity. And what about my tv analogy? you ignored it.

if you are still reading this Listener1254...

if you can't make a power chord song STILL and STILL think punk is better/more talented...

You should go jump off a cliff, we don't need your blind ignorance being smeared all over this perfectly respectable message board.


if you think a band that puts "NA NA NA" in ANY part of their song is talented... You my friend, are a moron.

This thread reminded me WHY i HATE SO many people.