Lesson 4
Set your amp to overdrive because it's time to learn some rock style chords (power chords) and a technique used all the time in heavy metal music known as palm muting.
Power Chords
A chord is a collection of notes from a scale played simultaneously. A power chord uses a root note plus the 5th note from the scale so an A power chord is written as A5 an E powerchord is E5 and so on.
Tip - Try this alternative A5 power chord fingering.
Tip - Try this alternative E5 power chord fingering.
Tip - The G5 chord requires you to mute the A string with the underside of your 1st finger.
Tip - Try this alternative D5 power chord fingering.
Tip - Remember power chords require an overdriven tone from your amp.
Palm Muting
Soundfile Download
Note - Palm muting is often abbreviated to P.M.
Tip - Just like power chords, a heavy metal tone is required from your amp for palm muting.
The riff below uses the 4 power chords from this lesson and the palm muting technique.