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Guitar Chords
Heavy
Metal Guitar Chords
Making chords more suitable for
metal
When doing keyword research for this site, a popular search term I
found was "metal guitar chords". Because of the nature of metal music,
guitarists most commonly use diads as opposed to chords.
Diads are two notes played together, whereas chords consist of 3 or
more notes. Diads (such as powerchords)
tend to be favoured
by heavy metal guitarists as they provide more definition and clarity
under high gain/distortion.
However, we will look at some ways in which you can use fuller chords
to create those tense, often dissonant harmonies heavy metal is known
for. Musicians often refer to diads as chords anyway, especially when
used in a rhythm (non-lead) context.
Metal
guitar chords - powerchord alternatives
The powerchord is the most commonly used diad form in metal without a
doubt. It involves the root and 5th from the major scale and is
considered neutral because it lacks the 3rd of major and minor triads
or any real tension. This interval is known as a perfect 5th...
A common alternative is to flatten the 5th, giving us a more dissonant diminished
interval...
Or sharpen the 5th, giving us an augmented
interval...
Remember, just like the regular powerchord shape, these can also be
used on A string and D string roots. Simple!
Then we have the major and minor metal guitar chords, still only using
two strings so we omit the 5th...
Major diad
Minor diad
So, just by moving that upper string around the root, we can create
chords that will allow us to give our metal more melodic intricacy. A
simple example...
And don't forget to try using open strings with these diad forms. For
example...
Try also experimenting with different diad positions in drop tuning, as
you can apply wider intervals due to the dropped 6th string.
3
and 4 string metal guitar chords
If your guitar has good quality pickups (i.e. not too muddy, good
separation of chord tones), it should be able to ring out more than two
strings under high gain/distortion without sounding like mush.
Obviously it would be silly to limit the chords you can play to just
"metal chords", but here's some chord forms that I've commonly come
across in metal music. Remember most of these shapes can be formed from
both a low
E root note and an A string
root note, just like the regular powerchord shape...
6th chord (no
3rd)
9th chord (no
3rd)
Major 7th
chord (no 3rd)
Dominant 7th
chord (no 3rd)
Suspended 4th
chord
Suspended 2nd
chord
Keep cutting chords down for
metal...
The only thing that makes these "metal guitar chords" is that we've cut
down the fuller barre/movable forms to 2, 3 and 4 string chords more
appropriate when using high gain and distortion.
Try creating your own 3 and 4 string chords. The great thing about
metal is that there is less emphasis on what sounds "right or wrong"
than with other styles.
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