Doom Metal Guitar - Write Heavier Riffs with The Crowbar Chord

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In this Doom Metal Guitar Fundamentals lesson we are discussing inverted power chords, or something Kirk Windstein calls "The Crowbar Chord".
With this movable power chord shape, typically rooted on the 5th string, we're adding in a second 5th interval at a lower octave to make our chords sound more bass heavy and dissonant. You can hear Kirk use this chord shape on countless Crowbar sludge classics throughout the years.
#crowbar #kirkwindstein #nolasludge
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[@robwells7875]

I learned that as the Obituary chord, still heavy no matter what you want to call it. The riff you played was amazing!

[@DoesItDoom]

Had a buddy this morning tell me he called it the Obituary chord! Thanks man.

[@viniciusbertucci]

Obituary use it in "Dying", right? That's what my ears tell me.

[@rawbbingmysellph7464]

Yessss!! Exactly!! Memory remains as well!!

[@christophergrigg3968]

Obituary uses it in pretty much every song they have ever written

[@rawbbingmysellph7464]

..what about EyehateCHORD? lol my eternal love.. They rape this chord like industries do our brainz for a looong time now..

[@ericjlong2995]

The inverted fifth is a very very common chord in metal and hard rock and has been used since 70's. Very useful to sound heavy!

[@XlouietheflyX]

Accept, 'Balls to the Wall' uses it without the high fifth, just an inverted power chord

[@lawngnome412]

Good grief people. "I learned it as this. I learned it as that. Its this, not a crow bar chord". He literally says in the video that its just what kirk called it, and that its jist an inverted powerchord. Doesnt matter who calls it what, it just sounds cool.

[@DoesItDoom]

This man gets it. ⚔️🐐

[@jat2319]

Facts

[@cmd_f5]

Word. Life's too short to debate shit on the internet. Crowbar rules and so does this channel. 🍻🔨🎸⚡️🩸🛠

[@musicplaylists59]

i learned it from an evil shaman in the mountains in exchange for some wolf blood

[@slayabouts]

Yeah, I know it from Dimebag using it a lot in Pantera. But it was pretty clear in the beginning that he wasn’t calling it “THE crow bar chord”, just that he knew it from crowbar

[@docphill]

The band Sylosis does this in a lot of their riffs too, and it's one of the reasons why they sound so heavy in E standard.

[@rafaelgutierrez6275]

In later years the downtuned to C# standard if I'm not mistaken (good tuning tho)

[@parkkingery9216]

Ive been doing that for years, makes it so evil sounding.

[@DoesItDoom]

So good! 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@Dosemen]

Doubt you did

[@_Stroda]

​@@Dosemen Why would you doubt it when this shape is i) pretty intuitive ii) easy to play iii) commonly found in many metal (and non-metal) subgenres? I think the only contentious thing being said around here is that this chord shape, out of the context of a heavy/'evil'/whatever sounding chord progression, sounds heavy or evil on its own. So far as metal is concerned I generally associate it with somewhat uplifting, 'epic' and somewhat spacey sounding parts in the music of bands like Mithras and Blut Aus Nord.

[@parkkingery9216]

@@_Stroda ive been playing since the 80's before seven string guitars and the drop tune craze, playing in std e this was used to thicken up the sound. So yes ive been using this technique for a longtime.

[@pattol666]

Growing up my first pedal was the boss metalzone which i still have today. All my music friends would talk shit about how it sounded. I always loved the buzzsaw swedish death metal sound.

[@hallamalla98]

Thats the HM-2 though. Heavy Metal 2. But bands like AT The Gates used both the HM-2 and Metalzone to create their tone.

[@tcpfuzz9215]

Man, same story here lol. Boss MT-2 and a Crate Blue Voodoo 120.

[@edgyxveggie9432]

This chord is essential for punk and hardcore music. Which is likely how Crowbar learned to use it.

[@modati7142]

yess , it was also a chord used by the band Death

[@V3xxe]

Interesting to see all the different names for it! I first learned it as an inverted chord because my mate who took guitar lessons showed me lol. The guitarist in one of my bands calls it the Biohazard chord haha

[@Randscorporation]

I picked up the reverse power chord from Failure. Crazy how much power it adds.

[@DoesItDoom]

Nice! Definitely agree.

[@groblezep5548]

Same!! Saturday saviour was my one.

[@joeyt5427]

Same here dude! My friends and I call it the “failure chord” lol

[@whiskeycan529]

I think Weezer used it a lot on the blue album too

[@lukepike72]

Thanks man Just noticed when i listened to your interview with jimmy bower that you got 2 voices The teaching voice and the chatting voice in my opinion thats a sign of a good teacher. With love ❤

[@DoesItDoom]

Most definitely. Gotta bring the right voice for the situation. Thanks for watching, Luke. 🧙🏻‍♂️🤘🏻

[@soumickmitra1426]

That was an amazing riff! You should probably write a whole song

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks brother. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@whiskeycan529]

I've always thought of this as the Minor Threat chord. Because I'm old. And because the first song I ever learned that contained it was Minor Threat. Rad chord for sure.

[@DoesItDoom]

It’s fun to hear what people have called it over the years reading comments on various platforms!

Allan Penford it’s a band or the joke flew over my head

[@rogerogrant]

Haha! Yeah, when I first started playing someone showed it to me and called it the Ian McKaye chord!

[@whiskeycan529]

@@rogerogrant Brian Baker's eye just twitched

[@noesunyoutuber7680]

@@whiskeycan529 Lyle Preslar was Minor Threat's primary guitarist (Baker was their bassist except on the Out of Step LP, at which point he was second guitarist), but I suppose it does demonstrate how much we think of Minor Threat as "Ian Mackaye and three other dudes."

[@petercheney8316]

That Epiphone might be the coolest guitar ever.

[@DoesItDoom]

I’m still blown away that I bought it for $329 brand new on Amazon. It’s such a badass guitar. ⚱️⚱️⚱️

[@mattydread8148]

Damn is that paint stock? Never seen a gold sg before

[@DoesItDoom]

Matt Cremeans yeah. Was a really cool limited run they did in 2016. Metallic gold with nickel hardware and black plastics.

[@quinetastic]

Yes! I agree...

[@petercheney8316]

@@DoesItDoom I see they also made it with P90s and a stop tailpiece.

[@jessehutchings]

I love this channel and your style, man. I want my guitars to sound as dark, doomy or savage and roaring as possible

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks dude!

[@lichen8855]

Discovered this chord on my own when I first started playing! Always use it in standard tunings. Thanks for the great content!

[@xltoad]

Same here!

[@MRSludgedude]

I learned it as the nirvana and Alice in chains chord. Crowbar, Alice, nirvana, soundgarden got it from the melvins. They created both genres.

[@nicolot4652]

To be honest this is well known as the Morbid Angel chord, those bands just add the octave to open the chord even more, but Morbid Angel and death metal in general used it from the start

[@johndo9648]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@MRSludgedude]

@@johndo9648 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@witchfindergeneralelectric8758]

So simple yet so effective, that's genius.

[@DoesItDoom]

Definitly!

[@joe12524]

Your riffage sounds like something from the crowbar album "lifeblood of the downtrodden". The power of the riff compels me !

[@DoesItDoom]

🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@martinhroch344]

I've always called it "hardcore power chord" or "Incubus power chord". That thick, growly sound of it is so addictive.

[@bimguff]

Even Weezer uses that chord. It's useful in lots of genres.

[@DoesItDoom]

That's true!

[@justingoers]

These chords are all over the Blue Album! True!

[@johnrosario4280]

Haha, Weezer was the exact band I learned about this chord from

[@aydentalbott9509]

Pretty sure acid bath did it a little as well, like in god machine

[@8Seven65]

Learned this from Weezer as well :D

[@ChiefSpartan1]

Good video man. Your channel is starting to get me into doom metal

[@DoesItDoom]

So glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

[@xirtayrc]

i cant for the life of me remember where i learned this but i was JUST using it this morning while playing some acoustic. glad to see it being shown off some more, because it sounds awesome.

[@sweetstrawberry1995]

I also use this a lot. I'm not sure but I think I picked it up playing black metal

[@DoesItDoom]

Awesome!

[@micromints1735]

The same scale position can be used in drop tuning to make Sus2 chords, which is also frequently used in the more emotive/melodic doom bands like Warning.

[@ChadKingOfficial]

can you recommend emotive and melodic doom?

[@outerworld4297]

Dude your crowbar riffs are awesome!

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks man! 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@alanleemaxwell831]

Just discovered your channel, instantly subbed! Really well explained informative content-thank you, and greetings from the 🇬🇧

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks for the sub, Alan! Glad you dig the content. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@Saucybones]

After learning the creeping death die riff I wanted it to sound heavier and I did this by accident! I have been doing that for a couple years now. I love it

[@prestonsucks666]

I learned these from a lot of Art of Drowning and Black Sails-era AFI songs. Jade uses them quite a bit to thicken up the sound, great tool. Great video as well!

[@ruination775]

I love your "Crowbar" Riff Steve. Awesome 🤟🤟🤟🤟

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks Luke! 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@davidheuser2119]

this is what I needed! Thank you

[@DoesItDoom]

Glad you found it useful David.

[@AshVPW]

As someone who's mostly self-taught and leans into the doom style, this is just how I've always done power chords

[@theetempleovdoom3863]

I really liked this video - I was already familiar with inverted power chords but I didn't know about how they were used in doom & sludge! Definitely a great way to add some variety with 5th string power chords without losing the heaviness that 6th string chords have.

[@DoesItDoom]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@tulyar1043]

Came across this chord in the mid 1980s, being used by Iron Maiden on the Powerslave album. Sounded absolutely Huge being played live!!

[@DoesItDoom]

Nice!!

[@Lee-dj2tg]

Thank you! Really beefin" it up.

[@DoesItDoom]

Awesome!!

[@chupiconverge6034]

Other great Lesson. Good Job

[@johnsguitarmusicanddemos]

*I learned to make these by playing Obituary. 🏆🏆🏆🏆 Definitely a great way to add bottom end to your riffs!*

[@Foxywaterable]

Man I am so in love with that SG.

[@DoesItDoom]

Me too man! Was always one of my favorite LP looks, was really excited to see it show up on an SG.

[@ed_diaz_shredz]

Love Crowbar, excellent lesson Steve\../

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks for watching, Ed! 🤘🏻

[@troygolden8997]

Good stuff Steve!

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks Troy! ⚜️🧙🏻‍♂️🐐

[@kmvkmv3433]

Great video, Steve

[@DoesItDoom]

Glad you liked it!

[@chasebroughton7373]

That’s cool as hell. I was playing that “chord” for about 2 years before I checked this out (you can only barre a fret in a drop tuning so much before it starts getting redundant). Very cool.

[@DoesItDoom]

Awesome!

[@gibson2623]

That is one beautiful guitar.....:) Great riff :)

[@adamsnow8554]

Such a cool riff man.

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks bro! 🙏🏻

[@mrdemczak]

Another fantastic lesson! Thanks Steve \m/

[@DoesItDoom]

Sure thing brother. Thanks for watching.

[@dirtwyrmband]

Was trying to find my old comment about how running the Sabbathi pedal thru my bass rig was cutting off the low-lows. Old cab was a 4x10 Ampeg. But now I have a 2x18 Sunn O))) sub that kicks the shit out real nice. Thanks man.

[@AndrewWukusick]

I discovered this chord shaping while fucking around one day, I love to use it to get an extra half step or so lower from my tuning for certain chord passages

[@kristinschaible5224]

Thanks so much!

[@jaredf5000]

love the riff!

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks man.

[@MetalLeo30]

So cool! I learned that before off of a Josh Middleton vid of Sylosis. 🤘

[@DoesItDoom]

Nice!

[@travis3754]

I’ve known about this chord, but the riff you played was so good I’m reconsidering my use of drop B tuning lol. May need to go down to B standard after all!

[@DoesItDoom]

Give it a try! Can always explore Drop A once you’re in Bstd. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@charlieburleson3310]

My band opened for crowbar at ground zero in spartenburg SC. They are genuinely just super nice guys

[@mikeshanew]

Dude that kicks ass

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks man. Glad you liked it.

[@cmd_f5]

Awesome. Love this shape and use it everywhere. Really makes 6 string standard tuning sound mean and downtuned stuff even heavier.

[@prooser]

Appreciate the 4:20 length of the video.

[@chrisforbis9572]

Great video Crowbar is awesome.

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks Chris. Most definitely awesome! ⚜️🐐

[@felinekaiju4517]

Oh, so it's an inverted power chord. Never looked up what it's called lol, Thanks Steve. 26 years later and I know what to call it now.

[@RomanStrijac]

Thanks!

[@chriscurran1967]

Great video Steve!!! I’ve been using a variation of that chord shape for a long time. The difference in what you showed and the way I play it is that I bar the three high strings instead of just the 5th. I’m not a good theory guy, so please pardon my shitty explanation attempt. Love the video, keep em coming brother!!! 🤘🤘🤘

[@DoesItDoom]

Nice! Will do it brother!

[@joerusche]

FUCK YEAH!! Thanks dude!!

[@DoesItDoom]

Sure thing, Joe. Thanks for watching.

[@mos6507]

First time I encountered adding the low fifth like this was in Rush's 2112.

[@danielhart8718]

Not very metal, but I learned these types of Chords from David Bazan's playing in the Control album of Pedro The Lion. "Second Best" is practically a doom metal song along the lines of Patrick Walker's Warning. Still really cool to see where else the chords are applied!

[@DoesItDoom]

Been cool to hear all the different places people have learned the chord!

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

Pedro The Lion are killer.

[@Majamham]

Just found you - nice riff! Subbed

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks for the sub Mark!

[@BMuscle]

Bro that riff was fucking 🔥

[@DoesItDoom]

🙏🏻🤘🏻

[@estebanrodriguez4917]

Appreciate this!! 🤘🤘

[@DoesItDoom]

Glad you found it useful!

[@jezabelSZ]

Just subscribed to your channel. I Love the doom evilness in sound and so do my neighbours as I'm trying to learn guitar and share this evilness with all of them cos I feel generous ❤

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks for checking out the channel. I hope you and your neighbors enjoy the content. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@liquor8396]

Picked this up from trying to learn morbid angel songs actually good thing to keep in mind when writing and want to beef things up haha

[@szabolcsrapp4279]

Yepp, I use this technique as well in my songs, great way to thicken up the riffs. Steve, great content as always, well explained. Could you do a mini series on music theory for self-thought doom and stoner guitar players, I don't want to learn the whole of it, just what applies for this type of music. Thanks bro!

[@DoesItDoom]

Will do it!

[@JSG-mw4qr]

I learned these from crowbar tabs, always just thought of them as reverse power chords

[@DoesItDoom]

Pretty cool!

[@penttikoivuniemi2146]

I figured this trick out while writing my 3rd or 4th song back when I first started guitar and songwriting, been using it since. Here's a fun addition to it: have your bassist play a 5-string and make them play the root notes on the low B (or whatever tuning you use) string... It makes the power chords sound stupidly huge.

[@DoesItDoom]

Nice!

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

I thought I was so clever tuning my bass a 5th below my guitar. 😅

[@ges2211]

Great channel!,

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks dude!

[@Dr-Curious]

This chord was used on "Comfortably numb" by Floyd in the 70s.

[@steveedmondson9651]

I learned this chord when I first learned Leper Messiah

[@deathstardisko]

I stumbled upon that trick about a year ago and have been using it ever since. It really transformed some of my slightly weaker riffs, but my bass player hates me for it as he can never figure out what chords I'm playing when we're jamming 🤣 Love all your videos, Steve. Stay heavy!

[@DoesItDoom]

Understandable! Thanks for watching!

[@XlouietheflyX]

LOL I've been using this chord shape in my band Sloven for over four years ... both as root fifth octave power chords and as sus 4 power chords (when you have the root on the lowest string) ... never thought it was anything to do with Crowbar, I learned it simply by studying the notes on the neck ...

[@tolgaayrim]

I have an Epiphone 2010 SG with humbucker shaped P90 on neck position. It sounds killer in low tunings. Twangy as a Tele and heavy enough for Stoner. Epiphones are great guitars!

[@DoesItDoom]

Awesome I bet! Great guitars.

[@intheghettomix]

I love your channel, saludos desde España!! :)

[@DoesItDoom]

Much appreciated!

[@bruceblankenship6]

Yes, I too learned it accidentally, in the beginning, Many years back. Works nice if you finger the octave of the root as well. In Cold Mourning, we called it the Throwback chord as it was the first song I think that featured the chord almost through the entire song. So when writing if it was to be used in any other song you'd say throwback chord here. We used it a lot but I think it's more effective like anything if not overused and please hit the octave on those bar chords. nice channel. Frostbit was another song that used it a lot.

[@Nick992]

good riff

[@dronehomeless]

Your Crowbar inspired riffs remind me of the band Haarp. Going to go listen to them now. Been awhile.

[@DoesItDoom]

Awesome!

[@jgmopar]

5th on the bottom chords are great in certain parts. we used to use them in an old death metal band i was in to make the A power chords sound huge.

[@ry100proof68]

Cool riff

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks man.

[@AllGamingStarred]

now we just need a video series about playing the Doom songs from Doom in Doom metal

[@nicolot4652]

I saw this chord used by Soundgarden in New Damage, which stress the obvious similarities between Sludge Metal and Grunge

[@b.hen.t]

yeah its a dope shape because you have 2 octaves of the 5th and the root is sandwiched in-between , the root can also be seen as the 4th from the bass note on-top, a 4th is a pretty dissonant interval adding the meanness.

[@DoesItDoom]

Absolutely!

[@noesunyoutuber7680]

Yeah, I always thought of this as a fourth with an octave.

[@nightoftheshape]

As soon as you hit those chords I heard every Crowbar song ever written lolo

[@DoesItDoom]

Haha. That’s exactly what happens to me.

[@moribnd]

Definitely the "Obituary chord," but used extensively by great rockers everywhere ...just not always with the most brutal guitar sound. Nocturno Oculto and Sammy Duet probably use the 4th quite a bit too. A young Obituary guitar player probably heard this in rock and in Slayer (Jesus Saves opening riff) --or in Sepultura.

[@sonictemple2925]

I’ve only known it as an inverted power chord. My band uses it a lot. Very common in doom, sludge and drone. I’ve always loved when bands like Weezer use them. They just sound so big and full.

[@sebastianalejandroposadaca6571]

my friend may the universe bless the hands of all of us who love this incredibly perfect ge 🤟🇨🇴🤟🇨🇴 sick tone

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks brother.

[@rustykidsduo]

Nice!

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks Rusty. 🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@tommymclaren8302]

I love this series of short tips and tricks for getting the sludge sound down. I know its not technically a music theory thing but would you ever do something on the feedback manipulation that bands like Eyehategod do?

[@DoesItDoom]

Could be an interesting topic!

[@SirJenkz]

I learned this from “Empyreal” by Sylosis. They’re great at making standard tuning sound heavy.

[@DoesItDoom]

A few others have said the same!

[@setra23]

Sylosis have inverted power chords all through their music. Conclusion of an Age was the song that I learnt about this chord shape.

[@justinwolz4932]

I think I first heard this from either Acid Bath, Obituary, or Crowbar. Can't remember which, but all badass.

[@MrCshmn]

It’s also the extremely well known chord shape from the intro of Hendrix The Wind Cries Mary. That’s where I learned it.

[@rlh1984]

I discovered this chord on accident and had no idea the theory behind it. I just thought it sounded cool. Since then, I realized what I stumbled across and use it a lot more.

[@MetalHeadHippie]

Nice Steve..

[@DoesItDoom]

Thanks Hippie 🤘🏻

[@XxtwichedxX]

It gets deeper when you start messing around with that same concept on a 7 string. Using that string underneath as a lower 5th which goes perfectly with distortion when you filter in overtones

[@Zordid0]

It's been done since ever to simulate having an extended range guitar when you don't. I think I discovered this on my own ages ago but I can't recall.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

This is the key to slam riffs as well.

[@DoesItDoom]

🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@Riffrippinroddy]

Killer chord man. I use it all the time. Crowbar fucks!

[@dunmorul]

Thomas Gabriel Fischer aka Tom G. Warrior played this chord in so many classic Celtic Frost songs. I knew what this so-called Crowbar chord was gonna be before I even pressed the play button. Sorry, but to me it will always be the "Celtic Frost chord". We old-timers stick to our roots.

[@DoesItDoom]

I’m good with that! Haha. Thanks for watching.