What No One Tells You About Power Chords

[@BenEller]

Thanks for having me, y’all! Always a pleasure.

[@ronmorey3475]

Great job Uncle Ben! Somehow I get the feeling that there was an edit of a much longer, comedic pause after you said "tip muting" . I know that it would have been left longer on your channel, but I still laughed anyway! Cheers

[@srt8speed]

After all this time someone made perfect sense of playing flawless power chords! God bless you young feller, you’ve really helped this old geezer out a ton. Sometimes the simplest things make the most sense, so much so that no one teaches them!! Thanks again!!😊

[@gwb19]

Thanks for being here!

[@KajHeGeHaggman]

Great work, Ben - again!

[@blues61]

Excellent instruction vid! It's a mystery why this isn't more widely published in beginner guitar instruction books.

[@haroldhals73]

been messing around a year now and then this simple magic appeared....

[@johnw4659]

Finally, someone explains what has always been a mystery to me. Thanks so very much for this lesson.

[@Vitliy]

You should visit a guitar teacher. Mine taught me this.

[@pingdotlin]

@@Vitliy mine didn't teach me fuckall, all he did was give me an acoustic and make me learn how to hold and pinch the strings with my fingers and "learn the timing"

[@dragon_force4843]

To the people that say you cant learn guitar from a KZbin video. Uh hello you sure about that? Its crazy all this time I thought that power chords were just getting good at hitting those two or three strings without hitting any other string. I'm like how do they do it? Anyways, you saved me some headaches and sped up my learning. Thank you man! I cant believe myself lol.

[@bassage13]

I started in the 90s. We had to learn from BOOKS. If I had KZbin back then I would have progressed 100 times faster.

[@thefilthygringo9228]

Love watching your videos! Thanks

[@alonsoguardia]

Uncle Ben is the best! I’ve learned so much from him🤘🏼

[@dickhamilton5890]

Yes, but can Uncle Ben tell me why my rice comes out dry.

[@BenEller]

@@dickhamilton5890 you gotta rely on the Mount Fuji method! Put your rice in a pot or rice maker, any quantity. Then pour in enough water so that when your fingertip is touching the rice, the water comes up to the first knuckle. It ALWAYS works!

[@jessejordache1869]

This takes me back to being a 13-year-old bassist, playing a guitar whenever one was around, and everything I played was an atrocity. Everything, that is, except for power chords, because my fingers were already in the "fretting a bass" position, where they mute everything anyway. So great video, and thanks for the advice. I'd have probably figured it out eventually, (just the other day I made a hash out of "dolls" by Primal Scream because of not understanding what you're talking about here), but it's nice when things come full circle like this and you can say "See? When you were only a bassist THAT'S why you were only good at improvising with double stops on the pentatonic scale. Your clumsy ass was accidentally muting everything else, like you're supposed to, but you didn't know that."

[@chazboish]

OMG I am a drummer for 40 years . Started taking guitar about two years ago. This insight is perfect since it also helps give some layout to overall fretboard chord wise . And easy to pick up the root. Plus I love the wrecking ball idea since the drumming groove comes in handy with that right hand. Anyhow sorry but super psyched and already seeing good results.

[@thejasonblackburn]

The last tip about muting with the middle finger is great. I hadn't thought about that before and it's a game changer.

[@AlanShortySwanson]

Uncle Ben! On Premier Guitar!!

[@MoStBlEsSeD]

Uncle Ben spitting knowledge to the underlings... fugginn siikkk.. showing off that black and gold beauty

[@bghammock]

Ha! I actually thought this was Ben's channel. I see Uncle Ben in a thumbnail talking about power chords, I click.

[@wesleymarkmusic403]

Great info. Beautiful guitar. Thanks.

[@scotchvelo]

Fabulous instruction as usual. Thanks Ben.

[@mvarnzo5709]

This is gold, Jerry. Gold!

[@RsSquier51]

Love these tips. Thanks!!!!!!

[@andersoncesario26]

Thank you once again uncle Ben! This technique will save my journey on the long run as I've just started playing guitar

[@flyingwondercat739]

Great tutorial, muting the strings with the left hand so the picking hand can focus on the rhythm.

[@marklewallen6387]

You had me at “mash!” New subscriber.

[@MSOSounds]

Brilliant! Thank you for explaining this in a way I understood!

[@FFXGuitar]

great video very important lesson

[@mickeydt17]

Good reminder regarding the middle finger muting! 👍👍

[@hangman960]

Thanks will try this

[@Liquormans]

Good Lesson great tips... light bulb 💡 moment. A Lesson that helped alot. 52 yrs old 3 yr guitar journey.

[@Liquormans]

🍁 Canada

[@gus4u2c]

Uncle Ben! Alright!

[@donciseau]

Very educational video!

[@strat0871]

Absolutely right !

[@nelsonstrickland8813]

You sure know how to explain things !!..thanks a bunch,..ive learned something !!❤

[@sweeneyTodd-de4by]

What fantastic advice, had to subscribe 🎉

[@premierguitar]

Welcome aboard!

[@Doowopsid]

Very well done lesson! Learned a lot, Thank you!

[@dominicliu3549]

This is great advice!!! Got some golden nuggets myself from this!

[@spacedout_bae]

Dude this video was amazing thanks for these juicy tips 🤘😎🤘 totally never thought about or noticed a few of those muting tricks when seeing musicians live but it all makes sense

[@gteefxr3094]

😄🤔

[@BenEller]

Happy to help!

[@ProfVonW]

Speaking of “squeaky clean”, any tips on avoiding string squeak while sliding my hand positions on the wound strings? Especially at high gain

[@ilmisxx2]

Lift off the fretting hand when changing positions very slightly, mute with right hand

[@jsullivan2112]

Flat-wound strings

[@babycatshifinvinyl6411]

These are fantastic tips and may make me a better guitarist. But what some of this means is I need to relearn power chords and keep all of this in mind. Will take practice practice practice!

[@juliodefreitas157]

Absolutely awesome. Thank you for sharing your tips ❤❤

[@madcapsules010]

Great lesson! Thank you

[@alessandrotorrescampos522]

Excellent lesson. What pick thickness do you recommend for power chords (interspersed with riffs and solos)?

[@DavidOakesMusic]

I use Jim Dunlop Tortex 1mm or slightly less - the Grey Ones. They're perfect for me - but I play with the side of the pick not the point. Like BJA does.

[@BenEller]

Anything you feel comfy with! I generally hover between .88 and 1.5mm.

[@ericskinner7355]

The good news is that most picks are not that expensive. Try as many different sizes, shapes, and gauges as you can and you will find what works best for you...

[@jasonm3602]

Awesome stuff! Thanks, Uncle Ben.🤘🤘👏👏🎸🎸

[@dmitryWeirdo]

Perfect lesson, the next one should be about how to change the position (eg on from powerchord to powerchord) without the bass string squeak.

[@GarryParker]

This is a great video, but I feel like you should've mentioned muting the bottom strings with your thumb. I'm sure it's much more common for players like Billy Joe and even James Hetfield to use this technique rather than try to use their middle finger.

[@bengooch4306]

Especially for something like an A chord on the 2nd fret. I tend to wrap my thumb over to mute the low E on that one.

[@hb2289]

Liked and subscribed! I dig your teaching technique. Looking forward to more videos. How about a lesson on Dirty Black Summer by Danzig?

[@GothicXlightning]

Ahhhh the Cathedralic Gothic Beauty of the eternal Black Beauty Les Paul of Honor 🖤

[@jf5578]

excellent!

[@bigteno4597]

Great stuff, thank you 😊

[@mofongotron]

My dude, is that a new Mesa Badlander 25 up there?

[@BenEller]

It’s the Badlander 100. Check out my John Sykes video to hear it ROAR!

[@jessenicholson1777]

Any particular reason to fret the 5th and octave with the 3rd and 4th fingers? I have always used the 3rd finger on both those notes but see most people doing it the way you’re doing it.

[@infinidominion]

Extra finger gives more strength to hold it easier

[@gearbeer7277]

Only reason to use a “3 finger” style is if you want to keep your other fingers free to ring out extra notes (middle finger) and utilize 4-5 strings for the cord instead of just 2-3 strings for the cord. Nothing to do with strength, if you need “strength” for notes to ring out, your guitar/technique is setup very very wrong

[@d00mf00d]

You can play how you want. Everyone plays differently. As long as you're having fun.

[@pieflies]

Whatever is most comfortable for you for a given song. It might not always be the same. I often use just 1st and 4th, sometimes 1st and 3rd and sometimes 1st, 3rd and 4th.

[@jsullivan2112]

In all honesty it really depends on what chord you're coming from and what chord you're moving to. You might change it up in other positions to make it easier to go to the next chord, depending on where you're going. There are no rules, other than do what's required to make it sound clean.

[@wheelieking3976]

Lovely guitar.

[@jamesduckworth9117]

Just the tip. Where have I heard that before?

[@digchevelle]

Am I weird for preferring to play power chords with the bottom four strings, with the middle finger pressing down the G (the way you’d fret an acoustic)? I use humbuckers through Mesa amps, so the extra string adds a little sparkle. It wouldn’t work for punk rock.

[@fdfsdfsvsfgsg4888]

That isn't a power chord. That's a major chord.

[@6nosis]

This man spits HOT FYAH☝🏿!

[@NoCoverCharge]

Secret 1: Power chords sound best with a 100 watt Marshall full stack

[@infinidominion]

50w

[@Dylan_Pearson]

Everything sounds best with a 100w Marshall stack

[@ileutur6863]

Man I can't stand the worship of Marshall in guitar tones. I never liked how it sounds, so fizzy and midrangey. Its good for lead playing I guess, but every time I play through a Marshall I wish it was a Mesa, Orange or Fender

[@Dylan_Pearson]

@@ileutur6863 I guess Marshall are like marmite, people seem to either love em or hate em, but in fairness orange and mesa sound cool and Fender have great clean tones

[@ileutur6863]

​@@Dylan_Pearson I guess Marshall works best if its the only thing you're using, but I like to have pedals in front of the amp and I'm already starting with a strong midrange tone

[@dankokozar]

This is some tutorial! Keep up good work.

[@robertedwards7695]

This advise is definitely going in my saved library for future reference. Im a young learner at 64 and I'm sure this will help me later .My plan is to become Jimmy Page by the time I reach 100😂.Thanking you Robbbert from Melbourne Australia.

[@Alfredo78666]

Down da' barrraaaau!

[@brianice9846]

Power cords are best to get power to amps

[@geodude7116]

Lmao 😂

[@nimblefred2932]

Speaking of ringing out, how about getting some acoustic treatment in that room Uncle Ben.

[@sassquatched]

Dude, thank you.

[@MJRnBRoxx]

For 51% Im watching this cause of uncle Ben, for 49% cause of this very guitar 😁😊

[@Relaxlifeisshort2]

Wow thank you for posting this

[@ZagrasNixillis]

Is it the camera perspective off? Why does that Les Paul look so huge?

[@Shoehazer]

This is amazing

[@ohplezz]

Step Dad speed !!!

[@commanderphilbo1471]

That's my uncle !!

[@smelltheglove2038]

Just the tip

[@stringman509]

I can play bar chords but really have trouble with power chords?

[@ZYEEEEEEEEEEE]

Does it matter if I have a smaller amp??

[@RaviSingh-be3mx]

Makes no difference whatsoever

[@mxazm]

Uncle Ben you are awesome but how about that string buzz on the Custom?

[@BenEller]

It’s an electric guitar with light strings, it’ll happen! It’s part of the character.

[@seanverso6712]

Never had a problem

[@dougsensei]

Coming from classical guitar to power chords this was a big.. ahhh haa! moment for me.

[@jorgearcecofre8024]

It's all in the technique

[@PaulChoate-s4v]

I can do the two-finger power chord but not the elusive three-finger lol

[@jsullivan2112]

09:27 It needs to be more than just barely touching otherwise now you've suddenly got natural harmonics going on as well. Those strings are not completely dead there my friend.

[@whatarefriends4]

People don’t care. They won’t tell you. Ben will

[@73prd]

All I play is power chords and your spotbon it's all in finger placement, palm mutes etc

[@myerkord]

Ramones a lot of there music is power chords

[@khaledalothman4314]

How can you keep your middle finger from sticking out and looking like you're showing everyone your finger

[@d00mf00d]

Thats how i play to begin with. Can't Barre chord anyway.

[@scott7521]

The best lesson I've ever seen. That dink Marty would never show you this.

[@dirktucker77]

Those expensive jazz chords keeping me broke. 😂

[@alexcantelou2469]

"Expensive jazz chords.." hahahahahaha!!!! 😁

[@bukwok]

Im not really guitar, something like harmonics right..?

[@jayveeeye6007]

expensive jazz chords... cracked me up :)

[@nathanmarineau3993]

"Some expensive jazz chords..." 😆

[@markmnorcal]

I prefer the clickin'.

[@daveclinton4945]

Honestly, no one tells me anything about power chords.

[@jonathancaballero1593]

👍😊

[@arwenphoenix1]

😂😂 "90s punk" 😂😂

[@PaulChoate-s4v]

You may want to pick up another amp head

[@louaguado995]

I cringe every time I see players strumming all the way up by the neck. How in the world are they muting with their palm? They're not! I play like Billy Gibbons, my palm never comes off of my bridge. I never "smack the crap" out of any strings. I only pluck the ones I want ringing out. It's not an acoustic where you need to hit the strings harder to be louder, the amp does it for you

[@micktheman6]

11 minute video to learn palm and finger muting

[@MatthewTomich]

Don't complain about free stuff.

[@couchpoet1]

11 minutes? Lol

[@DMSProduktions]

Power 'chords' aren't!

[@ileutur6863]

aren't what? Do you ever leave comments that make sense?

[@DMSProduktions]

@@ileutur6863 Yes always! It makes sense to any native ENGLISH speaker! Power 'chords' are not chords!

[@chrisdunnettmusic]

Sorry but that's advice to make a sloppy player ... you should focus on hitting the correct strings ...then again, you were influenced by 90's Guitar players so I forgive you ;)

[@gteefxr3094]

Sad 😔

[@stevegunn9971]

Very good lesson, thanks!