Power Chord....Uke versions?

BarbaryBill

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OK. Like many Ukers I trawl sites looking for songs and chords. Often these sites are guitar inspired and mention Power Chords - especially for rock numbers et al.

What are Power chords? Are there Uke Power Chords? Are PC's best left to guitars?

Cheers

Stew
 
I'm enjoying playing the Pixies song, Cactus, on the uke. It involves E5, G5, then Am, C, D, E5. As these power chords involve unisons and octaves, they sound really bad if the uke isn't in tune, but then all chords are better with a tuned uke.
 
1. Power chords sound best as low as you can play them. Hence why you almost never see guitarists playing power chords on the high strings.

2. A low G string helps give you more bass power.

3. Since a power chord is only two notes, you don't need to play all the strings. I like to omit the high ones.
 
I think power chords really only sound good on uke when amped with distortion. Actually, that's kind of true for guitar as well. I usually just play normal chords in place of power chords unless I'm rocking out with my honeytone. Since there's only one bass string on a re-entrant tuned uke, full chords never sound all that full anyway.
 
As these power chords involve unisons and octaves, they sound really bad if the uke isn't in tune

I actually use open 5 chords to check my tuning all the time, for that very reason. Specifically, I use G5 (0235) and C5 (0033). I think I read that tip around here somewhere. Works great!

JJ
 
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