Unit 1: Adult Spirit

Power Theory!

Before we start to properly tackle the track, let's really get into the idea of powerchords, as they will be an enormous part of this course. Franco does a great job of explaining what powerchords are at a theory level, so let's reinforce those ideas.

First, Regular Chords...

To understand the powerchord, let's discuss the "regular" chords, otherwise known as triads. These are three notes stacked together like this:

Our major chord contains the root, third and fifth from the major scale, and our minor chord contains our root, flat third and fifth from the major scale. If this is news to you, and you need help understanding this, please check out our theory lab section for all the juicy details. It is the 3rd that turns the chord into a major-sounding chord, bright and light, whilst it is the b3rd that turns the chord into a minor-sounding chord, which is more dark and sinister.

Now Powerchords...

Powerchords are different. They do not sit in any one camp. They don't have the 3rd, and they don't have the b3rd. In fact, all they have is the root and the fifth.

As a songwriter, this can be quite freeing. You don't have the exact theoretical boundaries as you do when mixing major and minor chords, and you can really experiment with moving these chords around the neck, combining different sounds.

Playing The Chords

Next up we're going to look at how to play the powerchords, and as Franco rightly says, you have a few options! When we look at powerchords, we tend to have an E shape or an A shape, which simply means we start on the E or the A string. Our core chord is just the root and the 5th, but we can have as many root notes and 5th notes as you like. In fact, the more you have, the more "chunky" it sounds.

Here we have the A5 chord and D5 chord. You can also find them in the Chord Boxes section

The first two chords are played with a single root and 5th, and the second two chords with a doubled-up root note. The second shapes, therefore, sound fatter but that doesn't mean you always want that. It's very much up to you to decide and experiment with.

How Should We Fret Them?

As Franco mentions, you have a few ways you might like to fret these chords. Here are a few from Franco, but experiment and see what works for you!

Finally, once you have found a fingering that feels relatively comfortable for you (none will feel super comfortable initially, as you need to give your fingers time to adapt!), then start to try to move the chord around the neck. If your first finger is on an A note, it will be an A5 (A powerchord). If it's on a C note, it'll be a C5. Simple as that!

The Song

With all that wonderful powerchord knowledge under our belts, it's now time to start learning this original Kurt-inspired piece. Our focus today is the intro and chorus, which is essentially the same thing! First up, let's take a look at the basic chord progression and the chord voicings used.

So it's a pretty simple chord progression, and the REALLY good news is that we use these same chords for the whole track. The difference comes when we drill down on the rhythm. NOTE: Franco plays the chords with two notes as shown above, but you can double up that root note as we talked about in the previous lesson if you want to!

The Rhythm

The groove is just as important, if not more important, than the chord shapes themselves. So our next task is to learn the rhythm pattern, which looks like this:

The Verse & Bridge

Next up, we'll tackle the verse & bridge. As we said before, it's the same chords for the verse, it's just played a little differently. Let's dive into the tab...

Finally, the bridge is the easiest part of the whole song, just repeating two notes on the A5 chord, as shown here:

The "Chka Chka's!"

This is the true icing on the cake for the sound of the riff, and will take it from a beginner sound to a Kurt Cobain sound! First up, how do we get this

The Strumming Pattern

Now we have the ability to play a muted strum, we can apply it to the riff. Our strumming pattern and tab looks like this...

All Together!

So now is the time we put the whole track together, and the most useful thing to have on digital paper is the full chord chart. Remember that you have the full tab available in the Guitar Tabs section.