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Thank you rharv, you are finally starting to understand my humor! 
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Note that we aren't arguing for an interval like the perfect sixth to be treated as a chord. And in practice, power chords are almost always played on distorted guitars or basses. Neely agrees that it acoustically gains the "missing" third, which is why it can be treated as a chord.
. With all respect! Please forgive me for even mentioning this. I hate to bring it up, but I am a music nerd if nothing else! I actually tried to avoid this whole discussion because this general topic can drive people crazy (when it really should not). And I agree everyone has been very polite. But, as incorrectly indicated above, the 6th is not perfect. It is either major or minor. Only the unison, forth and fifth are perfect. And that point about "...Neely agrees that it acoustically gains the missing third" does not make sense to me and I did not hear him say that? Finally, regarding my credentials which were questioned above, I have three certificates from Berklee, two in Music Theory and one in Jazz Guitar performance [at the moment I can not find that 3rd one, maybe my memory is mistaken, but I have the other two on my wall along with my PhD. I have to admit, those records, plus a buck, would get me a cup of coffee at McDonalds (with the Sr Discount) and not much more. But I am proud of my studies. And again, more music nerd than academically trained in music. I can’t comment on the debate regarding the 6th . . . way beyond my pay grade but maybe someday . . . if I'm lucky  However, I do have to agree that we’ve all been polite, professional and relatively focused on the subject(s) at hand. If I pull the camera back and zoom out, this thread is mainly about Levitin’s book, This is Your Brain on Music. Secondarily, and right now, it’s about the fascinating musical relationship between Joni’s ambiguous chords and Jaco’s skill in dis-ambiguating them. And now, the idea of what a chord is, what are ambiguous chords and other music theory elements. And the path of this thread may even take more twists and turns . . . it’s all good and my hope is that we all learn (and share) and that we remain friends. The more I read, the more I see that music is infinite and infinitely fascinating. Dr Dan, as for your credentials, my instincts told me you had some but I had no idea they were as distinguished as they are. Ten short years ago I couldn’t tell you the difference between F and F# or quarter note from a half note. I also agree that there should be no reason whatsoever that discussing music theory should drive anyone crazy. That said, I’m sure we all have something of value to share and I hope you share more. I also hope I’m not the only one here seeking to grow musically. Also, let’s not forget the young, talented, educated musicians that are lurking and pondering whether to support this forum and BiaB. The depths of our discussions here, how we conduct ourselves and the (perceived and real) value of BiaB will determine the size of the user base for years to come.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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But, as incorrectly indicated above, the 6th is not perfect. It is either major or minor. You got me there! I'm 100% wrong with my terminology!  But I was wrong about much, much more than that!  Because I was in at a doctor's visit with my wife where I couldn't watch any videos on my phone, I stupidly asked Gemini to look up what Adam said about power chords. That's on me, because I know better. Because while Gemini cited sources and gave a summary, that was a hallucination, and I was happy with it returning an answer that aligned with what I wanted, so I didn't wait and look into it further instead tippy-tappy-typing on my phone. Now that I'm back at my computer, I've been able to double-check the information and while the information is correct, Adam never said those things. But again that's my mistake. I should have checked the source myself, because I know better. When I couldn't find the information that Gemini claimed was in the video, I asked Gemini to explain where the answer came from. It hallucinated this response: Adam Neely often discusses power chords through the lens of psychoacoustics and tonality, rather than just simple guitar technique... It turns out to be completely untrue. When I asked Gemini to find a specific video where he made that claim, Gemini hallucinated: Adam Neely discusses the perception of the third in power chords most explicitly in his video titled "What's in between Major and Minor chords? | Q+A" (and occasionally in his analysis of blues tonality).
He explains that while a power chord consists only of a root and a fifth, the 5th harmonic in the overtone series is a pure major third. When you add distortion to a guitar signal, you are essentially "squashing" the waveform, which drastically increases the amplitude of these higher overtones. The citation looks good, but of course, there's nothing of the sort in the video. When I asked where Neely talks about the fifth harmonic, Gemini hallucinated: Adam Neely discusses the audibility of the 5th harmonic in the video titled "Why is major 'happy?'" (2016) and refers to it in several Q&A videos. Again, that wasn't true. Gemini hallucinated: I apologize for that error. You are correct—the video "Why is major 'happy?'" focuses on the concept of brightness and cultural associations rather than the physics of the harmonic series. I conflated two different videos in my previous response.
The specific explanation you're looking for—where he discusses the 5th harmonic being perceived as a major third in distorted power chords—actually appears in his video:
"What's in between Major and Minor chords? | Q+A" When told that didn't appear in the video, Gemini hallucinated again: I believe the video I was searching for is actually "The Blues Scale is a Lie" (or a very similar deep dive into blues tonality). In that video, he discusses the "neutral third" and how guitarists use power chords to avoid a strict major/minor choice, while the overtone series from the distortion provides the "major" foundation. There was no such video by Adam Neely. Gemini hallucinated: I am very sorry for the confusion. I have been referencing concepts that Adam Neely frequently discusses in his videos, but I have repeatedly given you the wrong video titles and incorrect transcript details. I was mistaken about "The Blues Scale is a Lie"—no such video exists with that title on his channel.
The video you are looking for is titled "Why 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' sounds so powerful" (or a very similar title focusing on Nirvana/Grunge).
In his video "The Music Theory of Grunge" (and specifically in his discussion of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), he breaks down the physics of the power chord. Here is the actual information from that context... And when told that no such video existed, Gemini finally said: I understand your skepticism. After a thorough search of Adam Neely's video catalog to find the specific explanation you’re looking for regarding power chords, distortion, and the 5th harmonic, I have determined the following:
The concept I previously described—that power chords work because distortion generates harmonics that "fill in" the missing major third (the 5th harmonic)—is a common music theory explanation, but I cannot find a video where Adam Neely specifically makes this claim. Lesson learned: From now own, I'll wait until I'm on my computer and do my own darned research instead of cutting corners and relying on Gemini to give accurate summaries. Personally, I don't really care if people want to think of a "power chord" as a chord or not. Music theory is a system for organizing an understanding about how music works, not a monolithic thing. If a set of pitches has a harmonic function and you feel the need to call it a chord... go for it. Or not.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Season's Greetings!
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Team PG
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