Punk Rock Theory
Say, “Hello”, to the anti-establishment side of music theory.
Punk Rock Energy
Punk Rock and many of its sub genres can be described as guttural, energetic, in-your-face, and even offensive. It’s the perfect style to use when you want to say something with no restraint. The use of pounding out simple two-note chords also produces an archaic caveman like sound that is then overly emphasized by heavily repeated rhythms. Quick and punchy chords that are centered on the first beat of a four count timing keeps the topics of punk lyrics moving forward at all times. The rhythm can repeat, but the story presses on. While the rhythm of the chords may break up, or swing the beat, the third beat can allow the drums and bass to have the option of adding emphasis. With a strong quarter note one beat and an energetic set of eight notes on the third beat, the formula of a Punk Rock song is almost over simplified. And that's a good thing.
By simplifying what is possible a musician can focus on the way sections of a Punk Rock songs are expressed in terms of "energy". For the seasoned musician this can start with dynamics, which are the way notes are expressed by playing them with or without additional emphasis. Big string bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and rapid hits to a snare drum can all add to the dynamics of Punk Rock.
"Energy" can be thought of as the totality of a dynamic phrase. Think of it like this. A guitarist plays a chord on every beat in a four count timing as "1, 2, 3, 4". After doing this two times the guitarist then plays on a count of "1, &, 2, &, 3, &, 4, &". The result is that the first two four-count phrases that feel like "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4" have been rhythmically compressed and played again as "1, &, 2, &, 3, &, 4, &". This compression raises the "energy" evenly. In Punk Rock we want to raise the energy unevenly. A simple way to do this is to avoid quarter notes. Any note shorter or long works because it compresses or extends the energy. Eighth notes using "1, &, 2, &" or sixteenth notes using "1, ah, &, ah, 2, ah, &, ah" crunch the energy into small pockets of time. Half notes and whole notes sustain the energy like a strong wind. Put those two components together and you get hard hitting energy spikes tied together by brief sustained notes.
Power Chords
So how can we use music theory to help elevate our Punk Rock song writing (or use the Punk Rock format in other styles)? A great place to start is with power chords, which are two note chords consisting of the root and fifth degree of a chord. A power chord with a root of A and fifth degree note of E is written as A5 because it is an A-chord with just the fifth degree note. If you are not familiar with fifths, then take a root note and go three and a half steps up. Starting at A takes you to E, so and A5 is just A and E. Below is a visual example of how an A5 power chord is constructed along with a list of all twelve power chords that are available.
One think to keep in mind is that if you play a chord with the notes “A-E-A-E-A” on an instrument like a piano, then you still have a power chord. Yes, there are five notes being played. The power comes from using only the root and fifth degree. You can stack these two degrees as much as you like, and you will always have a power chord that uses two notes. In this case, A5 as “A-E-A-E-A” only uses two notes: A and E.
Knowing how to write out the Circle of Fifths is very helpful because you can start with a root note on the circle and go clockwise one position to find that note's fifth.
Of course, punk rockers aren’t always into theory, but many are into guitar. To quickly find the fifth we can use an arpeggiated sequence shown in the next diagram. The accompanying fifth degree can be located on the guitar no matter what root note you start with. For the most part, the fifth is located a whole step to the right and one string up. The only time this changes is when the root is on the 3rd string. In this case the fifth is a step and a half to the right and one string up.
Major and Minor Tonalities
With a general idea of where we can go regarding rhythm and chord choices, we should actually play something. That means we need a melody we can get behind. A lot of great Punk Rock songs are in A Major or A Minor because standard tuning for a guitar puts E as the lowest tone. Having the fifth of your Tonic chord above and below the Tonic allows for options on how to drive back to Tonic. In other words, if you want to use a certain scale, then make sure your instrument can physically play the fifth degree note below the Tonic note.
With A as the Tonic, we need to decide if we are playing in a Major or Minor scale. Thankfully Punk Rock doesn't care what scale you use “too much”. We can play in both Major and Minor tonalities because of the use of power chords. The way this works is by playing a power chord in place or a major or minor chord. All major triad chords use the root, major third, and fifth. All minor triad chords use the root, minor third, and fifth. By eliminating the "third" our ears rely on the root notes to clue us in on the scale. After that the fifth simply follows along. Check out the next chart to see how power chords overlap in Major and Minor tonalities.
With a song in A we can play A5 as the Tonic along with D5 and E5. The power chords D5 and E5 will always work because they match with the Perfect Fourth and Perfect Fifth degree chords in A Major and A Minor. If we choose to use B5, C#5, or F#5, then we will cause the song to have a major tonality because those chords only fit within A Major. The same thing happens with C5, F5, and G5. Those chords only fit A Minor, so playing them would make the song have a minor tonality. The diminished chords don’t have a fifth degree, so a power chord won’t line up. Playing B5 (B and F# or B and Gb) over B° (B-D-F) only has the note B matching both chord structures.
The Punk Scale
Now that we’ve done a deep dive into power chords, we can think of the above chart as the Punk Scale. In this scale we have nine notes. Three of them (the first, fourth, and fifth) are our anchor points. We can play power chords on these degrees as much as we like. A quick touch on any of the other six notes draw our ears to the sound of major or minor.
To make a song sound “Punk”, try starting with the 1, 4, and 5 chords (the first, fourth, and fifth degree chords). If you want to go with hard rock, then add in one of the minor chords. If you want to go with a classic rock feel, then try out the major chords. Now remember how I said that Punk Rock doesn’t care about what you play “too much”? Well, this is where you can mix and match chords.
A simple four bar progression of |A5 |A5 |D5 |E5 | ends with the fifth and cycles back to the Tonic. Playing C5 very briefly before the D5 would give the song a touch of that minor tonality. We could also play B5 just before E5 because B is thefifth of E. Now our four chord, four bar, progression is broken up which allows for some uneven rhythm. With so many chord changes we might as well treat this as an eight bar progression with the form |A5 | A5 |C5 D5 | D5 | B5 | B5 | E5| E5 |. This is just one example of expanding upon a four bar progression that centers us in both major and minor, yet deviates when we want it to, to get eight bars of rhythmic space. Check out the audio clip I made that starts off with the four bar style and then quickly evolves into the eight bar style. There’s a bit of everything we discussed in there between a very beat up guitar and high tempo drums.
Now its your turn. Try out some repetitive choppy rhythms of your own over the nine note Punk Rock scale. You may find that sticking to a major or minor scale just doesn’t feel right once power chords take over. That’s a good thing. Playing “Punk” means being free to explore music. For the jazz players out there, try exploring Punk Rock as a form of the Blues. With nine notes there’s bound to be a dynamic twist that these power chords can provide. For the classical players, and everyone really, check out “The Legend of Ashitaka”. At the 12 second mark we get an orchestra playing C5 to Db5. Starting off a beautiful piece with a tense power chord movement makes a bold statement.
You don’t have to stick to a format to play “Punk”. All you need is freedom to express yourself and your strong (musical) opinion.
