Of Course Parallel 5Ths Are Fine! (If You Do This)
Rather than making this a long theoretical discussion... go at 8:34 in the video below and listen.
What do you hear?
It may be hard to believe, but in this piece I violated one of the most 'sacred' rules of music theory: to not use parallel 5ths.
But like Morpheus says in the Matrix: "Some rules can be bent. Other can be broken."
(As long as you know what the rule is, and why it's there. If you simply try to ignore it... you're going to have a problem!)
Now, maybe you don't know what parallel 5ths are. Maybe you do, and don't care - why should you care about some old-school 'rules' that do not seem to apply to your music?
Maybe you even think that power chords are parallel 5ths (they are not).
And yet... knowing what parallel 5th are and how they can be used is one of the missing ingredients in most musicians skills.
Wait... I said that parallel 5ths are forbidden... and then I said "how they can be used"?
Yes!
Because "parallel 5ths are forbidden" is only half the story.
As you can see, it all depends on how you arrange the notes of each chord.
To understand better how chords 'follow' each other and 'connect' together, then see this video too:
While if you want some interesting sounds for your songs, I do recommend to learn chord inversions.
In particular, I recommend third inversion chords, here's how to use them:
These are just a few pointers - there's only so much that can be done in YouTube videos that are just 10 minutes long!
If you really want to understand how harmony works on guitar - and are tired of all the people offering you 'quick fixes' and partial information - then I have the thing for you.
Check out the Complete Chord Mastery guitar course: a complete video course that explains everything you need to know about chords and harmony on guitar, with practical exercises and applications.
You can become a harmonic powerhouse on your guitar - and these are not just words. see for yourself: check out the course!
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