Power Chords and the Basic Illusion of Heaviness

Abstract A power chord is a simple combination of two notes that, through the processes of amplification, distortion, and human hearing, conveys an impression of an incredibly powerful sound that is lower than the notes that are actually being played. The power chord serves as a case study to illustrate how metal music is often heard as something more powerful than it factually is, a phenomenon he terms “the basic illusion of heaviness.” This chapter adapts Stephen King’s theories of horror to argue that metal listeners often “suspend their disbelief” to experience the full impact of heaviness, and this establishes baseline conditions for when or how this basic illusion of heaviness succeeds or fails. Each listener’s knowledge, listening practices, stance, and social location shape their subjective experience of heaviness in any given song; their agency in this process is often limited to slow long-term training, rather than in-the-moment shifts of perspective.