Nickelback adds entire new chord to musical arsenal

Vancouver, Canada – Nearing completion of its seventh full-length studio album, members of the post-grunge rock band Nickelback explained to sources Wednesday about how they set out to challenge themselves musically on their new release by incorporating an entirely new chord into their songwriting.

“Sure, we could’ve went in [the studio] and just pumped out another generic Nickelback album using the same three chords we’ve been playing for the last decade, but with this album we really wanted to branch out and try something new,” said Chad Kroeger, singer and guitarist for the Canadian four-piece. “I think that incorporating a fourth chord into our arsenal of musical weaponry has added a whole new dimension to the band. We hope Nickelback fans will enjoy this more experimental direction.”

As the band’s primary songwriter, Kroeger first conceived the idea of introducing a fourth chord into Nickelback’s music almost a decade ago after collaborating with Saliva singer Josey Scott on the duo’s 2002 hit single “Hero.”

“Josey is an absolute genius – that goes without saying – but he’s also a great teacher and he plays a pretty mean guitar,” Kroeger said. “During one of our writing sessions I saw him fooling around with a chord I had never heard before, which he later told me was an A minor. I remember falling in love with the sound of that chord; it was dark and haunting, yet so full of life. Finally in 2010, when we both had some time off, I asked Josey to came out to Vancouver to teach me the chord. It was simultaneously the most difficult and exciting six weeks of my life.”

When it came to writing songs for the band’s as-of-yet untitled new album, Kroeger found that having a fourth chord at his disposal opened up an incredible range of possibilities for the band to explore.

“Increasing our chord catalogue by twenty-five percent allowed us to be more versatile with our songwriting,” boasted Kroeger. “Now we can have bridge sections, and on some of the songs we change keys for my guitar solos – two things that were difficult to do when we only knew three chords. Also, the A minor has a very Latin feel to it, which allowed us to go completely off the map and lay down an up-tempo Latin groove complete with morocco accompaniment for one song. It’s amazing how much freedom this fourth chord has allowed us. I feel like shackles have been removed and we’re free to run wild.”

According to guitarist Ryan Peake, implementing a fourth chord into the arrangements was a daunting task that pushed each band member’s musical ability to their limits.

“I still have trouble with some of the changes, like going from a G chord to the A minor – you have to squeeze your fingers into this little tiny space,” said Peake, demonstrating the dynamic new note-grouping. “About half of the time I end up accidentally muting the high E string with the index finger of my fret hand. It’s kind of frustrating. I’m getting it, though. In the studio we just used ProTools to fix those kinds of mistakes, but we’re all working really hard to get the chord stage-ready for our upcoming tour.”

Looking ahead to the band’s next album, Kroeger and Peake both expressed interest in experimenting with a different strumming pattern, as well as attempting to write songs that have different tempos.