It’s funny that the concept of chords as two notes is not considered anymore even amongst music theory people when it took until the Renaissance period for triads to be introduced to music.
Times have changed. And 12TET surely plays a part in why harmony today is different from what harmony used to be, or was considered to be.
My 2 cents: Power chords are an integral part of popular music for over 70 years now. Regardless of power chords being called chords or a an intervall with potential octave duplicates - it’s common practice and therefore I think the chord track should be able to cope with it.
Of course, YMMV.
Sometimes, I still tune a guitar slightly different depending on the key. The g-string alone can make all the difference if you play in C or E major. Some guitars do just fine, others still need a tiny little tweak every now and then. But that’s the exception to the rule. You are absolutly right @ggmanestraki - we are used to 12 TET and it did change the way we hear music over the past centuries.
100%
The slightly annonying thing for me is that you can MIDI-input a power chord and assign it to a Chord Pad (even though it gets an incorrect name), and it will play back correctly when triggered–BUT when you drag it to the Chord Track, it’s converted back into whatever chord the pad is named.
It would be nice if the Chord Track were totally aligned with the Chord Pads. Since it’s not, I just record the MIDI live or enter chords by hand.
I’m no expert, but I have taken 24 credit hours of music theory at Juilliard, and we were taught no third chords are chords, and we analyzed them as such. It is very lazy that Cubase doesn’t support power chords, when Dorico does support power chords. I guess the Dorico team are just music theory dummies and the Cubase team are the music theory geniuses.
It does but doesn’t change the historical meaning and definition of what a “chord” is. Two notes being defined as a chord is a few hundreds years older than 12TET itself.
The chord track was likely designed to facilitate what is known as “harmonization”—a term that emerged during the Renaissance, when harmony was defined as playing three notes simultaneously to form a chord. In the Renaissance harmonic tradition, two notes are viewed merely as an interval.
As developed, the track does not seem to accommodate the use of two notes as a chord capable of producing traditional harmonization.
This differs significantly from modern theory (late 19th century to the present), in which two notes are considered a chord. I do not believe the chord track was designed with the full range of existing theories or harmonization styles in mind (such as quartal, secundal, mirror, or serial harmony, among others).
Do we really care and really know? Atom was a term coined in antiquity, and the people most esteemed to care about the terminology use the term for something that now has proven not to be (- an atom). We’ll get tangled up in semantics and linguistics for no benefit at all.
For me, two pitches sounding simultaneously do not constitute a chord. I agree however that power chords have become so common that they should be accommodated in the chord track.
@Rene_L And here I have a wikipedia article in another language that says 3 or more. Let’s throw the musicologists in the ring and have them debate sources.
So, a modern music production tool doesn’t line with modern music theory. What is it for then?
With code involved you never know but I’d say that the integration of power chords can’t be a biggie. That’s if you start from scratch. With all the interdedendencies in Cubendo it’s difficult to really predict how much hours of coding would be needed.
Nonetheless, power chords are common musical practice as it has been pointed out here. Time to catch up 
Cubase’s Chord Track is designed to generate harmonies using chords that fall into specific categories—such as major, minor, sus4, diminished, augmented, etc. The track acts as a sort of harmonic conductor. For Cubase, a power chord does not qualify as a “harmonic” chord because it lacks a crucial element: the third (or a substitute note like the fourth or second). Without this element, Cubase cannot classify the chord within its harmonic system, leaving it undefined.
The Chord Track is built for functional harmony based on common progressions like I - IV - V. Power chords serve no harmonic function in this context because they do not specify whether the chord is major or minor—in fact, they can function as either. Consequently, they are not included in the analysis engine. Power chords are primarily used in rock and metal music to avoid major or minor harmonies; the melody usually defines the piece’s tonal character. Additionally, heavy distortion can be applied to these chords without creating harmonic ambiguity.
To work around this issue, you can use sus2 (C-D-G) or sus4 (C-F-G) chords. These remain relatively neutral while allowing Cubase to analyze them.
Considering the first written example of a power chord comes from Heitor Villa-Lobos, with Francisco Tarrega using it before him, is a bit strange for that to be the reason for the lack of support for power chords, assuming that is the reason.
@BrunoDSL, I’m not trying to convince you that a power chord isn’t a chord; I’m a guitarist myself, and I’m well aware of their utility and application.
I was simply explaining how the Chord Track was designed; indeed, it doesn’t incorporate that specific chord shape into its system. Should it? If so, a feature request for an update is in order.
Personally, I prefer playing them myself—whether on guitar or piano (MIDI or audio)—as it’s faster. I also rarely use the Chord Track; its notation system is sometimes questionable.
The chord track isn’t just for midi!!!
It also provides a harmonic overview for anyone perusing the arrange page, as well as applying to scores, so it needs to be accurate.
It really does need to be updated to address the lack of power chords and some of its other quirks.
As mentioned earlier by strumm, Dorico is far more advanced in this area and so hopefully it will eventually be addressed in Cubendo.