Learn Power Chords
Now that you know the basic 5 open chord shapes, C, A, G, E, & D, you should know the other structures of chords that allow you to play them all over the neck of the guitar.
A power chord (or fifth chord) is heavily used in rock genres of music. It is commonly formed with just 2 notes, but sometimes an octave can form the 3rd note giving a heavier tonal sound. Power chords can be played anywhere on the neck and are a staple diet for any rhythm guitarist in a rock band.
The chord is called a 5th note because it is developed with the 1st and 5th notes of a major scale. See the major scale to the right, the 1st and 5th notes of the scale are the two notes of this chord.
The notes are formed as per the below diagram.
Power chords are often played on the 5th or 6th strings anywhere on the neck. The base note is the deepest note in the chord and this is what the chord is called (for example the E powerchord, as the base note is on the E string played open). The second note which makes up the chord is the fifth note, this is 5 notes up from the base note. So we count E(being 1), F, G, A, B. B being our fifth note, which happens to be on the fifth string fret 2.
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As the two notes will always be perfect fifths, it is neither a Major nor a minor chord.
If this all sounds a little too confusing and you just want to know how to play the chord anywhere on the fretboard, think of it like this, where ever the base note is, the fifth note is one string higher and two frets higher in standard tuning- see the patterns below. (of course if playing on the 3rd string the difference is 3 frets).
The example to the left shows that you can play this shape anywhere. The diagram is displaying a powerchord on the eighth fret. The note played on the 8th fret of the 6th string is a C, so this is what the chord is called.
The below photo is how you would play the chord. It is very simple to play and very easy to move around quickly, thus making it an attraction for fast, heavy songs.
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Powerchords are often written in tab as the 2 or 3 notes in a row, no mention is made to the fact that it is a chord. The below shows an example of this chord written out in tab. Click here if you wish to learn more about reading and writing guitar tablature.
e|--------------------------------------------
B|--------------------------------------------
G|--------------------------------------------
D|--------------------------------------------
A|-----10-------------------------------------
E|-----8--------------------------------------
As mentioned above, a common structure to use is the 3 note power chord. This is the same as the above chord with the addition of the octave of the base note.
For example, the C powerchord will have a C, a G (fifth), and C (next octave). An octave is a series of eight notes. The eighth note is beginning of the cycle again (hence the two C’s). So we count the chord out as follows with the bold letters being the notes of the chord.
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
An A powerchord for instance would be:
A, B, A, D, E, F, G, A
So, in our C powerchord the octave of C is on the 10th fret of the 4th string (right under the fifth note). The below diagrams will surely make sense if this all seems too confusing. – You don’t really have to know HOW the chords are made up in order to play them, you just need to know the shapes but it helps in understanding music in a more advanced way if you do know these basics.
This is played the same as the 2 note powerchord only the 3rd finger ‘bars’ the 4th and 5th strings. You can play these 2 notes with your 3rd and 4th fingers if you like but this tends to lead to slower chord changes, barring the strings is the most common way to do it.
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The photo below shows how it is done on a real fretboard.
As mentioned above, power chords can be played using this pattern on any string, except the 1st. They can create a powerful sound and often used in conjunction with palm muting. You can learn about palm muting here.
In the next lesson I teach you about Major and minor bar chord shapes, This will allow you to play any Major or minor chord shape anywhere on the neck.