Guide To Power Chords

What Are Power Chords?

Power chords can be fun and easy to play. You can hear them in all types of music, but most people associate them with rock.

Power chords are not really chords. Chords are 3 notes or more, whereas power chords only have 2 different notes. A more correct name would be "power intervals" because they only contain two different notes. Usually power chords are composed of the root, a perfect 5th, and the octave. Basically they are just like playing perfect 5th intervals and doubling up a note or two.

Power chords are easy to play just about anywhere on the neck, but lend very little harmonic texture to a song. They do not have a major or minor third interval. A chord needs this interval in order to make it a major or minor chord.

If you're playing a song with a lot of distortion, strumming a full chord might create too much dissonance. Plus if you have a fast chord change, it's often easier to use power chords for the really fast part. Beginners will overuse them due to their convenience, but if used in moderation they can come in handy.

No Substitute For Learning The Real Thing

A lot of players get caught in the power chord trap. They learn how to play power chords but fail to learn the real chords. This is a major mistake. Just because you can play a C power chord does not mean you know a C chord. As we said before, they aren't really chords anyway.

Learning chords is one of the most important things a guitar player can do. It does not matter what style of music you are interested in, you cannot avoid learning your chords! Failing to learn them will mean that you will fail as a guitarist in the long run.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are the power chords:

6th String Root Power Chord

Read about the fret/chord chart for this chord pattern below.

Fret/Chord Charts

Depending on what fret you play will determine what the name of the power chord is. You can find out it's name by looking at the fret/chord chart below. If you listened to my advice in the "Getting Started" section then you may not need to use the chart, because you already know the notes on the guitar.

The name of the chord can be determined by the root of the chord. The root is simply the lowest note in the chord. For instance, if we played the above chord pattern where the root of the chord falls on the 5th fret, we would be playing an A chord. If we played the chord pattern on the 12 fret, it would be and E chord.

Fret

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chord F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E

5th String Root Power Chord

Fret 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chord

A#/Bb

B C

C#/Dd

D D#/Eb E F F#/GB G G#/AB A

5th String Root Variation

Fret 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chord

A#/Bb

B C

C#/DD

D D#/Eb E F F#/GB G G#/AB A

3rd String Root

Fret 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Chord D#/Eb E F F#/GB G G#/AB A A#/Bb B C C#/dB D

 

 

 

>>>Next: Common Open Chords Chart

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