The basics of power chords on guitar

Get rockin’ on guitar with this new video explaining power chords.

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Every time you hear any rock music, punk, heavy metal or any other form of music that features overdriven, distorted guitar sounds, then you have definitely heard power chords in action. They have been the backbone of rock music for the last 50 years.

Ironically, in musical terms, the power chord is not actually a chord, as the chord shape only consist of a dyad, a pair of notes, instead of a triad, which is three notes. A power chord is made up of the root note and its fifth. Quite often these two notes will be fingered several times in one chord shape, although the simplest form of power chord can be played on two strings.

In recent years the term power chord has been adopted by other types of musician to indicate any chord which contains only two notes. This is repeated within the chord shape. The name power chord pertains to simple, distorted chords played by rock musicians.

So why are power chords so attractive?

Why do people love to crank up their amplifier and bash out a thundering rhythm using nothing but guitar power chords? The answer is that they are simple to play, and leave the guitar player free to express rhythmic ideas through additional techniques such as left hand dampening, right hand dampening, and effects units.

You will often see a chord named as a 5 chord. Whenever you see something like G5 in a piece of guitar tab, don’t be scared, this is just the way a power chord has come to be interpreted as a notation formula. It represents the fact that the chord is constructed from the root G and its fifth.

Predominantly power chords are played on the bass strings: the E, A and D strings. More often than not the chord will be made using a partial barre, as this allows the musician to play several power chords in the same fret board position without actually moving the barre at all.

Certain simple chord progressions, especially those found in the more simple forms of rock music such as old school punk, will require very little physical movement of the left hand up and down the fret board, allowing the rhythm guitar player to thrash out extremely fast and driving rhythms with the minimum of effort.

There are whole generations of musicians who did nothing more than teach themselves how to play power chords in their own bedrooms, before moving on to learn more complex chords and more intricate musical styles.

Learning to play guitar power chords is fun, simple and offers an immense amount of gratification for a minimum of effort. If you are the kind of new guitar player who wants to be able to play something recognizable within days of picking up a guitar for the first time, then spend a few hours learning to play guitar power chords and jamming along with your favorite rock songs.

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jamiehart

Content creator and Chewbacca cosplayer.

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