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Power
Chords
Guitar
Power Chords
Power
chord variations & exercises
Guitar power chords are simple things - they comprise of just 2 notes,
those being the root
note and the 5th
from the major scale. They're not strictly "chords" (which involves 3
or more notes), they're diads - two notes played
together.
The reason they have been given their own name and
have been used in rock and metal for decades is because of the
following:
- They sound especially good under
distortion/gain.
- They are versatile
because they have no major/minor/extended
tensions. The tension can be created through inventive
movements and key changes.
- They allow for
faster chord changes and speed playing because the fingerings
are simple.
The below power
chords video series provides a great introduction to the
basics...
Below is how typical guitar
power chords are formed on the fretboard (I
use my index finger for the root
(1)
and my ring finger for the 5th)...
This standard powerchord shape can be played up and down
the fretboard, on the first 2 strings (E A) the second 2 strings (A D)
or the third 2 strings (D G) - it's a movable shape,
people!
The video below shows me moving these three root note power chord
shapes around different positions...
A root-5th power chord is
abbreviated using the number 5.
For example, C5, E5, F5, G5 etc. So if the root note lied on the note
A, the power chord would be... A5.
Let's go through a few
exercises to improve your speed, rhythm and
accuracy with power chords.
Later on, we'll look at
power chord variations that create different sounds.
Make sure your gain/distortion
is turned
up!
Warm
up
guitar
power chord exercises
So as a warm up we're going to
play a simple riff comprising solely of power chords using the shape
from above. Download the drum track below (right click and "save as")
and try out your own powerchord riffs...
Remember, you can also use
this shape on the D and G strings for a higher
sounding power chord riff. Mixing high and low tones in a riff can make
it more interesting and dynamic.
Try the exercise below using
all 3 root strings...
Chunkier
power chords
Now a different type of power
chord...
You
can add an extra note to standard power chords as a lower octave of the
5th (see diagram at top of page for the "5th") by including the E
string on powerchords played on the A and D strings
This makes the higher, A
string power chords sound a little deeper and fuller...
Simply bar your index across
those bottom 2 strings in the power chord
and then use your ring or pinky finger as usual to fret the higher 5th.
This is a different type of
power chord because the root note is not
actually the lowest note like usual, but because of how the 5th
harmonises with the root, the key stays the same.
Think of it as a downward extension of the basic powerchord shape.
Listen to me play a regular
powerchord followed by the meatier extended version from above...
Click
to hear
TIP: this
extended powerchord is great to ring out as a closing "chord" in a song
because it
has a large sound.
Lead
power chords
There is another shape you can
use which allows you to play powerchords with the characteristics of a
lead guitar solo. Smoke on the Water is probably
the most famous track in which this technique is used, in that opening
riff, but loads of rock
and metal songs use it.
What this shape allows you to
do is use one finger at a time, barred
across the two strings, and then quickly switch to another finger just
like you would when soloing. You can accomplish a faster, more free
flowing powerchord riff like the one below...
Click the tab to hear
Another
thing this shape allows you to do is hammer ons and pull offs (like
above) and other lead guitar techniques.
Drop
tuning power chords
Firstly, if you're unsure what
drop tuning is, head over to the drop
tuning page.
The only difference in
fingering for drop tuned power chords is the
bottom string and A string. The A and D string root-5th shape stays
exactly the same, as it does on the D and G string.
Just like the "lead" powerchord shape, with drop tuning you can simply
bar a finger across the bottom 2 (or 3) strings (root, 5th and the
optional octave) and slide, hammer on, pull off using other fingers.
Take a look and listen to the Drop
D exercise below...
Open
power chords
Powerchords don't just have
to be played on three strings up the fretboard. Remember those open
position chords you (hopefully) learned when you first picked up the
guitar? They
can be turned into power chords as well, and made more suitable
for high gain/distortion.
All
that's going on here is we're blocking out the "3rd" in the chords
(marked by the X on the E, G and A and simply left out on the D)
leaving just those root and fifth notes to ring out.
AC/DC used these a lot for
their vibrant and "big" sound under amp gain.
9th
power chord
A 9th
(same as the 2nd)
can
be added to the standard root 5th to make a 9th power chord.
This means we're adding the 2nd tone of the major scale to
the root and 5th (if you're not sure what that means, don't worry at
the moment).
Here's how it would look on
the first 3 strings at the 2nd fret of your guitar...
It is quite a stretch, especially for people with small hands, but
using your 4th finger to stretch out and get that 2 tone is the
easiest way by far.
All you need to do is practice
a few riffs with this
chord shape. Below are a couple of exercises with clean and distorted
example clips...
Clean example
Distorted/metal example
Hope you found this lesson useful!
I hope you now have some
good exercises to help warm up and improve your power chord playing.
The secret is to mix them up when you're writing a new riff so your
music becomes diverse and interesting.
There is more to rock and
metal than just power
chords, but rhythm guitar power chords support the percussion and bass
in such a satisfying way - they're simple but very effective, which is
why they're used so religiously.
Guitar Power Chords Chart >
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