Power Chords On The Guitar

How To Play Power Chords On The Guitar

Power Chords are the the holy grail of chords for rock guitarists.  You could literally make a living writing and playing rock music knowing only this single chord shape.  The best part is that they’re easy to play as well!

Here is a Power Chord starting on the E string at the 5th fret:

A5– The No. 5 after the chords letter name tell us that it is a power chord.

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Order of Placement:

1. First finger on the low E string, 5th fret.
2. Pinky on the A string, 7th fret.  You can use the 3rd finger if you like instead of the pinky, but the pinky is a better option for playing on the lower fret #’s.

* Be careful to only strum the two notes in the chord and not all the unused open strings below it.  One trick is to lean your first finger on them so they won’t accidentally make any sound if you strum them by mistake.

Here’s one starting on the A string @ the 5th fret.

D5

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Order of Placement:

1. First finger on the low A string, 5th fret.
2. Pinky on the D string, 7th fret.  You can use the 3rd finger on the smaller frets higher up on the neck.

* If your having trouble reaching the 2nd note with your pinky try reviewing your left hand position.  Make sure your thumb is lower on the back of the neck.  This will open the hand up and give you more room to stretch.

Special notes about Power Chords on the guitar:

• They are movable which means you can move the shape all over the fretboard of the guitar.
• They are almost always played with distortion.
• They are most commonly used in Rock and Heavy Metal music.  There are literally thousands of famous songs written using only power chords!

Now go write the next million dollar hit song!!!

Here is an easy song for practicing the power chord. Brain Stew by Green Day

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