Showing posts with label power chords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power chords. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Advanced Guitar Power Chords

In our last post we looked at using guitar power chords and moving these around the neck as an easy way to play rock guitar.

Today we'll look at some much less common ways of playing power chords, including fat power chords that are played using all six strings and some more unusual inversions.

In the last guitar power chord post, we played some 3 note power chords that doubled up on the root note, repeating it one octave higher:

A5 guitar power chord
A5 guitar power chord



In this inversion the 5th has been doubled. The root note is on the A string giving us a C Power Chord. Mixing up root position and inverted power chords gives some interesting riffs and can be a really easy way of changing between power chords on the guitar.

C5 guitar power chord
C5 guitar power chord



Playing this inversion on the A, D and G strings uses exactly the same fingering. Here on the 5th fret with the root on the D string we can play a G Power Chord.
G5 guitar power chord
G5 guitar power chord


We have to adjust the fingering a little to play the inversion on the D, G and B strings. Here we play a Bb Power Chord on the guitar's 3rd fret:
Bb5 guitar power chord
Bb5 guitar power chord


It's also possible to play four string power chords on the guitar to get an even fatter sound:
G5 guitar power chord
G5 guitar power chord


Using open strings, six string power chords are possible too (the easiest way to play this chord is to barre across the second fret with your first finger to play the D and G strings and lay your little finger across the B and E strings at the 5th fret:
A5 guitar power chord
A5 guitar power chord


Try incorporating some of these more advanced rock guitar chords into your playing and check back soon for another guitar chord of the day.

Guitar Power Chords

Play electric guitar? Then you need to know all about power chords. Power chords are easy guitar chords to play and sound great with lots of distortion. Power chords are played in all types of rock music because they sound great on a overdriven guitar, whereas other chords can sound messy.

Power chords use just two notes, the root and 5th of the scale, the root note is marked by the square box.

G power chord, guitar power chord, G5
G power chord, guitar power chord, G5


There is no such thing as a minor power chord or a major power chord. Power chords use only the root and 5th from the major scale, so they're frequently labelled 5th chords e.g.

G5 has these notes in: G, D

You can also play this chord with three notes, doubling the root note an octave higher.
A power chord, guitar power chord, A5
A power chord, guitar power chord, A5


These are easy rock guitar chords to play as you can move them anywhere on the guitar's neck:
  • 1st Fret = F Power Chord
  • 2st Fret = F#/Gb Power Chord
  • 3rd Fret = G Power Chord
  • 4th Fret = G#/Ab Power Chord
  • 5th Fret = A Power Chord
  • 6th Fret = A#/Bb Power Chord
  • 7th Fret = B Power Chord
  • 8th Fret = C Power Chord
  • 9th Fret = C#/Db Power Chord
  • 10th Fret = D Power Chord
  • 11th Fret = D#/Eb Power Chord
  • 12th Fret = E Power Chord
 You can play the same fingering with the root note on the A string, here the two note version of the power chord, with the root note on the 3rd fret giving us a C Power Chord:
C power chord, guitar power chord, C5
C power chord, guitar power chord, C5


Here's the three note version of the power chord, with the root note on the 5th string giving us a D Power Chord:
D power chord, guitar power chord, D5
D power chord, guitar power chord, D5


Again, you can play this chord on any position on the guitar neck:
  • 1st Fret = A#/Bb Power Chord 
  • 2st Fret = B Power Chord 
  • 3rd Fret = C Power Chord 
  • 4th Fret = C#/Db Power Chord 
  • 5th Fret = D Power Chord 
  • 6th Fret = D#/Eb Power Chord
  • 7th Fret = E Power Chord
  • 8th Fret = F Power Chord
  • 9th Fret = F#/Gb Power Chord
  • 10th Fret = G Power Chord
  • 11th Fret = G#/Ab Power Chord
  • 12th Fret = A Power Chord
Power chords are usually played on the bottom, thicker strings of the guitar as this gives a much fuller sound. That said, you can play power chords on the higher strings and this can be a really useful of making up guitar riffs by mixing up power chords that are played on different strings.

The two note power chord on the D and G strings of the guitar uses the same fingering, here with the root on the 3rd fret giving us an F power chord:
F power chord, guitar power chord, F5
F power chord, guitar power chord, F5


When playing the 3 note power chord we need to adjust the fingering slightly to compensate for the way the guitar is tuned. Here we have a G Power Chord with the root on the 5th fret of the D string.
G power chord, guitar power chord, G5
G power chord, guitar power chord, G5


As with the other inversions, these power chords can be played on any position on the guitar:
  • 1st Fret = D#/Eb Power Chord 
  • 2st Fret = E Power Chord 
  • 3rd Fret = F Power Chord 
  • 4th Fret = F#/Gb Power Chord 
  • 5th Fret = G Power Chord 
  • 6th Fret = G#/Ab Power Chord
  • 7th Fret = A Power Chord
  • 8th Fret = A#/Bb Power Chord
  • 9th Fret = B Power Chord
  • 10th Fret = C Power Chord
  • 11th Fret = C#/Db Power Chord
  • 12th Fret = D Power Chord
 Try mixing up these chords and check here for advanced guitar power chords.