What are Power Chords and how do you use them?

What are power chords? Some guitar players love them and others hate them with a passion. They are simple and they have a simple purpose, so what do power chords sound like? Power chords create a strong sound with mediaeval overtones.Why do guitarists use them then? Power chords are better with overdrive because they are kinder to the human ear. Power chords are also simple to play on the guitar. All these things make power chords the backbone of rock music and on this page I hope to show you how to play them, where to play them and why it is important to play power chords with sensible fingerings!

Intro image of B.C. Rich Red Bevel Warlock Guitar Pack, Black with Red Bevels courtesy of Amazon, otherwise all graphics are my own and should not be copied

Who, who, who, who....

Well the generally accepted theory is that it was Pete Townsend from The Who and it may well have been, but I am sure that there probably were many guitar players around that time experimenting with the whole idea. Jimi Hendrix was making distortion indispensable in rock and blues playing and Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath were making the transition from blues band to inventors of Heavy Metal. Who knows for sure? All I know is those first definitive chords in Baba O'Riley are certainly classic....

Power chords are not called power chords because they are "big" shapes, in fact they are much smaller than usual chords. They are more properly called Fifth (5) chords, or Diads and can be used on treble strings in lead playing too. The term Power Chord comes from the fact they are useful with greatly amplified and powerful sound! You can play power chords on any harmonic instrument, including piano and keyboard, but they are usually much more useful to guitar players. They could be really helpful with a distorted synth voicing however!

Power chords are pretty much what is expected in modern rock music. One example of a band that makes great use of power chords (and movable major chords too) is The Offspring. One of my favourite Offspring songs to play is Pretty Fly For A White Guy. The moving power chords are great fun!

A final note on the theory for now. Playing power chords means you will be using consecutive 5ths and octaves... Anyone who has studied harmony will have been told to avoid these because they are a "waste" of a part or "break the rules of harmony". Power chords sound good though!

Yes, there ARE other fingerings for power chords, some of which are easier to play, but this is the best fingering to learn. It is tricky to use your pinky, but if you want to know why it is important it is to avoid strain on the second and third fingers and to free up the second finger for those movable major chords that bands also like to use.

Yes, you can slide that one shape up and down the neck, but you do have a lot of frets to cover and it is MUCH easier to mix in some Root 5 Power Chords. An example you might know if you like Nirvana - to play Teen Spirit, you need:

F, Bb, Ab, Db

You could play it with a Root 6 power chord for each at frets 1 then 6 then 4 then 9 but that would be very hard work. Playing the Bb and Db power chords on string 5 makes it MUCH easier.

Power Chords with Root on String 4 are not so common these days, but were very popular in classic rock and are useful when you want higher pitched chords to really cut through the mix. It is also a little harder as the tuning diference means you have to stretch that pinky out - but you CAN do it with practice and a correct hand position!

The power chord is not limited to the guitar. You can use it on any harmonic instrument. It works especially well on keyboards. Remember combining root and fifth is all a power chord is. It has nothing to do with the instrument it is played on or the use of distortion, it is simply a 5 chord.

What makes up a power chord?

A power chord is a chord with no third. Chords are usually built up with Root (R) Third (3) and Fifth (5) The Root repeated at a higher pitch is called the Octave (8).

So, if I build a C chord from a C major scale (C D E F G A B C) numbering those notes R/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 a regular major chord would be:

C (R/1) E (3) G (5) C (8)

If I build a C minor chord from a C minor scale (C D Eb F G Ab Bb C) numbering those notes R/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 a regular minor chord would be:

C (R/1) Eb (3) G (5) C (8)

My diagrams show you Root (R), Fifth (5) and Octave (8) and you will see straight away that the 3rd is missing. This is for two reasons, first of all it gives an easy way to play all chords which is movable on the guitar but second and most important missing out the third gives a much NICER sound when you are playing at high volume with overdrive or distortion. The sound is strong, but lacks the clashing harmonics higher up the scale that have the potential to hurt your ears! Also, because the third (3) is missing you don't need to worry about major or minor and that gives an ambiguous tonality which is great for metal and rock in general.

You can see that to play the chords in this form it is necessary to play the third a whole octave higher! Guitar voicings are much more open than keyboard voicing, otherwise the chords would not be playable on guitar! When we get to chord 7, we need another sharp to make the power chord. All this is TAB so you can play with the chords.