Power Chords

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All of the following power chords are moveable. They can be moved from fret to fret, with each position giving the power chord a new name. The circled note is the root note, the note that determines the name of the chord. If example 1 is played at the seventh fret it is a B major chord since the note on the sixth string, seventh fret is a B note. Play the same chord at the thrid fret and it becomes a G major chord, as the note on the sixth string third fret is a G note. All the moveable chords work in this manner.

Becoming familiar with the names of the different chord forms as they are moved around the neck should aid you in your quest of learning all of the notes on the fretboard. I highly reconmend that you take the time to learn the neck. A good starting point is learning the notes on each string starting at the first fret then gradually work your way up.

All chords will displayed using standard chord charts. Just in case some of you don't know how to read them, the vertical lines represent the guitar's six strings, and the horizontal lines represent the frets.

An "x" placed above a srting indicates that the string is not to be played at all. Black dots indicate the placement of fingers, and numbers show proper fingerings. Two or more dots joined by a straight line indicate the notes are held down, or "barred" with the same finger.

Example 1 is usually the first barre chord that a guitar player learns. It seems to be a standard among most teachers and instruction books that this chord is the "King" of all other "rock" chords. With any type of "barre" chord the first finger forms a bar to hold down all six strings. This particular chord is voiced root, fifth, root, third, fifth, root. Lift up the second finger, which holds down the chord's third degree, and the first finger will now hold down the flatted third. The chord now becomes minor, which brings us to example 2.

The first two chords are usually introduced as hard rock chords, but they are actually used more often in the smaller form of Ex 3. With the third, second, and first strings not played, the result is a power chord voiced root, fifth, root. Alot of players hold down the full barre chord, but actually only play the sixth, fifth, and fourth strings only. The root note on the fourth string is one octave higher than the root note on the sixth string. This means that the note on the fourth sting is actually the same but is higher in pitch. One complete major scale resides between these two notes. If two major scales fit between them, then the higher pitch note would be two octaves higher.

Sometimes Ex 3 is used as a two note chord, consisting of the sixth and fifth strings only. Not playing the higher octave note won't change the sound of the chord that much, it will just eliminate some treble. After learning Ex 1, most guitar players go on to learn the second barre chord form, Ex 4. This major chord is voiced root, fifth, root, third, fifth. Ex 5, is the minor version of this chord, it has the same voicing, only it contains the flatted third.

You should now know and be able to play Examples 4 and 5, but these chords are more common to hard rock, metal, in the smaller form of Ex 6. Just like Ex 3, this power chord is voiced root, fifth, root. Also just like Ex 3, the root note on the third string is one octave higher than the root note on the fifth string. Ex 6 may also be played as a two note chord, with the higher octave root note not played at all.

Ex 7 is actually a smaller version of Ex 3. It has the same notes , only the sixth string is not played. Sometimes these chords are used more for convenience, when it might be a pain to grab Ex 3 lol. You can just grab this one with just one finger! The right finger used to hold down this chord depends on the posistion of your left hand. This power chord is voiced fifth, root.

Just like Ex 7 is a smaller version of Ex 3, Ex 8 is a smaller version of Ex 6. Use one finger for this one too. This chord is voiced fifth, root.

Ex 9 is not used as often as the other chords discussed so far, but is used fairly often in the hard rock and metal genre. The voicing is root, fifth.

Ex 10 is identical to Ex 9, with the addition of one note. The note on the second string is also the root, one octave higher than the note on the fourth string.

When you look at Ex 11, hopefully you are starting to see the connection between all of the examples given so far. Basically, they are all extensions or pieces of one another. It's up to you the guitar player, to choose the one that comes closest to the sound that you are after.

You can use Ex 11 for more of a treble effect, instead of using Ex 10, but of course it's all up to you. Two note chords located on the higher strings, like this one, can also be put into guitar solos. When used this way, they are called "double-stops".