GUITAR
NEXT LEVEL POWER CHORDS | David Harsh
Want to learn power chords? Want to know the how and the why of power chords for making great music? Want to learn a better way of fretting power chords than most people use? If you answered“ yes” to any of these questions, keep reading.
You will also want to explore the accompanying video which provides a clear demonstration and takes you beyond what you think might even be possible with power chords.
1. WHY ARE THEY CALLED POWER CHORDS? Power chords are made up of perfect intervals, which sound powerful. They are neither Major nor minor; they’ re neutral. The root to the 5 th spells a perfect 5 th. The 5 th to a high root spells a perfect 4 th. And then the chord is framed by a perfect octave. Perfect intervals sound perfectly consonant, in that they sound pure and simple.
2. CAN YOU PLAY POWER CHORDS AS 2 NOTES? Yes. The root and the 5th, which make up a power chord, form a“ dyad” – which is an interval of 2 notes. So, there’ s some flexibility with the terminology.
3. CAN YOU PLAY POWER CHORDS AS 3 NOTES? Also, yes. By definition, a chord typically consists of 3 or more notes played simultaneously, so you can add another root on top. So, if we were playing a G Power Chord, we could have G, D, and G.
But how we fret a 3-note power chord is up for debate. Most people play power chords with fingers 1, 3, and 4, like with this G5 chord.
But what is the potential“ danger” of fretting them this way? Other strings ringing unnecessarily, especially in certain locations on the fretboard. Now you might be thinking,“ Dude, just don’ t strum those strings.” Well, if there’ s one thing I’ ve learned over the years, it’ s that the hands can work together to help the chords sound clean. It’ s not just up to the strumming hand; the fretting hand can help too.
So what do I propose here with power chords that seems to be far less common? Lay the 3 rd finger across two strings.
This allows you to fret the notes you want, but also to lightly touch the next string or two beyond those strings, thereby silencing them. The ring finger is much stronger in its musculature than the pinky anyway. Plus, it can add to the percussive sound of your playing. Power chords are strummed in a lot of genres, including worship.
4. CAN A POWER CHORD SHAPE BE MOVED ACROSS THE STRINGS? Yes. We could move our G5 over 1 string to be based on string 5. If I stay here on the 3 rd fret and move to the 5 th string, I have a C5 power chord.
What’ s cool is that it’ s the same shape. You don’ t have to learn a new voicing, because it’ s only 2 or 3 notes. One pro tip I recommend here is using the index to lightly touch the 6 th string, so it doesn’ t ring open and cause the chord to sound muddy.
So we’ ve got power chords based on string 6 and power chords based on string 5. At a
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