Power Chord is a chord consisting of 2 notes. The two notes are the I and V degrees. People use power chords because they are neither major nor minor. This is because they don't have a third degree, and the third degree tells you whether a chord is major or minor.
They are also used because they give the feel of raw power that is why it is the favorite chord being used in rock and metal. This is great when using a high gain distortion that shows great power and sustain.
So let's get started showing you power chords. Let's start by showing you the C Major Scale.
C D E F G A B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
By taking the 1st and 5th degree we can now form the C power chord. That was the C note and the G note.
e-----------------
B-----------------
G-----------------
D-----5----------
A-----3----------
E-----------------
C5
These chords are called C5 chords. Any power chords are named by the root plus a 5th after it. Using the same chord pattern we can move up and down the neck to shift from one chord to another. See example below
e----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I-----------I
B----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I-----------I
G----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I-----------I
D-----2----I------4------I-------5-----I------7---I------9----I
A-----0----I------2------I-------3-----I------5----I-----7----I
E-----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I-----------I
A5 - B5 - C5 - D5 - E5
Using the same pattern again moving up to E and A string we got the following power chords. See figure below
e----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I------------I-------------I
B----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I------------I-------------I
G----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I------------I-------------I
D----------I--------------I--------------I-----------I------------I-------------I
A-----2----I------3------I-------5-----I-----7-----I-----9-----I----10-----I
E-----0----I------1------I------3------I-----5----I-----7------I-----8------I
E5 - F5 - G5 - A5 - B5 - C5
These examples are in the C major scale. Now it’s your turn to figure out the other major scales like in D, in E, in F, in G and other keys.
Okay! There you have it. The power chords! Good Luck And have fun with it.
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