Music Instruments → Learn Acoustic Guitar – Why Is Everyone Talking About Guitar Power Chords?
Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last 50 years you have heard guitar power chords in action.
It’s a curious fact that in musical terms a power chord is not actually a chord. Chords are made up of 3 or more notes while a power only has 2 notes. Despite this fact they have become a staple of modern rock and heavy metal music.
Playing guitar power chords with just 2 strings is the simplest method but they can be played with any number of strings as long as only 2 notes are played.
In fact they have become so popular that in recent years any chord with just 2 notes has been labeled a guitar power chord.
So what is it that makes guitar power chords so attractive?
Why do so guitarists like us love to crank up the amp volume, and blast out of loud and powerful rock tunes using nothing but guitar power chords?
The answer is that the ease with which you can play them makes them ideal for experimenting with more right-hand and rhythm orientated playing. When you don’t have to concentrate on fingering you can put all your energy into expressing yourself through the music, effects and techniques.
It is possible that you have seen power chords written a ‘5′ chord on internet tab or chord charts. Don’t worry this is still a power chord. It’s just a different way of writing the same thing. All it tells us as guitarists is that the power is made up of its root note and the 5th note of the scale.
How to Play Guitar Power Chords
Power chords are nearly always played on the bass strings of the guitar. More experienced guitarists will use a partial barre and play several power chords at the same position on the fret board by simply moving their free fingers.
You can get a lot of enjoyment out of learning and playing guitar power chords.
They are easy to play and offer a huge amount of satisfaction with just a little effort
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