How to Learn Power Chords
Power chords are the staple chords of heavy rock music. Power chords, as demonstrated by guitar players ranging from Pete Townsend of the Who and C.C. Deville of Poison, have fueled the rock 'n' roll world for generations. Power chords, while nothing more than stripped down versions of full chords, provide the crunch so often intrinsic to heavy music. Learning power chords is easy and playing them is fun.
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Instructions
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Learn how chords are built and develop a good chord arsenal. Major chords are built using the first, third and fifth notes of the major scale after which the chord is named. For instance, a C major chord will consist of the first note of the C major scale (the root note, C), an E (the third note in the scale, and a G (the fifth note of the scale). All major chords are built this way.
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Form a major chord and remove the notes that aren't the first, third, or fifth of the scale. This is a power chord. Typically, you will play power chords with only two strings on your guitar, and these are often the lowest two strings on the guitar, E and D.
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Place your first finger on the third fret of your E string (the thickest string). This is a G note. Put your third finger on the fifth fret of the A string (the next thickest string). This note is the fifth note of the G scale, which is a D. You now have the root note of G and the fifth note of D finger. This is a G power chord. Turn your amplifier up very loud and play these two strings simultaneously.
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Practice changing these chords without lifting your fingers from the neck of the guitar. Keep your fingers down and slide up two frets. This will give you a B power chord. Slide back to the first fret without lifting your fingers and you have an F power chord. The fingering positions of power chords stay the same, but the chord names change depending upon position.
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Study a book of simple power chords to gain a full arsenal of chords or use a free online power chord dictionary (see resources).
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