subject: Power Chord Guitar - Learning How To Make Power Chords
[print this page] A lot of guitar tunes consist of some very impressive chord structures to create appeal. They swirl the music around with chords that use all four fingers to create, and the music sounds absolutely brilliant.
On the reverse side, sometimes you really just need a quick way to make a chord in order to translate a song to your fingers. That's when it's a good idea to have knowledge about guitar power chords.
What are power chords?
Power chords are very simple chords that are played to make finding a melody on the guitar very easy. If you're one who enjoys figuring out songs by ear instead of with the help of notation, starting out with the power chords can really speed up the process.
Maybe your mental chord library isn't that full and you have a difficult time remembering the chords you know. With power chords, there really isn't much to remember and they can immediately help you translate music and hash out song melodies quickly.
They're sometimes referred to the '5' chords.
You may have come across guitar tabs that mention chords ending with the number '5', like G5 and C5. This notation means a variation of that power chord.
So, when you're browsing through some guitar tablature and you see those really complex chords, it's advisable to figure those out and remember the formations. However, when you see a '5' chord, that finger formation should be immediately flying out of your hands.
You only need two or three strings.
What's absolutely great about these chords is they only require a couple strings to make. Because of this, you can quickly turn a single note into any chord that you might need.
For instance, if you were to make the F power chord in the standard tuning, you would place your index finger on the low E string on the first fret and your ring or pinky finger on the A string of the third fret. If you want to include the octave, just add the very next string on the third fret.
In this way, you can create just about every chord that you need to hash out a quick riff.
Drop D tuning makes playing power chords even easier.
Now, as if power chords were not easy enough, they get even easier. By tuning your guitar from standard to drop D, you can play power chords using only one finger.
Drop d tuning means tuning your low E string down to a low D. After this change, the root note of your power chords that use the lowest string should be easily playable with your index finger lying across the lowest three strings of any fret.
If you're having trouble trying to figure something out on the guitar, whip out a guitar power chord. They're pretty handy for translating harder music, and they're helpful for starting your very own creations.
