online guitar lesson free from guitarwombat
Chord Theory:
Power Chords Explained
Two and three note power chords with root notes on the E and A strings
Two Note Power Chords
We could look at a long drawn out explanation of how power chords are more properly referred to as 5 chords (e.g. C5, A5, Bb5 etc) and how they are called 5 chords not because they have a 5th but rather because they have no 3rd but that sort of stuff is best saved for the online guitar lessons dealing with chord theory. For our purposes at the moment (to get you playing the shapes) all we need to know is that a two note power chord consists of a root and another note a fifth above that root (one string thinner and two frets up).
Lets look at playing a couple of simple power chords. Below is the chord shape and correct fingering for a power chords of A5 with the root note to be located on the (thick) E string at the fifth fret and D5 which has a root (D) note at the fifth fret of the A string. Power chords are commonly constructed with root notes on either the E or the A string.
Do not sound the strings marked X
Free Backing Tracks and Printable Power Chord Root Finder
Click the button above to hear a backing track that moves between the (new) chord of G5 and the A5 chord already identified. For the A5 chord position play the root (lowest) note of the chord at the fifth fret of the E string and when playing the G5 chord you should fret the root at the third fret of the E string (just move the A 5 shape down by a distance of two frets). The track works equally well for full bar chords and you will be able to use it again if you use this site to learn about bar chords too. Each chord is held for two bars (two counts of four beats) before moving to the next.
The G and A power chords studied above have root (name) notes on the E string (the thickest string). The fifth fret of E string gives us a note of A therefore the power chord shape played at the fifth fret will be A5. It's that simple. by moving the shape to other frets you can sound any power chord (for example playing the shape behind the third fret of the A string will give us a chord ofC5) You can use the chart here to locate the root (name) note of any power chord to be found on the E or A strings or click the button at the bottom of the page to download a printable version of it for private study.
Click this button to download a free printable form of the root finder
Three note power chords are simply the two note shapes with another root note (an octave higher than the lowest note) played on the top of the shape. They sound a little "fuller" (although this does not translate as better) and can if you like be regarded as being a stepping stone towards playing full bar chord shapes (where all of the strings are sounded or muted by the fretting hand).
Take a look at the graphic here to see how three note power chords are put together.
Take a look at the lesson on bar chord construction to see where you could go from here.
Buying A Guitar On the Web?
If you would like to buy a guitar here's a link to Guitar123.co.uk, a site that we have no connection to but which seems clearly laid out and simple to use. It has information on a range of entry level (and beyond) instruments as well as some other useful pages for beginners.