I haven't been able to find a lesson specific to power chords, so please pardon my newbie ignorance.
I think I've got a couple of the basics down:
This is a G5: 355xxx (root, 5th, root octave)
and so is this: 35xxxx (no octave)
Likewise, these are C5s: x355xx and x35xxx
Moving up (down) to the D string for the root, my understanding is that this is an F5: xx356x. But I've seen this with a slightly different shape: x3356x, so that the 5th gets doubled. Is that still an F5? Why does the bass note not become the root, making it a C-something?
Similarly, this shape for A5 confuses me: xx2255, as the root comes from the G-string not the D-string note. I've also seen that chord called A instead of A5 - which is correct? Is xxx255 also an A5? What about xxxx55? or xx22xx?
I thought I'd start with power chords as an easier way to develop an understanding of chord theory, but feel I'm already in over my head. I won't even bother yet with my questions on inverted 5ths and other chord formations - not sure I'd even know what questions to ask.
Any help or insights would be appreciated.
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You're actually answering your own questions...
The first one is G5 because it only has the notes G and the fifth above, which is D.
The second one is still G5 because it also contains only notes G and D - the number of times they appear doesn't matter.
The first F you show is F-C-F; the second one is C-F-C-F. It's still just F and C, so it's still F5.
Or... if you call C the root, the F is the fourth note in C - so it's C4.
Any 5th interval becomes a 4th when it's inverted - count 5 up from F = C; count four down from F = C again.
For the A, the first one isn't an A chord - there's no C#. If it's labeled as A major, that's wrong - or they're laying out the harmony for the ensemble, and someone else is playing the C#. The other As you show are all A5... or D4 if you want to make D the root. Same notes, same sound, different label - pairs of things like that are called enharmonic.... like an F# chord and a Gb chord - both are the same sounds.
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A"power chord" is a 5 chord, A5, C5, G5, etc. That means it consists of the root note and the fifth note of the scale.
A and E = A5
C and G = C5
G and D = G5.
But you can easily learn some basic shapes for these. Here are some good power chord lessons from this site. See if they're what you're looking for:
These are all 12 bar songs utilizing power chords.
And you can also check Cyberfret's Power Chord lesson. You may to look at it before working on the song lessons.
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Oddly, I'm going to suggest learning the proper construction of chords, before tackling "power chords", which are really not chords, but intervals. If you can understand triad theory, you will also understand more about "power chords". Considering that triads only consist of 3 notes, instead of 2, it's not going to be that much harder, is it? :D
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Agreed. I tend to explain powerchords as simplifications of the 'E', 'A' or 'D' barre shapes, rather than get them out there alone. I think that helps put them in perspective, and then students know what they're working with and what they're leaving out.
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Thank you all for the very helpful insights, suggestions and links - they are much appreciated.
8)
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
For power chords is it best to finger them with the index ring and pinkie or do you just do a barre with your ring finger (what I've been doing)? Or does it depend on where you're coming from and where you're going to
For the shapes we're talking about here, I tend to use my index finger and my ring finger and use the pinkie to boogie.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
