power chord


a musical chord formed by a root note, its fifth, and its octave. among the easiest types of chords to play on the guitar, due to an easily shiftable fingering position, and the power chord’s ability to “fit” over both major and minor melodies. vital to heavy metal and punk music.
old black sabbath and ac/dc alb-ms have a lot of simple yet great power chord-strumming songs.
a major chord contains the 1, 3rd, and 5th notes in the major scales. a power chord omits the 3rd, and inludes only the fifth. powerchords often include the 8th, which is really just the 1st, an octave higher.
g5 powerchord

e|-
b|-
g|-
d|-
a|5
e|3

g5 with the octave

e|-
b|-
g|-
d|5
a|5
e|3
a musical chord which is not technically a chord since it only contains two pitch cl-sses (making it an interval). it is formed by the root note, 5th and commonly features the octave above the root.

it is used by rock guitarists way too often by stringing different power chords together to form a riff. this goes against western diatonic music theory which says you should not have parallel 5ths or octaves, let alone both of them simultaneously. despite this fallacy, rock guitarists have chicks and money while cl-ssical musicians have neither. go figure.
that guy looks sad, lonely and poor.

yeah. he mustn’t use power chords.
a common ‘chord’ used mostly in gutiar based music. it is made by playing the root, 5th and 8th.

for the person who said that parallel 5ths and 8ths shouldn’t be even used, i think you’ll find this is only relevant to baroque and cl-ssical music. what about debussy and his use of 5ths and 8ths? in the right context, it can sound fine.

so please, stop living in the 18th century.
i’m going to play a power chord by fretting g, d and another g.

Read Also:

  • Albertisms

    when someone corrects you on anything that has to do with music or else they will implode example of an albertisms i love styx “oh mama i’m in fear for my life from the law” it’s actually “oh mama i’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law”

  • pelaná

    pelaná significa: aparato reproductor de tu progenitora. técnicamente, pelaná no es una sola palabla, son tres palabras en maya puestas juntas. 1.- pel (con énfasis en la p): v-g-n- 2.- a : …de tu… 3.- ná: progenitora (mamá) se dice en tres silabas, eso es: pel-a-ná. a pesar de que pelaná significa lo mencionado anteriormente, […]

  • Trista

    a person who is just as (if not more) beautiful as their name suggests. a person who, through individualization, has become like a jewel to the public eye. someone hard to tear your attention from. person 1 – wow, what a trista. -points- person 2 – i know, isn’t she great? trista: usually female, shorter […]

  • Alura

    a nickname, otherwise known for someone who is the sweetest person you know. also known for being a very talented musician and/or translator/language speaker. “hey alura, did you like the movie last night?” “yes, i’m so glad that you’re my boyfriend.” (after soloist stops playing) “whoa, did you hear that alura?”

  • wickedsic

    meaning cool or totally awesome. just a compound word connecting wicked and sic. two wicked words. those pants are totally wickedsic.


Disclaimer: power chord definition / meaning should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. All content on this website is for informational purposes only.