Power Chords

Even if people don't have prior knowledge in playing guitar, most know what the basic terms mean, such as, chords. Although people know what chords, the question is can they decipher the differences between the various types? I knew what the basic major and minor chords were and what they should sound like, but I never knew what power chords were. David Brewster defines power chords in his book, Teach Yourself To Play Guitar, 

As sounding powerful, even though they're very simple chords that only consist of playing two notes on the strings (26). 

For a beginner in playing the guitar, the simplicity, yet usefulness, of these chords definitely caught my eye as something I should check out! The first one in the book was called an "E5 Chord." Brewster explained that, 

"Power chords are composed of a root note (name of the chord) and the 5th scale degree. As such they are known as "5" chords" (26). 

As you can see, I only had to put my finger down on one string while I strummed upwards on the string i'm holding down and the string above it only. I do agree that these have a very large sound to it!

There were 4 more of these chords shown throughout the book, so if you wanted to try out all of them, here they are: (also attached the chord diagram so people could reference them!)

 This one is the "A5 Chord"

And the "D5 Chord"

The "G5 Chord"

Lastly, we have the "B5 Chord"

So do you prefer to show off your skills with fancy chords or do you like to incorporate simple ones like the power chords?

    Brewster, David M. Teach Yourself to Play Guitar. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 2004. Print.