Whenever guitar power chords are mentioned, perhaps the first thing you think about is rock music. Well, that makes perfect sense to associate those two things, because power chords are, indeed, commonly used in the rock genre. They are common in rock music, but power chords are also used in other types of music, too, such as pop.
The guitar power chord first became popular with the advent of blues. When grunge music started becoming more popular, bands and artists from this genre started using power chords almost exclusively instead of the traditional chords.
So what are guitar power chords anyway?
In the very essence of the word, guitar power chords are not real chords. Why? Because unlike real chords that have three or more notes, power chords consist of only two notes – the root, a perfect fifth interval, and the root note that is doubled on a higher octave. A more correct term for guitar power chords is “power intervals” since they only use two notes.
Power chords are very easy to play – a guitarist’s hand can move pretty quickly up and down the guitar’s neck with this kind of chord, but they lend very little harmonic texture to a song because it lacks the major or minor third interval. This major or minor third interval is what differentiates an actual chord from a power chord.
Guitar power chords are usually preferred when songs require really fast chord changes or when then are more distortions involved. A real chord, if played with distortion, would create too much dissonance, which is why power chords are the preferred option for songs that utilize distortions.
The power chord “trap”
Compared to traditional barre chords, guitar power chords are a lot easier to play and learn. This is probably one of the biggest reasons a lot of guitarists prefer to use them instead of the traditional barre chords. Be wary, however, that you do not get carried away. Some guitarists make the mistake of not learning barre chords and other related skills and techniques once they have learned about power chords. They reason that they can play the same music anyway just by using power chords, or it’s the same thing as using barre chords and other related techniques. Do not even be tempted to go down that road!
Yes, it is important to learn about guitar power chords, and it would be really awesome to rock out and play all your favorite songs that use these kinds of chords. But you have to remember that power chords are just a small part of the whole guitar playing. It is still best that you take the time to learn about the other techniques, even if they are much harder or very challenging.
Guitar Power Chords – A friendly reminder
Maybe in order to prevent falling into the “power chord trap”, it would be better to learn guitar power chords when you have already mastered, or at least have the basics down, of other fundamental techniques. That way, you will be able to alternate between using traditional chords and power chords. The important thing, of course, is that you have fun in playing guitar power chords!