One Simple Trick to Spice up Your Power Chords

I'll never forget the moment I learned the power chord.

I stared at my teacher in disbelief. While power chords can blow a 15-year-old's mind, to the seasoned player they can become old hat. Here's a simple trick to breathe life and a little extra power into your power chords.

Watch the video below and scroll down for chord diagrams if you need clarification.

The Basic Power Chord

The power chord is simply a chord made up from the 1 5 8 of the scale.  The "power" comes from both the harmony of the 5th as well as the octave of the root.  It has a very distinct sound and the shape looks like this:

Emphasizing the 5th

We can add some color without losing the power by replacing the root octave with an octave of the 5th.  The shape looks like this:

Emphasizing the 3rd

As previously mentioned, a powerchord leaves out the 3rd, but if we want to venture away from the basic idea we can eliminate the 5th and use an octave to emphasize the 3rd instead.  As described in the video, the shape will vary based on whether the full chord is major or minor.

Conclusion

There is a place for power chords and every guitarist should have them in their repertoire but it's always fun to add a little spice.  If you skipped the video I encourage you to at least watch at the 4:15 mark.  It shows examples of how different octave harmonies sound and may give you some ideas for accompaniment.  I've also tagged some song lessons below that feature power chords but may benefit from a little flavor. 

Worship Artistry exists to help you bring your best in worship, whatever your skill level. We are an online worship teaching resource that features 5-piece, label-approved arrangements, tutorials, and technique lessons for guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and vocals. Our library includes over 500 licensed worship songs by over 100 artists– including Hillsong, Passion, Bethel, Elevation, and more, with transposable tabs, sheet music, and chord charts. Try it out for free!

Jason Houtsma is the co-founder and guitar teacher at Worship Artistry, where he is helping musicians of every level answer the call to worship with passion and confidence. Jason has been leading worship and writing music since he was 15 years old and currently serves as Worship Pastor for Mosaic Church in Bellingham, WA. He is husband to Alli and father to Bjorn and Asher.

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Comments

Good lesson

Thanks for expounding on power chords.

Very interesting lesson

Thanks for taking the time to make that lesson. It's got some really interesting ideas there that are widely applicable.

Fantastic, thanks!

Thanks Jason. Such a simple idea with using chord tones and structure, but with lots of applications. I can see how it'll help me with building intensity/complexity and variety in songs when needed, as the sole electric guitarist.

Fantastic, thanks!

Thanks Jason. Such a simple idea with using chord tones and structure, but with lots of applications. I can see how it'll help me with building intensity/complexity and variety in songs when needed, as the sole electric guitarist.