Power chords

Power chords are essential for playing heavy metal, hard rock, and, generally, every type of rock.

To begin, first we need to make a rough definition of heavy metal.
Heavy metal have roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, and it's characteristics are thick, heavy sound, with guitars and drums in the first plan. Guitars are played with highly amplified distortion.
That was really rough definition of heavy metal.



This lesson will introduce you to the most common chords used in heavy metal. Fingers will be referred to by numbers:
1 - Index finger
2 - Middle f.
3 - Ring f.
4 - Pinky f.


Now, I won't get into definitions of power chords, because they are really confusing, and aren't very necessary.

The primary chord used in HM is the "Power chord". This is done like this:

e|-------------------------------------------------------| B|-------------------------------------------------------| G|------------------------------------------------------| D|------------------------------------------------------| A|-3----------------------------------------------------| E|-1----------------------------------------------------|

This chord would be called an F Power chord, which means that you will hear an F note, but there will be a harsh sound, created by the C note (third fret, fifth string).
This chord formation can be moved anywhere on the fretboard, allowing almost infinite possibilities... Practice it a bit, it's fun!
Default fingering for this type of power chord is to put finger 1 on the first fret of the first string, and finger 4 on the other string. There are some other ways to do this, but this is the most used one.



Inverted Power Chords: These chords are similar to the aforementioned chord,
except that these chords switch around the ordering.

e|----------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------|
A|-1--------------------------------|
E|-3--------------------------------|


This chord type is the opposite to the above chord. This is also not a F, but G (3rd fret, 6th string). Most common fingering for this one is just like the previous chord - but inverted too. That means that finger 4 will go on the higher string, and finger 1 on the one below.
These chords aren't common as the regular power chords. These chords surely doesn't sound like standard power chord. It even sometimes sounds like two strings randomly fretted and played. But still, they are used pretty often.



Another type of chord, follows this formation, and is very easy to remember:

e|--------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------|
A|---2----------------------------------------|
E|---2----------------------------------------|

This type of chords produces really dark sound, and it is very "throaty". As you can see, it's very simple to produce. There are two ways to do this:

1) Lay finger 1 across two desired frets
2) This involves two fingers, usually 1 and 2.

Way 2 is better in situations when you need to change to another chord quickly.


The last type of power chord that will be shown here is a little bit odd. It's rarely used, and when used, it's mostly by Metallica.

e|-------------------------|
B|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|
D|-----4-------------------|
A|-----5-------------------|
E|-------------------------|


This one is most easily formed with two fingers. Fingers are 1 and 2. When you play this chord first time, it will sound like your guitar is out of tune. But don't be confused: It's really meant to sound that way!
If you play them often (but I see no reason for that), they will start sound OK to you. But if you're used to the power chords, this one will be pain in the a**...