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This Guitar Basics Lessons for Beginners video will show how to play power chords. Power chords Lesson Plan: Power Chords Guitar Lessons for Beginners [Guitar Basics] 0:00 Lesson Intro 0:25 Open Power Chord Shapes 1:21 Power Chord Tone/Mood 2:35 Moveable Power Chord Shape 3:29 Power Chord Symbol '5' 4:01 Moveable Power Chord Shape 4:41 Bass Notes 5:27 Power Chord Exercise 6:08 Alternate Power Chord Shapes 6:59 Lesson Review Power Chords Guitar Lesson for Beginners The ultimate tool for any punk or hard rock guitarist is the power chord. A power chord has a nondescript, ‘heavy’ sound and is notated with its bass note followed by a ‘5'. An ‘A’ power chord, for example, would be notated as ‘A5'. How to Play Power Chord Shapes on Guitar A moveable power chord shape can be played with either a sixth or fifth-string bass note (both shown right). Most guitarists play moveable power chords with the third finger leaning across two strings while the first finger frets the bass note. For beginners, this power chord shape may initially be challenging to play, requiring a two fret stretch between the first and third fingers. Power Chord Exercise for Beginners Start by playing a three-string power chord arpeggio along the fifth fret (‘A5'), then slide the entire chord shape up one fret at a time and repeat the three-string arpeggio up to the ninth fret. The objective for beginners in this guitar lesson will be to get all three strings in each power chord arpeggio to ring clearly. Open Power Chord Shapes The open power chord shape (right) is less-challenging to play for beginners, requiring only the first finger to lean across two strings. Strum only three strings for each power chord shape, with the open string bass note (fifth or sixth string) being the essential note to sound for each power chord. For the open ‘A’ power chord shape, try using the thumb of the fretting hand to mute the sixth ‘bottom’ string. Alternate Power Chord Shapes For some beginners, having to lean the third finger across two strings in order to play a power chord may simply be too much of a challenge. There are other alternative power chord shapes which are less-challenging to play. Instead of leaning the third finger, the third and fourth fingers can be used, or just two strings can be played for this power chords lesson for beginners. Moveable Power Chord Shapes With twelve different notes on each string, there are 24 total power chords that can be played with just two moveable power chord shapes (fifth and sixth string bass notes) in this power chord guitar lesson for beginners. Paluzzi Guitar The Creative Guitarist Method Series was written and designed by Kevin J. Paluzzi of Paluzzi Guitar Instruction in San Diego, CA. For more information on private lessons and books, go to: There really isn’t any one particular playing style or technique required in order to classify someone as a guitarist. For example, Andres Segovia, Bob Dylan, and Carlos Santana are all considered legendary performing guitarists, but each has his own particular style or technique (fingerstyle, strumming, and soloing) for playing. Every guitarist will have their own personal preferences when it comes to what style of music they would initially like to learn. Some may have a more-specific goal (singer/songwriter, soloist, etc.), while others may prefer a more general or overall approach to learning various playing styles and techniques. This series of books and videos are designed with a ‘pick and choose’ topic format (songwriting, soloing, etc.) so that once the Guitar Basics are completed, the guitarist can decide to focus on whatever they wish to study.
