Welcome back! In this article we are going to talk about rock guitar music and more specifically,
power chords.
Let me just start off by saying that Rock music itself has played a huge role in shaping today’s
music and society. Most people don’t really notice this but even EDM music is very influenced
by rock. So how do we play it anyway? Well, to me if there’s one thing that screams Rock, it’s
Power Chords. Power Chords are the basis of any heavy music; put some distortion on and
throw an E5 (or E power chord) plus some crazy drum fills and there you go… you can’t deny
you don’t picture yourself playing a sold out Arena show full of headbanging fans; you know it,
it’s Rock.
Let’s take a look at the following chords:
These are some of the basic power chords you will encounter in any heavy music situacion, or
even in Pop. There are different ways of positioning your fingers, for example:
● For the C5 you could place your Index finger on the 3rd fret (5th string), the ring finger on
the 5th fret (4th string) and your pinky finger on the 5th fret (3rd string.
● For C5 you could also place your index finger on the 3rd fret (5th string) and your ring
finger as a barre for the 4th and 3rd string on the 5th fret. This fingering is extremely
useful in certain situations. with another technique that is used very often in rock music,
“Palm Muting”. To use palm muting you have to lean the right side of your picking hand on the
strings near the bridge. You shouldn’t completely mute the string but create an almost muted
type of sound. The more you move further away from the bridge, the more you will mute the
string.
In this example not all the notes are palm muted. For the chords that are open you should move
your hand away from the string using your wrist, keeping your arm in place.
That’s all for today! Check out www.rockriffsmadesimple.com for more lessons on Rock Guitar!
