Power Chord

Use the formula 1-5:

The symbol is C5. The number 5 names the defining interval and signals that no third is required.

C and G are two different pitch classes, so the structure is also called a dyad.

Musicians still use the word power chord because it functions as a harmonic unit in riffs and progressions.

Adding the octave C changes voicing and weight without adding a new pitch class.

Neither. Major requires E, and minor requires E flat.

A melody or another instrument can supply either third above C5. The broader progression can also establish C major or C minor without the guitar voicing the third.

Do not add major or minor to the symbol unless that third actually belongs to the sounding harmony.

Distortion adds overtones and intermodulation products, making dense low-register voicings harder to separate.

A root and perfect fifth have a simple frequency relationship and leave more spectral space than a close three- or four-note chord.

This does not make thirds or extended chords unusable with gain. Register, tuning, string intonation, voicing and distortion amount determine clarity.

C-G-C reinforces the root in two registers and produces a practical guitar shape.

The upper octave can make the sonority feel fuller without deciding major or minor quality.

In a band, bass may already supply the low root, so guitar can play G-C or another inversion when the arrangement calls for it.

On guitar, preserve the fret distance between root and fifth.

A root on the sixth string at fret 3 is G; the fifth D lies two frets higher on the fifth string. Move the entire shape to another root.

Check tuning and string layout. Drop tunings can place root and fifth on the same fret across adjacent low strings.

C5 contains C-G.

Csus2 adds D; Csus4 adds F. Both remain without a third but introduce another scale degree.

The added note changes available voice leading and chord symbol. A power chord is the smallest of these structures.

Power chords appear in rock, punk, metal, grunge and other guitar-centered styles.

They support riffs whose mode or chord quality is supplied by melody, bass and surrounding harmony.

Clean arrangements also use open fifths in folk, orchestral and electronic textures.

Yes. C5 can be tonic in C, flat VII in D, IV in G or another scale-degree chord.

The dyad itself gives limited quality information. Bass movement and progression reveal the root relationship.

Parallel power-chord motion may intentionally ignore diatonic triad qualities while retaining recognizable scale-degree roots.

Keep the lowest notes clear and tune carefully under high gain.

Try root-fifth, root-fifth-octave and fifth-octave over a bass root. Compare how each version occupies the low register.

Mute unused strings and control note endings; rhythmic precision is a major part of the sound.

Play C5, then add E for C major and E flat for C minor.

Move C5-F5-G5 while naming I-IV-V in C. Then play the same roots with full triads and compare the added third.

Increase distortion gradually and change register before deciding that a voicing is too dense.