# Power chord question



## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

How does one play B flat and Dm as power chords? Anyone have a cheat sheet for converting chords to power chords?


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Power chords are neither major nor minor (or both major AND minor depending on how you look at it). They lack the 3 or b3 that define major/minor.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Power chords are neither major nor minor as they only contain the root and fifth notes of their respective scales. Bb as a power chord can be played by fretting the 5th string at the first fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the third fret (or the 6th string at the sixth fret and the 5th and 4th strings at the 8th fret. Dm could be reduced to a power chord by fretting the 5th string at the fifth fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the 7th fret. You can also play 2 string power chords by eliminating the highest note in each of these.

If you know where the notes are on the fretboard, you can play these shapes with your first finger anywhere on the lowest two strings and the root note (name of the chord) will be where your first finger is.

Edit: JB types faster than me.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

I’m not the greatest at theory. I know enough to be dangerous but am learning all the time.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

bw66 said:


> Power chords are neither major nor minor as they only contain the root and fifth notes of their respective scales. Bb as a power chord can be played by fretting the 5th string at the first fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the third fret (or the 6th string at the sixth fret and the 5th and 4th strings at the 8th fret. Dm could be reduced to a power chord by fretting the 5th string at the fifth fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the 7th fret. You can also play 2 string power chords by eliminating the highest note in each of these.
> 
> If you know where the notes are on the fretboard, you can play these shapes with your first finger anywhere on the lowest two strings and the root note (name of the chord) will be where your first finger is.
> 
> Edit: JB types faster than me.


This is helpful. I know a lot of the notes on the fretboard but not all of them. I usually play open chords or lead but a lot of the music we’re starting to play sounds better with power chords. The one I’m learning now is Further Again by Staggered Crossing. There’s no chord diagrams that I can find so I’m using CAPO and my ear. I’ll be playing the opening synth riff on my iPad. I’ve got that part figured out.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

A capo is completely unnecessary if you’re using power chords. It might be time to learn the notes on the fretboard...at least for the three bass strings. It’s not as bad as you think. It doesn’t take much to figure out what a note is if there are some you already know. I assume you know where a G and A are on the E string. It makes finding the Bb easier.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

bw66 said:


> Power chords are neither major nor minor as they only contain the root and fifth notes of their respective scales. Bb as a power chord can be played by fretting the 5th string at the first fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the third fret (or the 6th string at the sixth fret and the 5th and 4th strings at the 8th fret. Dm could be reduced to a power chord by fretting the 5th string at the fifth fret and the 4th and 3rd strings at the 7th fret. You can also play 2 string power chords by eliminating the highest note in each of these.
> 
> If you know where the notes are on the fretboard, you can play these shapes with your first finger anywhere on the lowest two strings and the root note (name of the chord) will be where your first finger is.
> 
> Edit: JB types faster than me.


Isn’t the Dm power chord positioning just the same as a normal D power chord?


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

1SweetRide said:


> Isn’t the Dm power chord positioning just the same as a normal D power chord?


Sort of, you're just playing a D5 its not a Dm in that case. If you want to get the minor sound you can play a 4 finger or barre as above, but with the second finger on the 6th fret (F)-so you're playing D/A/D/F. I often omit the high e rather than playing a true barre chord, especially if I'm using gain. I don't use that voicing very often-the only song I can think of where I do that is two minutes to midnight by iron maiden-the bridge doesn't sound right if you just play a D5. I also sometimes just play D/A/F and mute the G and E string, a d minor triad.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

For D you can play
6th string at the 5th fret
5th string at the 5th fret
4th string at the 7th fret
3rd string at the 7th fret
2nd string at the 7th fret
For minor add
2nd string at the 6th fret

For E
6th string at the 7th fret
5th string at the 7th fret
4th string at the 9th fret
3rd string at the 9th fret
2nd string at the 9th fret
optional
2nd string open
1st string open

For Bb you can play
6th string at the 1st fret
5th string at the 1st fret
4th string at the 3rd fret
3rd string at the 3rd fret
2nd string at the 3rd fret

A big E chord
6th string open
5th string at the 2nd fret
4th string at the 2nd fret
3rd string at the 4th fret
2nd string at the 5th fret
1st string open


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

1SweetRide said:


> How does one play B flat and Dm as power chords? Anyone have a cheat sheet for converting chords to power chords?


You just use find the root note, either on the low E or A string depending on what position you want to use, then make a power chord with two fingers two frets up (the 5th and the octave)


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Here's are the root notes if you need a cheat sheet:



https://nationalguitaracademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/guitar-notes.jpg


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## Analogman (Oct 3, 2012)

Power chords aren’t major or minor so if you see a Dm you only need to think D. Power chords are the same shape for every chord so a good starting point is to learn all the notes on the E and A string then apply the shape to the desired note (index finger). The most common place to play B flat would be the 6th fret on the E string or 1st fret on the A string. Dm or D is the 10th fret on the E string or 5th fret on the A string.

For the power chord shape place your index finger on the 1st fret of 6th string, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 5th string and pinky on the 3rd fret of the 4th string. Once you have that shape you can move it anywhere. Wherever your index finger is that’s the chord you’re playing (root note).


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

1SweetRide said:


> Isn’t the Dm power chord positioning just the same as a normal D power chord?


Yes. What makes a chord major or minor is the "third" note of the chord. A power chord eliminates the "third" note completely, so whether a chord is major or minor, once you make it a power chord by removing the "third", the remaining notes are identical.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Power chords are actually quite versatile.
One thing I like to do when playing with another guitar player is to have one of us play open chords-including fancy chords if they fit the song-and the other one playing power chords.

So the song still has major & minor tonalities, etc--but the root is re-inforced
Sometimes it really fills out the sound.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Power chords are just your root, 5th and octave in the standard blues box (unless you wanna get a bit more fancy - you can even dump the octave which is what I often do on bass because it can be too dense); play it anywhere on the neck


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

zontar said:


> Power chords are actually quite versatile.
> One thing I like to do when playing with another guitar player is to have one of us play open chords-including fancy chords if they fit the song-and the other one playing power chords.
> 
> So the song still has major & minor tonalities, etc--but the root is re-inforced
> Sometimes it really fills out the sound.


Yup, that's what we've discovered too. Doesn't work on every song but it does for most of them.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

This was a really helpful thread for me. Thanks all!


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

1SweetRide said:


> Yup, that's what we've discovered too. Doesn't work on every song but it does for most of them.





1SweetRide said:


> Yup, that's what we've discovered too. Doesn't work on every song but it does for most of them.


Certainly it won't work for every song--although sometimes I have been surprised which songs it did work with, and which ones it didn't.
Most of the time I'm not surprised by that--but it happens.


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