One of the fastest ways to make your guitar sound professional is with this simple guitar chord structure: the five chords. Five chords can be played on the neck for each major chord and can even be substituted for minor chords in a pinch.

For anyone just starting out on the guitar, this form of chords can be a godsend. At first, players may not have the finger strength to play full barre chords. When playing rock, it’s very important to be able to play chords in different positions to get the right pitch for a song. This is where playing five chords can give you the pitch without having to play those entire chords.

There is an argument that the structure of five is not really a chord. Guitar chords generally consist of at least three notes (a triad), using the root, third note, and fifth note of the scale.

The argument then arises that because a five chord only consists of the root note and the fifth note of a scale (a dyad), it is not a complete chord. Technically, this is true, but for rock guitar purposes, the five chord will serve our purposes well.

The five chord is also known as the power chord. It can be substituted for barre chords up the neck of the guitar. Fingering is easy and usually only uses the first and third fingers on the frets. You’ll only play two strings (and two notes) for the chord, and you’ll only play them on the 5th and 6th, or 4th and 5th strings. Let me demonstrate:

The A5 chord with sixth string root

1|—x—–|
2|—x—–|
3|—x—–|
4|—x—–|
5|—7—–| use the ring finger
6|—5—–| use the index finger

The D5 chord with fifth string root

1|—x—–|
2|—x—–|
3|—x—–|
4|—7—–| use the ring finger
5|—5—–| use the index finger
6|—x—–|

When strumming these chords, just strum the strings with two fingers. The rest would be muted or simply not played.

A good example of a song built around the power chord is Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘Godzilla’. You quickly realize how versatile this chord shape is as you move the chord up the neck for the various major chords in the song.

By learning this simple form of guitar chords, you can rock classic rock, metal, punk, shred, you name it. Simply crank up the distortion on your amp and you’re ready to rock!