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Power chords
Hello everyone, I have been playing on and off for years and have a pretty good base but joined TAC to level up my commitment and enjoyment. Working on power chords for the first time in probably two decades (!!) and finding them very uncomfortable. I find my index finger particularly wants to twist sideways whenever I change positions. Any pointers?
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10 Replies
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Welcome to TAC! No pointers; you sound far more experienced than I am; but I hope someone has something useful for you.
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Hi @aprildemesme-com and welcome to TAC. Just so you know, I prefer to play full barre chords so there may be some bias in my response. Are you playing power chords with two fingers or three? Personally, I find two fingers a little uncomfortable and (for me) playing that way can lead to sloppiness. That’s why (for me) three fingers are more comfortable – index on the root, ring on the 5th and pinky on the octave – my entire fretting hand feels comfortable this way and all I have to do is “lock in” the shape and I have no problems with transitions – fret to fret or string to string.
But I’m sure as you continue to practice, things will come back to you as they used to be. Enjoy the journey and remember to have FUN along the way.
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Yes I am playing with three fingers, which is definitely easier than two! I think my posture is part of the issue as well. I appreciate the feedback. I think long term I will likely default to barre chords as well, but it’s a fun thing to know and good strengthening exercise!
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Welcome to the TAC community April. I laughed when you and @Bill_Brown said you preferred the 3 note power chords, because I prefer the 2 note power chords. I think it’s easier for me to easily and quickly get to the 2 note. It can be difficult not to curve my fingers after not having played the power chords in so long, but they are meant to be played flatter. My fingers want to turn all the time, because my hands are smaller, and because the neck angles away, and I have to stretch my fingers, it is the only way I can play them if I angle sometimes. All my barre chords are angled too. It’ssimply what works for me.
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I have little tiny hands too, I wonder if it’s just a reality for me! I have a friend who plays a 3/4 size guitar to make it just a tad easier on her… and here’s me with my thick body full size Simon and Patrick… silly but I fell in love with her tone!
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I’m right there with you regarding size of guitars I prefer. I have a lot of guitars, but my 2 go tos most of the time are a dreadnought and a grand auditorium. I love the rich sounds of the larger guitars, and I’m more of a strummer and rhythm player. I think they’re easier to play. They are taking their toll on my fretting arm and hand right now. I broke my wrist pretty badly the first week of last October. I’ve had two surgeries since, and I have a third one scheduled in September and it is extremely painful to fret the guitar I can’t do it for that long and there’s some days I just can’t do it at all cause it just hurts and burns too bad I’m just praying to God that they’re able to alleviate some of it. I’m so bummed that I’m going to probably miss playing for 3 to 4 months again but surgeon does surprise me on occasion— we’ll see what he says
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I just did the Power Chords lesson today, and my fingers did not want to work with me even lower on the guitar neck. Will my fingers eventually be able to stretch farther than they do now?!
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It will get better! I can say that even as I struggle because I spent about four years saying I just wouldn’t ever play barre chords because they were too hard, but after sucking it up and spending the time I now use them frequently!
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Thank you!
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A barre chord can start as simple as the top 3 strings. if you play a c barre chord on the 5th fret and use the top 3 (E,B,G) strings it is E 3rd fret, B and G strings held down on the 5th fret. move up 2 frets and you have D chord playing the same finger positions. The dreaded F barre chord can just be the E and B strings fretted with the index finger. The G string fretted at the 3rd fret and the D string fretted at the 4th fret . I still play it this way a lot but for a long time I fingered this chord this way but only played the B, G, and D strings as the pesky E string barre always made noise, yukkkkkk . it does play clean and clear now and the barred G and A also play clean, plus the pinky holds down the a string cleanly. I guess my index finger finally strengthened enough to hold that bottom barre position. I use my thumb on the bottom E string for a full barre chord now.
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