Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:02 pm
Most excellent answer Music Junkie. However power chords aren't really chords at all, because as Music Junkie pointed out they don't contain a major or minor 3rd. Power "intervals" is the more appropriate term, but we'll call them power chords anyway as to not seem to snobby :laugh: . These types of power chords are played by only strumming the 6th, 5th & 4th strings. If this "person" is playing power chords using his/her ring finger to barre the perfect 5th and the octave above the root, then there is somewhat no way (without a double jointed ring finger) to add a major or minor 5th. However, in the following example if you consider the 6th string as the root note, if this person is playing the power chord using the ring finger and pinky to play the 5th and the octave, then it is feasible to play a real barre chord by adding the middle finger at the major 3rd on the 3rd string and strumming that 3rd string making it a real major chord, or leaving the middle finger off and strumming the minor 3rd at the 3rd string, making it a real minor chord. This same example works to if the root is the 5th strings, however the resulting chords and the string that the 3rd is on change.
Please someone correct me if any of this is wrong, I hate to give bad advise.
And is it possible to play like "normal" songs with power chords? Like beatles and so on 
