5th Chords Theory
5th Chords, or "power chords" are fantastic for creating powerful, dramatic moments in music.
| The Sound of the 5th chord
5 chords are often dubbed "power chords", as they sound very bold and strong. They are used in "heavy rock" and "heavy metal" music on distorted electric guitars to create dramatic sounding riffs. ( There's an interesting analysis of why these chords sound powerful here).
The 5th Chord Notated
5th chords are notated with the number after the chord. E.g. D5
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D5 notated
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Theory - here's how to work out an open chord.
These are major (or minor chords) without the "third".
(5th chords are neither major nor minor as there is no third present).
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D5 chord
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Let's say you want to work out D5. Begin by finding the notes to D major (these are D - F# - A). Once this is done, remove the middle note (F#). That's it! Open chords only have to notes - the tonic (in this case D) and the dominant (A).
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So in summary, work out the major chord, then delete the middle note. Power chords usually also add the octave note to the chord, to strengthen the sound. So in this example D5 would be played D - A - D in the right hand.
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TOP TIP:
To get the most out of this chord, I would suggest playing the two notes a number of times across the hands (or the fret board, if you're playing this on the guitar). For example, if say you were playing G5 as a power chord on the keyboard you might play octave G's in the left hand (G and G), and G - D - G in the right hand. This is much stronger sounding than just G and D in the right hand!
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