The power chord breakthrough

[Dan Shipway]

Hey synners, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about a breakthrough I had today and how it has helped my playing.
I had always played power chords with my 1st and third finger and it always seemed a bit cramped, I couldn’t really move my fingers around and making complex chord shapes was pretty hard.
I have tried in the past to use my first and 4th but no matter how much I tried I couldn’t get it to work but after a few days of doing it all the time. I have managed to get used to it and the benefits are huge.
My hands feel a lot more free, my pinky is has more exercise and is therefore getting stronger and I can also play more chord shapes with less discomfort.
It is definitely something to try.

 

[Dan Shipway]

Sorry, quick update. I spent more time doing a comparison and it seems 1,3 feels more natural. It is definitely good for pinky strength but having the pinky free is easier for stretches, i still recommend it for strength and for transitions as it feels nicer in certain circumstances.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

LOL! This was such a cute post! I love it! There are some downfalls to using your index and pinky finger to play powerchords. If you use your index and ring finger, you can easily shift to a full triad (by placing your pinky finger down to hit the octave of the index finger) or even simply place your pinky down ON the octave, lift up your ring finger and get the octave chord effect. I’m glad you played around with it. I’ve seen some people do the index/pinky combo but I think it’s a little detrimental for future progress. Great work, Dan!

 

[Dan Shipway]

The main thing I have learned is to find what feels right for ME. I have seen tips everywhere across loads of YouTube videos and I always told myself “This has to work, this is the definitive way that is right because it is used by so many people. It impacted my playing as it just didn’t work with how I play and how I would play certain things in the context of others. One of the examples I think of is when playing Petrucci songs.
Petrucci is a huge alternate picker and therefore plays arppegiated riffs and lines as such and I always tried to alternate pick them. It was a clash with the style that I play things and how I approach passages of a similar nature. I learned very quickly that I much prefer to sweep them and therefore I have ever since.
It is definitely something I need to work on as I am yet to find methods that work for me with regards to certain techniques and their application and how to perform them.

 

[Adin Shepherd]

From the childlike wisdom of the Old El Paso kid, ‘Why not both?’
I am from the ‘whatever works for the riff’ school. Primarily I am an index/pinky guy, but interchange with index/ring when I need to.

 

[Firsty Lasty]

I had to pick up a guitar to look and see what I do, ‘cuz this isn’t something I think about.
It looks like my habit is to prefer the pinky when just playing root + fifth, both pinky and 3rd finger when playing root + fifth + octave (instead of using one finger to get two strings), and either the pinky or the 3rd finger when doing that major chord shape that’s similar to power chords (like x7999x).

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

I agree, playing with 1st and 4rth finger is less stressful and allows more variations. I recently discovered that and enjoying it so far.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

That’s actually a good point, Sayonil. It definitely sounds like it could be on a case-by-case situation. I think it would be good for people to do both ways considering doing it your way for example could build up more pinky strength

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I play power chords using all my fingers. I dont lay them out. I imagine going major chords wouldnt work this way but I usually dont add the 4th string.

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

I blame syn for me (heheh) using the ring finger to barre the 2 strings. I saw him doing it on a Bat country instructional video. I thought hmm looks complex, cool! I’m gonna do that! My producer was actually surprised that my ringer finger almost looked like a 90-degree angle when doing like a 3 string barre with the ring finger.

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

True Jak, my pinky action is getting better

 

[Kfir Yaakovi]

I use both ways depends on what I did before and what I need to do next.