Moveable Chords 'E'

Barre chords are a challenge at first, not only do you need to develop the muscle memory to move into the correct fingering positions but you'll also need to develop your finger strength too. Correct technique is essential here to avoid repetitive strain injury and fatigue. So, go slow at first and before you know it you'll have these fundamental chords under your fingers in no time... and with that you'll have improved your guitar playing no end! 


Now, whilst barre chords maybe a little difficult at first it is imperative that you get practicing them right away. So, I've chosen a great track to help develop your barre chord skills... But first let's get these chords boxed off...

The Moveable "E Shaped Barre" - AKA Root 6 Barre Chords

The "E shaped barre" so called because it is based upon the open E Major chord fingering. 


This is also known as a "Root 6 barre" because the root note of the chord is "barred" by your index finger.


So, the good news is, once you have this chord "shape" mastered you will know all 12 Major chords! 


The other good news is, in order to play all 12 major chords in root 6 position you need to know the notes on your 6th string.


That's where we'll begin. Here I've included a fretboard diagram (fig. 1) which shows you all the notes on the 6th string (excluding #'s (sharps) and b's (flats) for now). (we'll deal with those notes later).


Fig. 2 shows an example of the root 6 barre "E shape". This is the fingering for a G Major root 6 barre chord. Notice your index finger will barre the 3rd fret whist your Middle finger, Ring finger and Little finger play the remaining notes in the chord.


Fig. 3 shows the notes for G Major and finally 


Fig. 4 shows the scale degrees - which you'll know are 1 3 and 5 since this is a major chord (aka a major triad).

Root 6 Major Barre Chord Fingering

Root 6 Major

Root 6 Major Barre Chords (excluding Sharp's and Flats)

Guthrie Govan - One of the Great Guitar Virtuoso's of our generation

Root 6 Minor Barre Chords

Root 6 Minor

Root 6 Minor 7

Root 6 (Dominant) 7th Barre Chords

Root 6 Dominant 7

Root 6 Dominant 7 (#2)

Root 6 Major 7th Barre Chords

Root 6 Major 7

Root 6 Major 7 (Alternative version)

An introduction to Power Chords (5 Chords)

What are power chords? Well “power chords” really only contain two notes, therefore they aren’t major or minor… Technically they aren’t really “chords” at all in the theoretical sense! Theoretically, chords must contain three or more notes harmonised from their parent scale. 


However, “power chords” only contain two notes and are therefore known as dyads. A dyad is named by the interval that separates the two notes in them, and it is for this reason "power chords" are also known as “5 chords” e.g. E5. Since the root note E and the 5th note B are an interval of a 5th apart.


Why this naming convention?


Well by now you’ll remember that your major and minor triads (those "proper" 3 note chords) are constructed from the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of their parent scale.


So, it should come as no surprise that a “5 chord” or "power chord" is just made up from the 1st (the root note) and the 5th notes of the scale… Since they do not contain the 3rd power chords are neither major or minor since it is the 3rd that defines the quality of the chord.


e.g. a C5 (power chord) would be made up from the notes C and G only.

e.g. E5 is made up from the notes E and B only…


Power chords work great in rock & punk rock with lots of overdrive and distortion! As you progress as a guitarist you’ll learn more about power chords their relationships to other chords and their use in rock and punk rock… (that doesn’t mean to say that “power chords” are exclusively used in the “rock” genre either, since their first usage can be traced back to classical music). 

E5 and The Root 6 Power Chords

Power Chords (AKA 5 chords) can be fingered just like Barre Chords... though they are much easier as we only play the Root and 5th of the chord.

'Open' E5 Power chord - Just use your index finger to barre from the 5th string 2nd fret...

Notes of the 'Open' E5 Power chord: - E and B. Notice the E octave may also be played...

Scale degrees of the E5 power chord: -

1 (root note E) and 5 (5th note B)

Notice the E5 power chord is made up from its root note 'E' and the 5th 'B'. The open E (Root note, open 6 string) is played along with the 5th note 'B' (5th string 2nd fret). Here the E note on the 4th string 2nd fret is also played to "double up" on the E note giving the power chord a fuller sound. This octave note is optional. 


As we move down the fretboard we typically have 2 fingering options (fig 2. and fig 3.) for our R6 power chords.

Fig 1. showing the notes on the 6th string (excluding sharps and flats - we'll get those in a minute). Figs 2 and 3 show the typical fingerings, Fig 2 shows, Index finger and Ring finger barre (just like a standard "A" shaped Barre). Fig 3 fingering utilises the Index finger barre but employs the ring and little fingers to fret the 5th and the octave. As you can see in fig 4. the notes of the G5 'power chord' are shown - with the root note 'G' on the 6th string 3rd fret, the 5th note 'D' on the 5th string 5th fret and the optional octave 'G' on the 4th string 5th fret. 

Notice that the high E, B and G strings are not played!

So, now you can practice your Root 6 Power chords, Root 6 Barre Chords, Root 5 Barre chords and Root 5 Power Chords and since they have the same moveable "shapes" you now technically "know" 52 Chords! (and just wait 'till we add minor, dominant 7th and minor 7th to these - There'll be no stopping you from jamming along to 1000's of songs!)