How to play the D Power chord on guitar
D5 sits on the middle strings, so it cuts through a mix without the low-end weight of E5 or A5. Rhythm guitarists reach for it when a bass guitar already occupies the bottom of the arrangement.
D Power Chord is a power chord: just the root (D) and its fifth — D, A. It has no third, which is why it sounds neither major nor minor and sits under distortion so well.
Finger it one string at a time
- low E string: don't play it.
- A string: don't play it.
- D string: play it open.
- G string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- B string: fret 3 with your middle finger.
- high E string: don't play it.
Mute the top two and bottom strings.
What makes this shape awkward
- 3 strings stay silent, so your strumming hand has to start on the right string. Aim the pick rather than sweeping all six.
Where you'll use it
D5 appears in 1 of the play-along progression in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- Crush Riff (Heavy Metal, 135 BPM) —
E5 → G5 → A5 → E5 → D5 → A5
Chords it's usually played with
In the progressions that use D5, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning D5 alone.
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether D5 sounds right is whether every string rings cleanly. RiffRoute plays the chord back, listens while you strum it, and tells you which string is buzzing.