How to play the G Power chord on guitar
G5 moves the power chord shape up the neck, where the frets are closer together and the stretch eases. It is often the first place a learner notices that the same shape gets physically easier the higher it goes.
G Power Chord is a power chord: just the root (G) and its fifth — G, D. 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: fret 3 with your index finger.
- A string: fret 5 with your ring finger.
- D string: fret 5 with your pinky.
- G string: don't play it.
- B string: don't play it.
- high E string: don't play it.
A movable power chord shape. You can slide this shape anywhere on the neck!
What makes this shape awkward
- The shape spans 3 frets, so your hand has to stretch rather than sit in one position. Bring your thumb down behind the neck to open the gap between your fingers.
- 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
G5 appears in 2 of the play-along progressions in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- Crush Riff (Heavy Metal, 135 BPM) —
E5 → G5 → A5 → E5 → D5 → A5 - Neon Highway (Synthwave Rock, 128 BPM) —
A5 → F → C → G5
Chords it's usually played with
In the progressions that use G5, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning G5 alone.
If this one is still too hard
G Power Chord is an intermediate shape. These beginner chords use a related root or quality and are worth getting clean first:
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether G5 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.