Two notes, one wall of sound.
The Chord
The power chord is the most stripped-down harmony that still counts as a chord — just a root and its perfect fifth, with the third deliberately left out. On C that is only C and G, often with the root doubled an octave up for weight. By discarding the third, the power chord discards the one note that would make it major or minor, which is exactly the point. It is not neutral by accident; it is neutral by design.
That refusal has a practical origin. Push a guitar amplifier into distortion and the third of a full triad starts to clash with itself, generating muddy overtones. Strip the chord to root and fifth and the harmonics line up cleanly, so the sound stays powerful instead of turning to sludge. The power chord is theory bending to the physics of a loud amplifier.
Structure
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Formula | 1 5 |
| Notes (on C) | C G |
| Symbol | C5 |
| Quality | Neither major nor minor — raw, loud, the sound of rock |
Character
The power chord sounds like force. Because it withholds the third, it carries no obvious mood — it is muscle without sentiment, equally at home in menace or triumph. Its ambiguity is its strength: a riff built from power chords can sit over a major or minor melody and never argue. Loud, blunt, and physical, it is less a colour than a punch.
In Practice
The power chord is the structural unit of rock, punk, and metal — the moveable two-finger shape that lets a guitarist slam any root with the same reliable grip. Its emptiness leaves room for distortion, speed, and volume, which is why it defines those genres more than any full chord could. It is the Major Triad and Minor Triad with the argument surgically removed.