Suspended & power
E power chord chord
Just the root and 5th — punchy and neutral, a rock guitar staple.
- Notes
- EB
- Formula
- 15
- Built from
- root · perfect 5th
How to play E5
About the E power chord chord
E5 is the most-played power chord in rock: the open low E string plus the B on the A string’s 2nd fret. With no 3rd it’s neither major nor minor, so it sounds huge through distortion.
Playing it
On guitar, E5 is one of the friendlier shapes: 022xxx needs just one finger and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the G, B and high E strings.
On piano, E5 sits entirely on white keys.
On ukulele the usual E5 shape is 4402, using three fingers.
