How to play the E Power chord on guitar
E5 uses the open low E as its root, which makes it the loudest and most resonant power chord available. That is a large part of why so much rock and metal is written in E: the instrument's lowest string is doing the work for free.
E Power Chord is a power chord: just the root (E) and its fifth — E, B. 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: play it open.
- A string: fret 2 with your index finger.
- D string: fret 2 with your middle finger.
- G string: don't play it.
- B string: don't play it.
- high E string: don't play it.
The core of rock and metal. Only play the thickest three 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
E5 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 E5, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning E5 alone.
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether E5 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.