A5 Chord – Your Essential Guide To This Powerful Chord

The A5 Chord in Different Styles

In order to get a better idea of what these songs could sound like in context, let’s look at the A5 in two different genres.

We’re going to use the same three “5-style” chords so you can really hear the difference. Check out the tabs and play along!

ROCK

The first example will be a rock riff that starts with A5 on the fifth fret, moves to G5 on the third fret, and ends on E5 in the open position.

• All three of these chords use the “5-style” chord, so you can simply shift your hand down the fretboard and maintain the same finger position throughout. p
• You can strum these chords up and down, or you can pound away at them with downstrokes. Get creative with it!

If you have an amp, distortion is highly encouraged (just try not to wake the neighbours).

FOLK/AMBIENT

Just like the example above, we’ll be using the same three chords – A5, G5 and E5.

This time though, instead of playing with distortion we’ll be picking the E and A strings back and forth.

This will help to create a completely different atmosphere with a lighter, more welcoming vibe.

Take note of how each of these approaches make you feel, as that helps you determine what you like most about your instrument and how to evoke different emotions through your music.

How to Practice the A5 Chord

Learning how to practice effectively makes a big difference to your guitar playing. It can also help you achieve your goals faster and keep you on the right track and focussed.

Here are a few things you can do to help your practice routine with the A5 chord:

• Stretch first! This applies to practice of any kind, but stretching before practice can help us avoid excess tension in our wrists and forearms.
• Keep it loose – the only thing that should be tense are your guitar strings!

• Play arpeggios! When we first start out on guitar, making the stretch from the 5th fret to the 7th to grab that A5 power chord can seem huge.
• Getting our fingers into a comfortable and secure position takes time and practice. Arpeggios help us to “spell out” chords so that we can hear each note ring out against the next.

They also help us hear what strings we may be accidentally muting, so that we can better position our hands!

Learn at your own pace. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hobby guitarist or a professional – we play music for ourselves first, and it should always be enjoyable.

• Practice the individual fingerings of each note in the chord separately, then together. This will help your fingers get used to knowing where they are supposed to be, and helps them work better together!

Homework: Listening

As always, listening is one of the most key components of music education for any instrument. 

Finding songs that demonstrate what we are learning about helps us to hear the learning material in context.

We’ve put together a few great songs for you to listen to that make great use of power chords.

Check them out and if you like it, learn it!

• Rise Against – “Give It All” (Punk/Alt Rock)
• Green Day – “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (Rock/Acoustic)
• Pink – “Just Like A Pill” (Pop) (Power chords in the chorus)

Where Do I Go From Here?

If you want to keep improving your rapidly-growing guitar skills, we highly recommend all of the following: 

• Pick up a copy of Guitar Chords for Beginners by Gareth Evans
• Check out our library of free guitar lessons to keep sharpening your skills
• Get inspired with some new music! Today’s inspiration recommendation is Mark Lettieri (see if you can find the ‘5-style’ chords that he’s using!)
• Pair the A5 chord up with other chords that you already know, and see how they play together
• Jam with a friend!

Recommended Resources

If you’re looking to continue learning about different chords, check out some more of our free resources below and keep playing!

• 3 Easy Ways to Play the A Chord on Guitar
• B Guitar Chord – Tips for this Tough Chord
• Easy Ways to Play the C Guitar Chord
• How to Play a D Bar Chord
• Em Guitar Chord – 4 Easy Ways to Play This Essential Chord