# Learn Guitar — Rock drills > Interactive page: [`drills-rock.html`](drills-rock.html) · Fundamentals: [`drills.md`](drills.md) Two fingers, two strings, one very strict right hand. Power chords are a root and a fifth — no third, so they are neither major nor minor, which is why they fit over anything. **Technique path:** [Drills](drills.md) · [Exercises](exercises.md) · [Rock exercises](exercises-rock.md) · this page. Why it matters: the power-chord shape is the same everywhere on the neck, so learning it once buys you the whole fretboard. The down-picking discipline built here is what makes strumming, palm muting, and later metal feel easy. Standard EADGBE throughout — no drop-D in this room yet. Where a drill is a shape or a picking pattern, **TAB** sits next to the explanation (high e on top). How to read it: [Foundations · TAB](foundations.md). **Sources (two-check):** conventional root-fifth voicings and palm-mute technique as taught in Hal Leonard rock method material · Berklee-style right-hand-to-click practice. Generic shapes only. First-piece titles are recognition — progressions, no riffs. On the HTML page, Play becomes Stop on the same button. ## Suggested order 1. The shape (E5) 2. Move it (E5, G5, A5) 3. Add the octave 4. Across strings 5. Palm-mute eighths 6. Downstroke stamina 7. Two-chord vamp and the pushed beat 8. A minor pentatonic box 1 9. E5–A5–B5, 12-bar in powers, slides 10. Syncopated mute and a one-string ostinato 11. First pieces — famous titles, chords only. No copied riffs ## Three tracks - **Beginner** — E5 alone, clean and quiet. Then slide it to G5 and A5. - **Intermediate** — octave shape. A-string roots. Palm-mute eighths. Two-chord vamp. - **Advanced** — 12-bar in powers. Syncopated mute. Then a first piece — I–IV–V or the four-chord loop. ## Power chords Index on the root, ring (or pinky) two frets higher on the next string. Mute everything else. **1 · The shape — E5** — open low E + A string fret 2. Strike once; if you hear a high string, the muting is not there yet. ``` e|-x- B|-x- G|-x- D|-x- A|-2- E|-0- ``` **2 · Move it** — G5 = frets 3 and 5. A5 = frets 5 and 7. One bar each. Move the hand as a block. ``` E5 G5 A5 A|-2- -5- -7- E|-0- -3- -5- ``` **3 · Add the octave** — pinky on the D string two frets above the root. Fatter, and the standard rock voicing once the hand can reach it. ``` D|-2- A|-2- E|-0- ``` **4 · Across strings** — root on the A string: C5 at fret 3, D5 at fret 5. Identical shape, different string. Loop E5 → A5 → D5. ``` E5 A5 D5 D|-x- -x- -7- A|-2- -7- -5- E|-0- -5- -x- ``` ## Right hand **5 · Palm-mute eighths** — palm on the strings where they meet the bridge, open low E, two hits per click. Too far forward and the note is gone; too far back and nothing is muted. ``` E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- P.M. ``` **6 · Downstroke stamina** — E5 on every click, all downstrokes, unmuted, two minutes. If the forearm burns, the pick grip is too tight. ``` A|-2-----2-----2-----2-- E|-0-----0-----0-----0-- ``` ## Vamps **7 · Two-chord vamp** — A5 a bar, G5 a bar, eighths throughout, muted except the first hit of each bar. ``` A5 G5 A|-7-----------------5-- E|-5-----------------3-- ``` **8 · The pushed beat** — chord on 1, then again on the *and* of 2, early, before beat 3. That anticipation is most of what makes a part sound like rock instead of a march. ``` 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & A|-2--------2--------------- E|-0--------0--------------- ``` ## Box 1 **9 · A minor pentatonic — box 1** at fret 5. Squares are A. Lives inside Drills on purpose — this room has no standalone scales course. ``` e|---------------5-8-| B|-------------5-8---| G|-----------5-7-----| D|---------5-7-------| A|-------5-7---------| E|-5-8---------------| ``` Ascend, descend, then try it in pairs. More with this shape: [Solo drills](drills-solo.md). ## Past the vamp **10 · E5 → A5 → B5** — I–IV–V in E. Open-chord twin: [E–A–B7](songs.md). ``` E5 A5 B5 A|-2- -7- -9- E|-0- -5- -7- ``` **11 · 12-bar in powers** — E5 four bars, A5 two, E5 two, B5–A5–E5–B5. Same map as [12-bar blues](songs.md). ``` | E5 | E5 | E5 | E5 | | A5 | A5 | E5 | E5 | | B5 | A5 | E5 | B5 | ``` **12 · Slide the shape** — E5 two beats, slide the hand to G5. ``` A|-2--/--5------ E|-0--/--3------ ``` **13 · Descend D5–C5–A5–G5** — A-string roots, then low-E roots. ``` D5 C5 A5 G5 D|-7- -5- -x- -x- A|-5- -3- -7- -5- E|-x- -x- -5- -3- ``` **14 · Syncopated mute** — chord on 1; muted chops on the *and* of 2 and of 4. ``` 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & A|-2--------x-----------x--- E|-0--------x-----------x--- ``` **15 · One-string ostinato** — low E: open, 3, 5, 3. Generic root–♭3–4 cell, not a transcribed riff. ## First pieces Rock first pieces are **progressions and rhythms**, not riffs. We do not print Smoke on the Water, Seven Nation Army, or any other copyrighted line. - **Beginner** — E5–G5–A5, or [three-chord](songs.md) G–C–D. - **Intermediate** — E5–A5–B5 or 12-bar powers. Pushed beat on the change. - **Advanced** — 12-bar with syncopated mute. Box 1 fills — [Solo · first pieces](drills-solo.md). **Famous titles (chords / powers only):** Wild Thing / Louie Louie colour (I–IV–V) · Let It Be / No Woman, No Cry ([four-chord](songs.md)) · 12-bar rock and roll colour ([blues](songs.md), not the Johnny B. Goode riff) · Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door on [Folk · first pieces](drills-folk.md). If the thing you want is a *riff*, write an eight-bar ostinato from drill 15 instead of copying a record. ## Practice note **How long:** 12 minutes — two on the shape, four on mute or a vamp, four on 12-bar or E5–A5–B5, then one first-piece map. **Listen for:** the silence between hits, and stray high strings. A power chord with a ringing B string sounds thin. **Common mistake:** tensing the picking arm for volume. Keep the wrist small and the arm quiet, especially before [metal tempos](drills-metal.md). Continue: [Metal drills](drills-metal.md) · [Solo drills](drills-solo.md)