Lesson 59 · All 12 keys

Power Chord Trainer

Learn how a Power chord is built one semitone-count at a time — just a root and a perfect 5th, with no 3rd at all — the simplest possible chord shape — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 power chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its color, in every key.

How a Power chord is built

A Power chord — written 5 (e.g. C5) — is a 2-note chord: just a root and a perfect 5th, with no 3rd at all — the simplest possible chord shape. Every 5 chord — in any of the 12 keys — is built the exact same way, by counting semitones to the right from a root note:

  1. The starting note — this note names the chord.
  2. Count 7 semitones up from the root — the perfect 5th. There is no 3rd at all.
Example — C5: start on C, count 7 semitones right to reach G. C‑G is the C5 chord.
With no 3rd, a power chord is neither major nor minor — that open ambiguity is exactly why it works equally well under a major or minor melody, and why it turns up constantly in gospel and rock/pop vamps alike.

Try it: pick a root and build the chord step by step

Step 1 of 2
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 power chords at a glance

ChordRootPerfect 5th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 power chords, one after another, moving around the circle of fourths — each chord's root sits a perfect 4th (5 semitones) above the last one: C → F → B♭ → E♭ → A♭ → D♭ → G♭/F♯ → B → E → A → D → G → back to C. Every chord is played as a full 2-note Power chord (root, perfect 5th together).

Chord 1 of 12
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The 12 chords, in circle-of-fourths order

#ChordRootPerfect 5th

Five jazz chord progressions built around the Power chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes

Five gospel chord progressions built around the Power chord. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes