FF 3.1 | Power Chord Intro & Prep

Classroom

Mar 18

Power Chord
Teacher Guide

Power chords: simple, mighty, and the cornerstone of many music genres. Recognized for their straightforward structure, these chords are a gateway to playing favorite songs, composing original music, and experiencing the feeling of playing music together. In this unit, students will learn how to combine the power chord shape with their knowledge of the notes on the E and A string to play, read, and write pop songs.

1 TEACHER PREP & MATERIALS

UNIT PREP

Before diving into teaching, familiarize yourself with power chord shapes and practice applying them on the guitar to play metal, pop, punk, and rock music. Get the sound of pop punk in your ear by listening to the playlist in the write tab. Try to write your own I IV V vi song using power chords. The sound of power chords in these songs will serve as both inspiration and a teaching tool, setting the tone for the unit.

SEQUENCING AND PACING

The unit is designed to unfold over a span of approximately 3 to 4 weeks, depending on the chosen capstone activity: songwriting or jamming/performing. It is best to provide a showcase for the student jam and or songwriting capstone. This showcase can take the form a live performance, audio recording, or video recording. One recommendation is to have students make lyric videos and an album cover. Then sync the audio from the recording to the lyric video and upload it to a video hosting service like Youtube. Print out the album cover with a QR code to the lyric video in the corner. Post the album covers on on a bulletin board outside of the classroom to make a real life playlist. Transcription activities can be introduced as enrichment before the transcription lesson by having students watch the video at the top of the page.

- Power Chord Intro (1 day)

- E and A String Power Chords (2 days)

- Technique and Playing A Song (3 days)

- Transcription (1 day plus additional time post-activities)

- Jamming (2-5 days)

- Songwriting (2-14 days)

MATERIALS

Optional electric guitars and amps.
Optional bass guitars and amps.
A mic and playback system.
Optional drums.
Computer with audio interface.
Microphone

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