Today we will look at alternates to power chords. Too many riffs reside just in power chords, the following examples will still sound good with distortion or overdrive etc…

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Example 1

This looks like a reverse powerchord, in actual fact this is a minor 3rd chord.
It’s an E minor 3rd chord, and you can move this to any key to change what chord you’re playing.

—–
—–
—–
-5—
-7—
—–

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Example 2

F chord (This is a major 3rd chord)

—–
—–
-2—
-3—
—–
—–

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Example 3

This works in the 6th of the scale, and this example is in E minor.
This is a C chord being changed to a B/C chord fragment.

———
———
———
-5—4—
-3—3—
———

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combining the three, here is an example from one of my riffs:

———————
———————
———————
-2—5-4—4-2—5—
-2—3-3—5-3—7—
-0——————-

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Experiment with these, and remember that they work in different keys too.

diadsdouble stopspower chords