What if one small riff could make an E minor and C major progression sound like a completely different song?
Most players just strum through chord progressions the same way every time, and it sounds fine... but flat. In this lesson I'll show you a simple half-bar riff pulled from the E pentatonic minor open position that you can drop right into your strumming to act as a catalyst, lifting the whole progression up a notch. You don't need a complicated riff. You just need to place it right.
In this lesson, you’ll learn:
- A half-bar riff using the open 4th string, a hammer-on to the 2nd fret, and the 3rd string (playable at 75 BPM with 16th notes)
- How to transition cleanly out of a C major chord into the riff (your 2nd finger is already in position)
- How to layer chord modifications (Em7 and C add9) on top of the riff to build the progression in stages
- Why riffs belong in rhythm playing, not just soloing, and how to place them selectively for maximum impact