Guitar Riff on the C Major Chord

Here’s another riff for you guys looking for something else for your guitar’s arsenal… this one today is in the key of G major, and it works off the C+ chord. Just as an aside, if you haven’t seen the ( + ) used before, it is shorthand for ‘major.’ The flip side to that is ( – ) which means minor, as in A-. The ( – ) is less common though, and more often you’ll see that as Am, but it’s helpful to know they’re interchangeable.

Okay – so on to the riff. This thing can be played in hybrid style, if you’re comfortable with that (and if you’re not, get practicing!), or alternatively you can just pick it and it sounds good too. Personally, I like the hybrid approach just a wee bit better, but I do use this both ways.

Because we’re in the key of G major, you should hopefully know by now that we’re going to be using the relative minor scale, which is E minor diatonic. Here’s a diatonic minor scale refresher if you need it.

Special treat today – I’ve actually got tab for this riff, which you’ll find below the video.

Alright, grab your guitar, and let’s dig in!

Video Problems? Watch it on Youtube.

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Here’s the tab for the riff, picked hybrid style:

Key of G - C+ Riff


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  1. Sorry, but a "C+" would actually be an augmented chord in the common nomenclatura.
    C major would just be "C", while a minor would be "Cm" or "C-" as you stated…

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