Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't know Sweet Home Alabama can be played with just those three chords. It sounds a bit more complex, but looks can be deceiving, as they say :)

Originally Posted by: CSchlegelThere are hundreds, if not thousands, of rock & pop songs that can be played by a power trio. :)

But in order to point you in the right direction I need more info.

1. Is there a singer?
2. Can you, are you willing to play leads? Simple leads? No leads, only riffs & chords?[/QUOTE]
1: At the moment there's no dedicated singer, which means that either me or the bassist will be handling lead vocals (probably me since I've played longer than the bassist and I have more spare time to practice).
2: Well, I don't mind playing leads. I just can't keep up with fast shred-solos :) But I can easily handle some simple leads and riffs.

[QUOTE=CSchlegel]Just by sticking with a basic open chords you can play early rock tunes like Stand By Me, Twist & Shout, La Bamba. You can add tons of Buddy Holly, Beach Boys, Chuck Berry & some Beatles with those & a few barre chords & riffs. :)

Most early rock & blues songs are just 3 chords, but have lots of licks & fills. For example, School Days by Chuck Berry is only G, C & D7 really. But he spends most of his time doing those famous riffs & licks. :)

But I've had lots of students play along by simply strumming & changing between G, C & D7 at the right time & it works great as long as they are singing. Because most people are only going to recognize those songs by the vocal parts

Also, once you get into ZZ Top (Tush, La Grange) & Cream (Crossroads, Sunshine of Your Love), style classic rock riff grooves, then it's almost mandatory to take at least a little solo! :) You don't have to be a shredder, but a few pentatonic licks go a long way. And most people are just there to hear the tune & vocals anyway. So, the barest minimum of solos is usually more than enough.

Wow... I may have underestimated the potential power of a trio :) I've always imagined that 4 or 5 members would be better than 3, but that seems to not quite be the case after all :) I already had a pretty good feeling about ZZ Top's stuff. They're pretty much the first band I think of when someone says "Power Trio" :) A lot of their stuff, as far as I've heard, relies on a single riff and a solo (some of their songs use a more modern structure, but most of their best songs use the "1 riff and solo until boredom kicks in" structure).

I've also read that Rush should be a good pick. I don't know anything by Rush, though, but I've read that they're a power-trio so they're worth checking out too :)

Looks like I've got a lot more options than I first thought :)