hey there
mike's answered the question, but as audio examples, have a listen to pretty much anything by rush as alex lifeson uses them an awful lot!
particular examples are 'spirit of radio', 'red barchetta' etc
he also does another little trick where he will keep the bass note the same and fidle around with inversions on top - like in 'tom sawyer'.
from a writing point of view, it's a really effective little tool, and takes you away from conventional chord changes.
have fun