The Riff
A few notes, played over and over, can become the whole identity of a song. Opening the Songwriting Secrets module, this lesson looks at why riffs stick: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes, 2003) sounds like a bass riff but is Jack White's guitar pushed an octave down by a pedal, and stadiums around the world chant it; Keith Richards played the Satisfaction riff (The Rolling Stones, 1965) through a Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone; Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple, 1972) is one of the first riffs most guitarists learn. Then, with riffs of our own, build one step by step: few notes from the minor pentatonic, a rest and an off-beat note, one bar repeated, and a new ending the fourth time. Hear how changing one note or one rhythm makes a riff weaker or stronger, put it over power chords, and write your own in E minor pentatonic.
In this lesson you'll
- Know what a riff is and why it sticks: a short phrase (usually one or two bars) that keeps coming back, until repetition turns it into a hook and the song's identity.
- Build a riff in four steps: few notes from the minor pentatonic (A C D E G, lesson 19), a rhythmic identity (a rest on beat 2, the next note off the beat), one bar repeated, and question and answer (three times the same, then a new ending).
- Hear how changing one note (C → C♯ loses the bite; D → E♭, the blue note, adds grit) or one rhythm (filling the rest, putting a note on the beat) changes a riff; play it over power chords (lesson 15); then write your own one-bar riff in E minor pentatonic.
Music in this lesson
- Seven Nation ArmyThe White Stripes · 2003 (named only)
- (I Can't Get No) SatisfactionThe Rolling Stones · 1965 (named only)
- Smoke on the WaterDeep Purple · 1972 (named only)
- BoléroMaurice Ravel (snare ostinato, simplified; see lesson 68)
- MarsGustav Holst (named only)
Remember
A riff is a short, rhythmic phrase built from a few notes, often from the pentatonic or blues scale; repeat it enough and it becomes a hook: say it short, say it again, the riff is music's logo.
Rhythm gives a riff its identity: the same five notes in even eighths are just a scale, but a rest and an off-beat note give it a shape you could clap; three times the same and a new ending the fourth time closes the phrase.
One note or one rhythm can make a riff stronger or weaker; riffs sit naturally over power chords (root + fifth), and classical music has the same idea, the ostinato (Ravel's Boléro snare, Holst's Mars), though in a song the riff is often the hook itself.