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Making Guitar Riffs

By: Paul Benfort


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Making Guitar Riffs the Easy Way
Most of us who listen to rock music are familiar with those little musical phrases that lend the song a distinct feel and personality. These are called riffs, the characteristic and often, repetitive chord progressions or melodies that determine the rhythm and style of a song. Making guitar riffs is quite simple, yet also an art.
Riffs can be made up of a few simple notes or can be really complex and deliberate depending on your style and influences. Often the greatest guitar riffs are the simplest - those that capture your imagination and refuse to go away. For instance riffs from songs like Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple or Layla by Eric Clapton have defined an entire generation of rock music.
So to start with, minimalism might help you in on your way to crafting sensational riffs. Try playing your favorite notes in a pleasing sequence with maybe a hammer-on or two to give your riff a catchy sibilance. Instead of focusing on intricacy, you might want to focus on the feel.
A good way to get ideas for riffs is to hum your tunes before you try them out on your guitar. Since vocalizing is the easiest way to come up with new melodies, this really helps in crafting inspired and catchy riffs.
Jamming with other musicians can do wonders for you riffs. A lot of music is about collaboration, so your best ideas and inputs will usually come out of a simple jam session.
In writing songs, the music is usually worked out first before anything else. A basic riff can be crafted by merely harmonizing a melody. While making guitar riffs, it is important to note that knowledge of scales, while not a prerequisite, is desirable. You can use chromatic or pentatonic scales. Playing scales will help you to remember the notes in a particular scale or key.
Alternatively, you could come up with a riff you like and then go on to transpose it or move it up to the desired scale in which you wish to set the song. This is a simple way to bring variety and verve into a song, which might otherwise just sound very ordinary. For example Day Tripper by The Beatles in which the same riff is played in both in the key of E and A.
Lastly, even if you think you sound horrible, keep playing. You never know when you’re going to hit upon the next sensation.

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