Entertainment For Lively Minds
Where have all the good riffs gone
Posted by Mondo on 7 April 2009 - 11:50am.
As a get-by guitarist there's almost no greater joy than nailing that short, snappy sequence of notes written by some heavy-hitting hero or rock 'n' roll ledge... But quality riffs (the ones you can whistle or hum) seem to be in decline if not already totally tanked.Why? Perhaps the best of breed have already been produced, or rock and pop just isn't riff driven anymore?
So is the White Stripes 7 Nation Army the last real riff written?
And what do they teach kids/beginners at guitar lessons apart from the above?
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Dave
I got my 8 year old nephew the white stripes sheet music for 7 nation army etc for xmas . it's a corking riff but it was "bit easy" he said when he played it was bit repetitive. i didn't want to point out that when i was 8 my aunty and uncle got a gross point kit for christmas.
As to where are the riffs seeing as rock and roll is only 5o years old are their likely to be that many great ones so if we get 1 every few years isn't that what you'd expect.
Monsters of Riff
The inevitable lists back this up: http://tinyurl.com/dkayys
I recently made a playlist of riffs for the children at my school, and I struggled to find great examples created during their lifetime.
Heavy metal still seems to churn them out, but they're not memorable to my ears. Blues based bands like the White Stripes and the Black Keys sometimes come up with some good 'uns.
You could perhaps argue that riffs are still there, they're just not thrust in your face and worshipped anymore. Franz Ferdinand's first album has some good riffs, come to think of it, but its not cock rock by any means.
Samples are often used in the same way as riffs - off the top of my head, the Chi-lites sample in Beyonce's "Crazy In Love" is an example, but that's not necessarily much use to beginner guitarists.
Creating a simple but memorable riff seems a good, basic way in to composing a song. Maybe the influence of "Guitar Hero" will start to be seen very soon.
By the way, I recommend the Rifftionary to all guitarists. It claims to be, ahem, 110% ROCK: http://tinyurl.com/ch8dvo
Try more Jack White in
his other job, the Raconteurs, whose recentish 2nd LP is way better than the OK first and so so so much better than the dreadful Stripes.
Good riffs and touches of accoustic jangle as well.
See..
7 Nation Army - it's the Smoke On The Water for the 21st century(and it is quite easy too chris), but always reminds me of a re-write of The Stranglers Peaches .
Nick - Rifftionary is a cracker - I got it about a year ago
This is the Holy Grail of songbooks - all the songs in all the right keys, with tuning and capo notes too
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Complete-Chord-Songbook/dp/0711974594/re...
How did RHCP's Give It Away make that list there's plenty of clang, but no punchy riff as such - you couldn't arrange it for a trumpet section - that's the test.
No, THIS is the Holy Grail of Songbooks
http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Complete-Scores/dp/0793518326
Apart from it being
a) Vast and heavy.
b) Quite small print.
Sitar to "Within You Without You"? - Clavioline in "Baby you're a Rich Man"? all transcribed in this sucker!
A few 21st Century examples
No one knows - Queens Of The Stone Age
New born - Muse
All my life - Foo Fighters
I bet you look good... - Arctic Monkeys
True nature - Jane's Addiction
In fact those five bands all generally give good riff. And I hesitate to say this, but let's not forget The Darkness.
Other not-so-riffy bands occasionally stumble onto a winner, too, such as:
Grounds for divorce - Elbow
Airbag - Radiohead
Do you want to - Franz Ferdinand
Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
Gay bar - Electric Six
Yeah but
can you whistle or hum those riffs from memory, as distinct and separate from rest of song? One I can think of is 'All Sparks' by Editors. I'm not saying it's a great record but it is riff driven, and I can recall it after only hearing it half a dozen times or so.
Classic Keyboard Riffery
Depeche - I Just Can't Enough
Ver League - Don't You Want Me
Aha - Take On Me (can't bear this one though)
Deerhoof like a good riff
Prime examples from their latest CD Offend Maggie are The Tears And Music Of Love and My Purple Past.
Technical Music gets all the best ones these days
there hasn't been a more simple-but-unforgettable riff in the past couple of years than this "funky giant owl" anthem...
Clutch
I'm biased - they're one of my favourite bands - but they live somewhere between metal and blues, and write brilliant riff after brilliant riff.
Add to that the fact that everyone in the band is amazing, let alone Tim Sult, the extraordinary guitarist - terrific vocals and drums, too.
REM
Love the riff in Supernatural Superserious.
I'm not particularly a fan of The Hedge and Bonio
But this is a mightily monstorous riff..
Pro Bono
This was the most modern riff I played to the kids at school. I like it too.
Sister Surround
The Soundtrack To Our Lives indeed.
Daddy, what's a "riff"?
A few more modern examples of relatively memorable riffage. Not up there with "Whole Lotta Love", but proof at least of the continued existence of the riff:
"Till I Get My Way" by The Black Keys
"Hate to Say I Told You So" by the Hives
http://tinyurl.com/cqoetw
"Vertigo" by the Libertines:
http://tinyurl.com/d376pj