Community Challenge 24 | Write a riff (Patreon)

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Hi Everyone,

Every week I issue a creative challenge to my Patrons. I do this for a few reasons. First and foremost, I do this as a reminder that learning music theory without using it to create music it like learning a language without using it to communicate with others.

This week, your challenge is: write a riff. 

A riff is essentially just a melody. As usual, for melody writing lessons, check out MTM 17, 18 & 19 for melody making basics.

Generally, when I think of a riff, I think of an intro riff like in MGMT's Kids or The Black Keys I Got Mine but a riff can also be used in place of (or alongside) the chords in a song, like in the verse of the Beatle's Daytripper, or as a riff/chords combo like in Seven Nation Army. 

There are other uses for riffs, but try to focus on this type of riff for this exercise! Generally, a riff used for an intro or as a chord replacement has simple, memorable phrasing. If it gets too fancy or the phrases get too long, it might not have that anthemic effect. Also, this is a great opportunity to try a phrase scheme like ABAC or AABC or ABCC.

As usual, your riff can be an on-the-fly 8 second phone recording or part of a full fledged, multi-layered song recording in your DAW. Whatever you have time for. Whatever doesn't stress you out. The idea is to have fun!

Post your creations on the community forum.

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Community Challenges