basic terms

can someone explain these terms and what they are and the differances for me please:
tune
song
rythme
riff
lick
chop


mainly the differance between the last three

Originally Posted by: markc2005can someone explain these terms and what they are and the differances for me please:
tune
song
rythme
riff
lick
chop


mainly the differance between the last three

Riff, lick and chop are somewhat interchangeable as terms. Generally, a riff is a run of notes that sound good together, either as part of a song or just a little something clever a guitarist will come up with. You will sometimes hear people talk about "riffing", which is basically like saying "jamming" or "free-forming".

A lick and a chop are really the same as a riff, but they're usually just used differently. Lick is usually heard when someone says "Hey, check out this lick!", or in the case of chop, "Man, that guy's got some chops".

Basically all 3 can be used to describe musical "chunks" that make up components of songs or jamming. Hope that clarifies it a little.

Yeah, I concur for the most part with Gilles' definitions, but the fact is, the details of each can vary from player to player. There isn't a guitarists' universal lexicon or anything, just a generalised consensus on the broad meaning of terms like that.

A "song" usually refers to a single piece of music that is based around the lyrical content, as opposed to an "instrumental" which is based around... well, the instruments (!), or a "piece" which can refer to either. The musical devices that make up the song are collectively called the "tune", and within the tune, you have "riffs", which are devices that feature repeatedly and/or prominently. As well as the tune, you have the beat, which is the pulse of the music in relation to the time signature. In between the beat and the tune, you have the rhythm, which forms a base for the tune by relating to the beat.

In summary: Song =
#Tune - riffs
- melody
#Rhythm
#Beat

Hope that helps some - and sorry for the mammoth post!