Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons

Keep It Simple

 
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One of the most important ingredients in a riff is to make it catchy - and the best way to accomplish that is to keep it simple.

Let's grab our 5th fret of the low E-string with our ring finger. Now let's hit that with all downstrokes going. Once I hit it on beat 3, I release fretting pressure so the note is short. Next we'll grab the 3rd fret of the low E-string with our index finger on beat 4. You can make that note short as well or you might like it better long.

This is already pretty catchy, and we could just repeat it. There's nothing wrong with that. It's a little repetitive, but that can be powerful if that's what you're going for. An easy way to make something sound catchy is two make it a two-part phrase, which means it's slightly different every other time it happens. Let's go with the simplest option, where we just leave out the G-note the second time we play it.

Now let's practice this together. I'll count us in and then we'll play the riff 4 times.

Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Rock Riff #1
Styles:
Any Style
Difficulty:
print notation download lesson open guitar tuner
Keep It Simple song notation

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Questions & Answers

3 months ago
Hello! Is your guitar unique in some sort of way? I have acoustic but I cant seem to replicate the sound your guitar brings!
Anders Mouridsen 2 months ago

Hi! It's based on a classic Martin D28 - pretty standard steel string acoustic. Any standard steel string, should get you close enough.

9 months ago
For my clarification, it seems that the instructor is only strumming the low E string for this first riff we learn...? To me, it seems and sounds that he is only strumming the low E string.
Mike Olekshy 9 months ago

Hello - thanks so much for your question! Yes, that is correct, he is only strumming the low E string in this lesson.

1 year ago
When I try and release the pressure to cut the note short it keeps going anyway, how can I fix this?(ps I'm using an electric guitar)
Mike Olekshy 1 year ago

Hello - thanks so much for your question! Make sure you are releasing enough pressure so that your finger no longer is on the fret, but still holding on to the string. Another thing you can try is to use the side of your picking hand to dampen down on the string to keep it ringing out. This is called "right hand muting". Hope this helps!!

1 year ago
do you know why my strings buzz when i release fretting pressure and how to fix that?
Mike Olekshy 1 year ago

Hello - thanks so much for your question! You may not be lifting your finger quick enough or high enough off the fret if there is a buzzing sound. Try pulling your finger off the fret as quick and high as you can without letting go of the string. Work on this slowly until you get the hang of it. Hope this helps!