Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons

Start With A Riff

 

First let's break down our riff. We'll start in the 8th fret of the low E-string and play it with two downstrokes. Next we'll play the 11th fret with our pinky. After that we'll go back to the note that we started on. That's the first part.

Next we'll jump down to the 4th fret, and play that twice. Finally we'll hit the 3rd fret once and make it short. Notice how we leave out beat 1. If that's hard for you, it helps to make a vocal sound.

Now let's practice our new riff together a couple of times really slowly.

Anders Mouridsen
Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Rock Riff #2
Styles:
Any Style
Difficulty:
print notation download lesson open guitar tuner
Start With A Riff song notation

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Questions & Answers

1 month ago
took me a good 30 minutes to get this down, very tricky one to count, so anyone else struggling out there, just keep practicing
Mike Olekshy 1 month ago

Hello - thanks so much for your comment and encouragement!!

3 months ago
In the music notation, how should I read and apply the flats off to the right of the cleff?
Mike Olekshy 2 months ago

Hello, thanks for the question!! The 3 flats tell you the key signature of the riff - in this case - C minor. In the key of C minor, there are 3 notes that are flatted: Eb, Ab, and Bb. So in the case of this riff, you'll be playing an Eb at the 11th fret of the low E string, as well as an Ab at the 4th fret of the low string.

8 months ago
I think more time needs to be spent on the rhythm concept. I know we have mentioned it a few times but I think it needs to be expanded on, its all hard but for me that is one of the most difficult concepts to get down. Probably because I seem to have 0 rhythm, sadly.
Josh Workman 8 months ago

Hi Kevin, Thank you for your valuable feedback. You're not alone in having difficulty figuring out rhythms! I am about to forward your feedback to the Guitar Tricks staff right now. Best of luck!