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Posted by: jollygreengiant Jul 23 2008, 08:09 PM

ive thought of some chords for a song but i just carnt get any ideas for a riff to use, it would be appreciated if someone gave me tips to get me started?

The chords are D,C,F,B flat

Posted by: kjutte Jul 23 2008, 08:16 PM

You gotta post the chord progression then man.

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 23 2008, 08:17 PM

Well you just need to experiment and try different things with the chord progression to make a riff. If you tell me the chords ill just quickly show you an example of how you could turn them in to a riff.

Posted by: Trond Vold Jul 23 2008, 08:21 PM

A simple trick i do is that i record whatever i have, be it just a few chords, and then i set it on loop and jam over it.
If i'm lucky, then i will eventually find a melody that i can use either over the chords, or later in the song, and out of that melody riffs and more ideas might come.

I know, it's easier said than done But small things like just jamming over a few chords can be good for the inspiration.

Posted by: Henry Dietzel Jul 23 2008, 08:29 PM

Excellent approach, I follow the same format most of the time. MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS BE RECORDING. I promise the 1 time you don't hit record will be the 1 time the magic happens. Humming over the loop or using any other instruments in house is always useful for me. Sometimes patterns I play on the piano vary drastically to patterns I am used to playing on the guitar. For some reason I hear things different when playing diff. instruments.

Post the chords maybe I or someone else can help with a few different ideas to get you started

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Jul 23 2008, 08:52 PM

As mentioned above try recording the progression and jamming over in search for a cool riff that would go along...It will happen with time trust me..Also try singing it first and than playing..

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Jul 25 2008, 11:19 AM

I also like the jamming approach. I just grab my guitar and start to play around, sometimes some nice ideas come easy, some times not a single nice idea shows up, you can't force creativity.

Posted by: Gerardo Siere Jul 25 2008, 07:16 PM

add to this four chords a section with
C- A - C - A
in 4/4 what is in my head is

4/4 |D-C|F-Bb||D-C|F-Bb|
4/4 |C|A|C|F#m-Fmaj7|
Here's a midi

Posted by: RIP Dime Jul 25 2008, 08:34 PM

Have you just started writing songs, and just don't know what to do to make a cool riff? The jamming over the basic chord progression is cool, and it will probably yield some nice melodies, but your problem is coming up with riffs and rhythms right?

A little more detail on your problem will help us help you a lot. Maybe see if my lesson plan on rock/metal songwriting helps http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=15072&st=40

Posted by: Jesse Jul 27 2008, 04:39 PM

What feel doya want to create? Like a rock ballad? A bluesy thing? Metal ? Go from that. I'd start with bashing the chord, then a lick in the pentatonic skale I never rlly thought about it really.