Riff-creating Exercise - Debate, with downloadable mp3, TAB - and full song via YouTube |
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Feb 15 2013, 02:13 PM
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In my song Debate, I have come up with a kind of weird riff, using all the twelve notes of the octave.
I had two opposite goals when composing this riff. On the one hand, it had to be catchy and embraceable, and on the other hand, it had to be stern, heavy and unusual. As you can hear in the sound clip, the notes are arranged in a ‘chaotic’ way, but the rhythm pattern at the beginning of each bar is the same, so this repetition creates the connection between the different bars. The exception is bar 4 and bar 8, where I have used a different rhythm to round off the 4-bar cycle. Notice the three long notes at the end of each bar: the first one is a C note, which is the 6th grade of the E minor scale. The second long note is an F sharp note, which is a tritone lower than the C. The tritone always creates a good deal of tension. And the third long note is a B flat, which is the ‘blue note’ of the scale, a tritone above the root. Note the frequent use of chromatics in bars 3 and 7-8. In bar 3, and in bar 7, the chromatic notes are right next to each other, while in bar 8, the group of three notes is repeated a semitone lower, thus creating a more subtle chromatic solution. In this riff, the keyboard harmonies play an important role too. Listen to the different chords played by a soft, pad-like keyboard patch - each time it is a new feeling, with a different amount of tension or release. Beginners' tip: start the downloaded riff as a looped playback, and try to play the open E section in each bar. In bar 1, it starts on the 1st beat, in bars 2-3 it starts at the place of the 2nd eighth note. Bar 4 is preparation for the next repeat. http://soundcloud.com/jonas-tamas-guitar/debate-twelve-tone-riff   I share the full song here too, so you can hear how this riff is built into the whole structure. The amazing Mattias IA Eklundh is playing a guest solo on this track. Can you tell, which solo is his? |
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I tried it out a bit with the tab and it is a fun riff to play.
 
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