This blues tune is so simple that I’m wondering if I’m just creating a variation of a melody/motif I heard somewhere else. Nevertheless, it’s catchy and actually not as easy as it looks (as evidenced by my struggling). If you’re not used to the classic call & response structure, this is an excellent piece…
When it comes to guitar riffs, more often than not, the power lies in simplicity. When you have less notes, you end up creating interests out of rhythm. And rhythm is the most primal element of music, music with interesting rhythm is always interesting. This finger-picked riff is so simple yet addictingly groovy, as…
Can you recognize that this is a very simple progression that involves D-Bm-A? Give them new chord voicings and tried-and-true chords can still sound fresh enough to inspire a song — listen to the contrast when I switch to the “regular” way these chords are played. There’s so much smooth yet poignant vibe here that…
This simple single-note funk pattern has a lot of potential for variations — I’m demonstrating some of them here, by harmonizing some of the notes, and change how I would harmonize. When practicing a riff like this, it’s very important that it doesn’t sound rushed, so pay attention to the space between the notes. Now this…
This riff starts out fairly straight forward, but as it transitions to the chorus it adds more and more twists, concluding with a really surprising chord. That adding of interest keeps you engaged enough that when you go through it once you’re ready to hear it all over again. The verse is essentially a predictable…
The notes and chords here are pretty traditional here, but the eighth notes on E and the slide from G to A (sometimes harmonized) gives this riff a propelling momentum. I tried going from C to D some of the time but I think this riff is better sticking to the C-B move, which…
This one will serve as a nice intro and melodic hook to a steady rock song in E minor. Watch the two G notes in the middle, one on D string and one on the open G string. After this intro you can just play a partial figure of that melodic line — repeating…
The 9th note in a minor chord always brings out tension, so even though the very first chord here is GMaj7 — a smooth chord — the bass note quickly going down to E to make the whole 1st section stay in Em tonality. Then it goes to A but again the F# persists to…
The two points of interests with this riff are: back-to-back G note played on both D and open G string, and F#-G tension in the last two chords. The latter in particular gives this riff an edgy tension — this is not a happy song. I tried this on electric, though, and all that open…