You music geeks...

[kitchen_kink]

I've been trying for some time, unsucessfully, to define for imlad the loose musical term, "riff."

How would you define what a riff is? Is it the same thing as a lick? (I think maybe not; isn't a lick more of a fancy flourish on an instrument such as a guitar, rather than a repeated theme throughout a song?) How about a motif? Or is that just for classical music?

Help me out here.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Might this help?

[entrope.livejournal.com]

Huh. I would illustrate with Daniel Johnson, Cliffs of Dover.

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

That would be Eric Johnson, "Cliffs of Dover", off his 1989 opus Ah Via Musicom. Great album. "Trademark" is one of those songs that makes driving through the city at night a little classier.

By the way, the best definition of a riff that I have found comes from Del Close's 1961 album How to Speak Hip: "an improvisation centered on a theme".

Let's say you have a tune everyone knows, such as "Someday My Prince Will Come". There is a simple melody, a key or two that it's in, and then it's finished. The riff is the process of rolling into that tune and going new places with it. You're still within the scale of the key or keys but you're adding notes.

[entrope.livejournal.com]

Oops. You're totally right. Daniel Johnson is the Austin guy that sings little singsongy things.

[madbard.livejournal.com]

> isn't a lick more of a fancy flourish on an instrument such as a guitar, rather than a repeated theme throughout a song?

These terms aren't formally defined, but that's not a bad distinction. Riffs and licks usually have a recognizable rhythmic component.

> How about a motif? Or is that just for classical music?

It's usually called a motive, at least in English, and it is a "short melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic fragment from which a phrase, section, or entire composition is constructed". Think of the first four notes of Beethoven's 5th. That rhythmic-melodic phrase appears throughout the entire movement. That kind of building block approach is usually where we invoke the term "motive".

You could use the term in rock/pop circles, though it's less commonly done. Note that all licks or riffs are not necessarily motific. They might appear briefly in a solo, then never resurface. Whereas by definition, a motive is used as a recurring unit in the construction of something larger.

A good example of a motive in rock music is the recurring eight-note theme in Pink Floyd's "The Wall". (Think of the melody of "We don't need no education".) It's not a lick or riff, as it has no real rhythmic identity, but it is definitely motific, appearing through the entire album.

Probably more answer than you wanted. :)

[unknownrockstar.livejournal.com]

Riff is short for "Refrain" a repeated melodic phrase, Motif is generally used in symphonic music, not "pop", which isn't to say you couldn't, but no one really does. Lick is short for Cow-lick, as in a clump of hair that stands up on it's own, as if a cow licked your head, which is the effect a good lick should have on the listener, at least according to Bass-God Billy Sheehan. I like his explanation. (also it doesn't matter what instrument it's played on.)

the Beatles song, Day tripper, starts with, and is based on a riff, the guitar part that opens the song. that degree in music finally came in handy!

[matt-rah.livejournal.com]

From http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/:

>>In pop and jazz compositions, a short ostinato, two to four bars long. A riff is a prominent feature of jazz music.<<

If you actually go to the page, there's a hyperlink to definitions of ostinato and also some other things.

Matt