Riffs

When a musician i.e. the rhythm guitarist gets tired of playing chords, he could play a sequences of repeated melodies in replacement of chords.

These sequences are called riffs. Riffs are considered part of the rhythm section.

The easiest way to play riffs is to play around with the notes of the chord to form arpeggios.  Another way is to double up the bass line e.g. Michael Jackson's Beat It.

Of course , riffs would be much nicer if they are specially written in the form of another melody that fits the chord sequence.

Another place where we can put riffs are in polychords where the bass is moving but the chord is not.

Riffs can be a 1-bar riff, a 2-bar riff , a 4-bar etc. They can also be a one-stanza riff !

In the song above, the guitar riff is prominent throughout the stanzas.

When writing a riff for a song, just make sure that the riff does not interfere with the melody. Put less notes where the melody is sung and more notes during melody pauses.

It is best to have only one instrument playing riffs. But if , for example, two guitars are playing riffs, careful arrangement must be made so that the two guitars does not clash with one another or with the melody.

A riff is not necessarily played by the guitar. We can also use other instruments for riffs. For example the brass instruments are used for riffs in this song's chorus below.
 

A catchy riffs can turn a monotonously-boring song into a delightful song. And some riffs make a song very memorable e.g. Stevie Wonder's Superstition and Michael Jackson's Beat It riffs.

Many a time, the riff is catchier than the song's boring melody and the song is only bearable because of its riff.

Adding riffs to songs requires more creative effort than just playing plain chords but they make songs unique and sound alot nicer!