Theory behind guitar riffs?

[RockHK]

Hi all, this is a very general question about the theory behind riff construction. What are some of the ways would you approach it? Would you look at them as riff lines that harmoniously revolve around an underlying chord structure within the song? Or are riffs best used over one long droning chord vamp?

Some rock bands like nickelback or linkin park use drop-d tuning and play a series of power chords as riffs. In this case, would you consider such riffs as a series of chords played in quick succession, or just single note riffs thickened up with a fifth interval?

I know that at the end of the day, there really aren't any rules, but I was curious at how some of you would approach riff creation. Riffs tend to be made up with a lot of notes that may or may not be diatonic to the key of a song. Given this case, should we be concerned whether the notes in a riff will clash with our vocal melody?

Thanks for any feedback or insights!

[C00kie]

Imho one should not over-analyse stuff like that.
You usually find a riff by stumbling upon it, and then you use it by putting a context around it. Or it's the other way around: there's a progression and you find a riff to support it.
Just don't think too long about it.

[llatham]

Agreed. Don't overanalyze it.

If you want to get nit-picky, I'd say that a "Riff" is an element with a largely melodic component that serves as a main accompaniment figure (thus setting up harmony and/or tonicity as well). As such, a riff can be single note lines, or "chordal melodies".

Steve

[jcrisman]

Hi all, this is a very general question about the theory behind riff construction. What are some of the ways would you approach it? Would you look at them as riff lines that harmoniously revolve around an underlying chord structure within the song? Or are riffs best used over one long droning chord vamp?

Some rock bands like nickelback or linkin park use drop-d tuning and play a series of power chords as riffs. In this case, would you consider such riffs as a series of chords played in quick succession, or just single note riffs thickened up with a fifth interval?

I know that at the end of the day, there really aren't any rules, but I was curious at how some of you would approach riff creation. Riffs tend to be made up with a lot of notes that may or may not be diatonic to the key of a song. Given this case, should we be concerned whether the notes in a riff will clash with our vocal melody?

Thanks for any feedback or insights!

As you said, there aren't any cut-and-dry rules, but most rock guitar riffs tend be scale-derived or melodic.

Given this case, should we be concerned whether the notes in a riff will clash with our vocal melody?

It depends on whether the clash is desired or not. A pop love ballad will typically avoid clashing notes whereas a death metal dirge will probably demand some dissonance.

[RiffWraith]

Imho one should not over-analyse stuff like that.
Just don't think too long about it.

Agreed completely. When it comes to music - let it flow. Don't think - DO.

Cheers.