Re: [Harp-L] RE: Riff Versus Lick

[Christopher Sprankle <crsprankle@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Juke riff is actually an arpeggiated E6.  The fourth note is a 5 blow not 5 draw.  C# not D.  I also think the riff works better starting on the 3 blow instead of the 2 draw, but that's just how I play it.

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On Wed, 6/4/14, Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Riff Versus Lick
 To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
 Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2014, 12:34 PM
 
 All riffs are licks, but not all
 licks are riffs. Its about use and context.
 
 Listen to the opening of ZZ Top's La Grange, or listen to
 Muddy Waters'
 Mannish Boy (I'm a man) or John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom, and
 you'll hear the
 underlying riff that obviously forms the main chordal
 structure of the
 song. Lots of rock and blues is riff-based music... even
 metal and punk
 employ it a lot... heck it's pretty universal across the
 board for all
 genres, really. The Black Keys is a modern example of a band
 that uses
 riffs as the main thing for their music (Dan Auerbach is a
 pretty good
 guitarist). You might think of a riff as a way of
 arpeggiating chords using
 a repeated pattern and rhythm... instead of strumming chords
 you're using
 single notes to imply those chords. It is used especially in
 "one chord"
 songs (parts of songs) because it is musically more
 interesting than just
 strumming the same chord over and again.
 
 Used in the context of leads or solos, though, it would be
 called a lick.
 It is not repeated over and over, end on end, but typically
 used once along
 with a bunch of other licks. A lick is typically thought of
 as being very
 short... a tiny musical statement in and of itself.
 
 Think of Juke. It starts with a running draw, 2-3-4-5 to
 blow 6, blow 6.
 That is a lick. It can be ripped out of context and used all
 over the place
 in just about any blues song you want. BUT in the context of
 Juke, it is an
 arpeggiated E7 chord (E G# B D E E) that becomes a riff,
 because it is
 repeated several times to kick off the song and is a very
 signature sound,
 it identifies that song. You don't need a band playing
 behind you and
 strumming chords to make it work, you can just play that
 riff, all by
 yourself, and everybody knows the song you're playing. As
 the song develops
 though the lead riff is replaced with more meandering lead
 work, which is
 lick followed by lick followed by lick, etc.  So when
 you are learning a
 long solo, you would typically break it down into isolated
 licks (1, 2, or
 4 bar segments) learn each individual lick, and then learn
 the sequence,
 until you have the entire solo down.
 
 When an isolated lick becomes a STRUCTURAL THEME in the
 song, rather than
 just a "lead lick" or an embellishment, then it is called a
 riff.