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

[Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah, groove is often used alongside riff, but they are not the same thing.
A "groove" is the rhythm itself combined with the key signature of the
song. It is a little bit broader than riff. A riff fits into a groove. In a
band setting, it is the drummer and bass player that usually set up the
groove. The other accompanying instruments play the riff (either guitar,
piano, sax, or harmonica) that fits with the groove (rhythm and key). A
riff functions as an arpeggiated chord, and helps determine where the
melody goes. But the groove determines the overall feel, rhythm and key of
the song, and determines where the riff is able to go.  It's all about
foundation underlying foundation. Think of it like a pyramid, with each one
standing on the shoulders of the one beneath it:


Melody and Leads
Chords and Riffs
Groove (Rhythm and Key)

This is all a sliding scale of degrees, though. It's gray, not black&white.
A riff can set up the groove, too, as can a melody. It's when things don't
function in the normal way that the music gets interesting (or bad.) A solo
performer, like Tommy Emmanuel, is responsible for setting up ALL the
parts... groove, chord progression, melody and lead. Boy that's hard. The
better a musician is, the better he is able to accomplish all those things,
I think.


On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 12:15 PM, Dan Hazen <bluesmandan76@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Yes. Look up the songs/videos that I recommended, and you'll start to
> "get" what a riff is. To be very basic, a riff is a repeated sequence of
> notes played while the singer is singing. A lick is either an embellishment
> or a little isolated part of  a longer solo, typically when no one is
> singing.
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 12:09 PM, Randy Redington <rwredington@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> Opps
>> Dan: I intended to include the group. My mistake.  Please forgive me when
>> you see this same email again :-)
>> By the way, I reread your description agin. I think I get what you are
>> saying now.
>> On Jun 4, 2014 12:00 PM, "Randy Redington" <rwredington@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>> Taken from this discussion then, am I to assuming we are saying that
>>> riffs and licks are differnt based on context?  I guess I'm not getting the
>>> distinction.  I might need to go back and reread this discussion from the
>>> beginning.
>>> Then dare I ask, how does the term "groove" fit into this?
>>>
>>
>