I have been playing guitar all my life, bass for a few years, and drums a few months, but I cannot for the life of me even come up with even a single riff I think sounds decent, let alone cool. Am I just uncreative, or do I just need to try harder or what? The guitar player in the band I'm in (who also is the main songwriter) told me it's all about the atmosphere, and to forget any theory and scales and just play, but that doesn't work too well for me. Anybody have any suggestions or something that may be of help?
I have to be the most uncreative person ever...
- Thread starter The ORIGINAL South Of Heaven
- Start date
nergal_S
St. Anger around my neck.
I can make up a cool riff when ever i want,
it weird. I never had this problem so i dont know what to tell you. Just play around with the guitar, and see what you get
it weird. I never had this problem so i dont know what to tell you. Just play around with the guitar, and see what you get
Try not to think about writing a riff. Just sit down there noodling and busting random chord progressions. You usually get the best riffs come out then.
tenuous soul
New Metal Member
- Mar 6, 2003
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Chances are, you're too critical and too picky 
but don't worry you Can't be the most uncreative person in the world, just turn on the radio and you'll see infinities of worthless crap that lacks creativity, talent, and anything related to music.
Regardless, just the more you dick around the more likely you are to randomly come across a riff you like. Anyway, good luck man
rock on
but don't worry you Can't be the most uncreative person in the world, just turn on the radio and you'll see infinities of worthless crap that lacks creativity, talent, and anything related to music. Regardless, just the more you dick around the more likely you are to randomly come across a riff you like. Anyway, good luck man
rock on
tenuous soul said:
You know, when you put it like that, I don't feel quite so bad anymore
Seriously though, I am pretty critical of the stuff I come up with, but I've been playing roughly 13 years and I only have one riff I think was worth remembering, and it isn't even really all that good.
fadingessence
All is Lost
everyone I know says i'm great because I can pull stuff out of my ass anytime I feel like it....but I don't think even half of it is "great riffs". I can sit there with my drummer and jam on death metal for 20 mins and never repeat, but I feel like I get stuck in one type of thing (like sounding too much like a certain band) for long periods of time. But I also pretty much absorb any riff I learn really well and then take it, twist it around, and try to make my own out of it.
I really think very few people can come up with totally original riffs, everyone is influenced by something...I havn't figured out where that break point is where what you play becomes your own style yet. And obviously not everyone gets to that point. Even a lot of pro bands have basically very little in original riffs, then you get someone like Opeth that makes everyone look bad....because I look at one riff from Opeth and just sit there in awe of how ANYONE can just come up with that. But the advice above was good, just sit around and play a LOT, seems to work for a lot of people. I do that a lot myself, spend maybe 10 minutes playing something else, more if i'm really trying to work through a song, and twice as much just playing whatever comes to mind. Sometimes i'll purposely try to take a riff and turn it inside out just to get an idea of what I can do with it.
don't know if that helps any, i'm really not that good....
I really think very few people can come up with totally original riffs, everyone is influenced by something...I havn't figured out where that break point is where what you play becomes your own style yet. And obviously not everyone gets to that point. Even a lot of pro bands have basically very little in original riffs, then you get someone like Opeth that makes everyone look bad....because I look at one riff from Opeth and just sit there in awe of how ANYONE can just come up with that. But the advice above was good, just sit around and play a LOT, seems to work for a lot of people. I do that a lot myself, spend maybe 10 minutes playing something else, more if i'm really trying to work through a song, and twice as much just playing whatever comes to mind. Sometimes i'll purposely try to take a riff and turn it inside out just to get an idea of what I can do with it.
don't know if that helps any, i'm really not that good....
Lethe78
Expired candle
plfffffft
Madly in anger with you
A lot of the riffs I come up with come from me fucking up someone else's song. Like I'll be sitting there jamming out to Master of Puppets or Creeping Death or something along those lines, and I'll miss a chord change or hit the wrong note at the wrong time. sometimes I punch myself in the face when that happens, but most often, I just go with it, and see where it takes me. I've come up with a lot of riffs like that, and they sound nothing like the original song that I was playing(Though they are very thrashy.)
Another thing I do is I just start tremolo picking a certain note and try to find the best note to follow it, then the best note to follow that, etc. A lot of stuff I write is tremolo picked or a triplet rhythm, but a lot of times I come up with a cool progression and change it up a bit, like adding a few low E's(or C's depending on which guitar I'm playing) or playing it in power chords or minor third chords instead of single notes.
So just fuck around. constantly. And if you got something that sounds cool, don't automatically play it the way you originally did. Mess around with it. Play it in chords instead of single notes, and vice versa. Try to find the best interval for it, and harmonize it. Stuff like that
Another thing I do is I just start tremolo picking a certain note and try to find the best note to follow it, then the best note to follow that, etc. A lot of stuff I write is tremolo picked or a triplet rhythm, but a lot of times I come up with a cool progression and change it up a bit, like adding a few low E's(or C's depending on which guitar I'm playing) or playing it in power chords or minor third chords instead of single notes.
So just fuck around. constantly. And if you got something that sounds cool, don't automatically play it the way you originally did. Mess around with it. Play it in chords instead of single notes, and vice versa. Try to find the best interval for it, and harmonize it. Stuff like that
Till Fjalls
¥¤ÆZµ
I'd suggest just writing down or recording all your riffs, or at least a lot of them. Many riffs may sound bland on their own, but when you play them back to back with a different riff, it may totally change the context of the way you percieve it. Try mixing some stuff up together, you may get some interesting results.
Bryant
Mr. Sleepy
Do you own an acoustic guitar ? One of the things about an acoustic is that it has limitations that electrics don't have tone-wise. Even if you are into extreme metal and would never record or play live with an acoustic, it could force you out of your "comfort zone" where you end up playing by habit too often. Some of the heaviest songs I have ever written were created initially on an acoustic.
Even though I said the acoustic is "limited." In some ways it is less limited than an electric. Phrasing and using volume would be good examples. Because of the fact an acoustic is much more sensitive than an electric to pick force, it can help you to use volume better on the electric. Good phrasing (on chord progressions, not just solos) is essential to make an acoustic sound interesting as well, so your phrasing may improve by playing the acoustic.
Bryant
Even though I said the acoustic is "limited." In some ways it is less limited than an electric. Phrasing and using volume would be good examples. Because of the fact an acoustic is much more sensitive than an electric to pick force, it can help you to use volume better on the electric. Good phrasing (on chord progressions, not just solos) is essential to make an acoustic sound interesting as well, so your phrasing may improve by playing the acoustic.
Bryant
