Why do I hate all my own riffs?

shreddster

New Metal Member
Oct 25, 2013
15
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Can someone please tell me why the F**K I can't write a riff I like to save my life????
 
Because you suck? Kidding, kidding.

It happens to all of us, man. You can't force it.

I generally bum myself out when I realize I had some pretty groovy riffs about 10 years ago in my old band. I don't seem to have that same creativity anymore, as well as my influences changed, I have more going on in my life and not as much time to just focus on writing music.

Ahhhh the good old days of raging beers and being single and not a care in the world!!
 
Because you suck? Kidding, kidding.

It happens to all of us, man. You can't force it.

I generally bum myself out when I realize I had some pretty groovy riffs about 10 years ago in my old band. I don't seem to have that same creativity anymore, as well as my influences changed, I have more going on in my life and not as much time to just focus on writing music.

Ahhhh the good old days of raging beers and being single and not a care in the world!!

Well, if there's anything second semester theory taught me, it's that writing 4 bars of music is one of the hardest and most time consuming things one can do. Whenever I try to come up with riffs, I always feel like they're not good enough or they sound like some other band...

Should I just say fuck it and try to write with the best riffs I can come up with? I might just shitcan them later if the band doesn't wanna use them. I need to write a new song for the gig we're doing next month...
 
Just go with the flow, man. I honestly only have like 1 or 2 writing "spurts" a year. I pump out maybe a song or 2, or just a few riffs that I really dig....but this usually happens when I'm not trying to really force anything.

As soon as you start forcing the writing process is when all things go to shit, IMO. Then again, maybe I'm OCD about things, but I want to pay attention to every single note, etc.
 
I wrote my best riffs away from any instrument, they were just an idea in my brain when lying in bed or so. then i directly tabbed that shit at night into guitar pro and fiddled around with that. several times i composed whole songs without touching the guitar. Just optimised finger positions afterwards.The thing is, immediately i take the guitar i play the same shitty riffs and the creativity has died :D
I for myself found out that my creativity is best during midnight and especially when i'm not playing guitar...playing piano or flute or doing anything that brings something new to your mind is helpful too. lately i got many inspirations for metal when hearing non metal music. Keep your mind open for new stuff. when playing always the same music the creativity gets blunted. Just my experience..
 
Ahhhh the good old days of raging beers and being single...

Hopefuly your wife has no acces to the forum :loco: :lol:

Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night with some "riff idea" in my head. Seriously! Axe in my hand and fire!!! Sometimes riffs are awesome. Obviously each time I record everything with my phone to remind that sleepwalking later :headbang::headbang::headbang:
 
Agreed with Bryan - forcing riffs is the worst thing to do. I often put my guitar down for a week or even two weeks at a time and when I pick it up again, the riffs are flying out. Don't worry about how 'good' your riffs necessarily are, just write what you want to write, and try not to be too critical on yourself. It sometimes helps to take a break - learn another song or focus on a different hobby for a while.