Lesson 38
Notes to Lesson 38
One doesn't have to exercise too much of his/her intuitive powers to guess that Lesson 38 is our first study of riffs. Mickey has given us two sneak previews of riffs to whet our appetites. This lesson gives us 12 Riff Runs, divided into two groups. Remember from our study of chords, we divided them into Group A with the Tonic note on the 6th string, and Group B with the Tonic note on the 5th string? Mickey's done the the same thing with our Riff Runs without giving them actual names. Let's help him by calling Riff's 1 through 6 as Group E Riffs because the Tonic is found on the E string. The Tonic note will be on the 1st string. As these examples are in G, that means they will pull to the G on the 1st string, 3rd fret. Riff's 7 through 12 form Group B riffs (not to be confused with Group B chords), which has the tonic note on the 2nd string, or in G, the 2nd string, 8th fret. And as a preview of coming attractions, we'll receive a Group G in about 9 lessons in the future.
In Lesson 24, I said that Mickey relies heavily on Blues Scales without actually saying "I'm using a Blues scale here." As you play through these riffs, you'll find they are loaded with notes and scales passages from the Blues scales.
About the exercises:
As you probably guessed, I've created TEF's of all of these riffs. In addition, I created a TEF with all 12 riffs, one after the other. Although I just put G Major harmony against, it's interesting to make changes. For example, instead of G Maj7/G Maj6, play C Maj7/C Maj6, or A min7/D dominant anything. Amazing, isn't it? The riffs seem to fit against any of the key of G's harmony. For another exercise, erase the rhythm part I've given you and play any one of the Blues progressions in G that you've been collecting in the Blues Progressions Folder we all started in Lesson 5. It's like Mickey's given us 4 additional Blues choruses. Guess what? I've done just that. Bonus TEF's include taking each of the riffs (which are each four measure phrases) and repeating them twice to get 12 measures. For the rhythm I've taken the G Progressive Bop Blues chord progression we used in Lesson 37. Do you know what this form of composition is called? No? OK, remember this lesson and at the end of the course come back and answer this question!
Those bonus "riff blues" are never going to be on Eric Clapton's next album "Mr. Clapton Meets Mr. Baker" (just joking, Eric!), but they do give an interesting example of how you can force riffs against any harmony in the key you're playing. These were fun to do, and I recommend that you put your favorite blues progression (s) in place of the one I used. Change the tempo, add a bass and drum part, and you have the start of a jam session. A second point I'd like to make is the technique of creating by building on a simple idea. All composers and certainly all jazz musicians exploit this concept.
Lesson 39 will take these riffs and force them against the Vamp progressions we studied back in Lessons13 and 14.
In addition to Mickey's riffs, I've added a Bonus Riff that I gave you in Lesson 37. This riff is from Charlie Byrd and it's particularly useful as it uses more of the Blues scale from Tonic to Tonic. Using it and Mickey's riffs will help us create our own original riffs. I also created a "Charlie's Riff Blues" as I did with the other riffs.
How are we coming along with our Standards Portfolios? Here's another from my portfolio, the classic Neal Hefti standard from the orchestra of Count Basie, "Cute".
Just keep it FUN! (Like I had to say that this time, huh?!?!)