How do I write a song with just riffs?

Hello everyone. This week we’re going to discuss a question some of you have asked about writing a song using just riffs you’ve made. We’ll make this even more simple by using just one little riff/segment to make an entire song.

Before we go on, let’s define a riff. If you google it, you’ll see it defined as:
1: A short rhythmic phrase, especially one that is repeated in improvisation.
2: A repeated or varied theme, idea, or phrase.

Riffs are very similar to ostinatos (which are short melodies/patterns that are repeated, often in the same section and key) and can be used and treated in similar ways.

We’re going to use E minor pentatonic to create our riff that will use to progress through a series of different chord changes while the melodic and rhythmic material remains stagnant.

Here’s the riff we’ll build the song with:

You’ll notice that it’s a pretty simple little riff. We’ll only change very small aspects of it throughout the song to fit various chord progressions to get in and out of different sections. But, overall, we’re going to hammer this riff into every section we can while using small tweaks and drum beats to vary the overall sound.

The vocals often match the riff in riff-based songs. This isn’t a rule or even a guideline but, rather, just an observation.

For this one, we’re going to use a lot of gang vocals. The main reason is because my voice is still recovering from being sick and I don’t want to do any damage.

Since this song is sitting comfortably in the metal genre, let’s make some battle/fantasy-style lyrics to fit the style.

Lyrics

We’ve got, every bit
Made up, from the start
We use, all we can
Built from, a single part

We stand, with you now
We’ll bleed, every drop
Our lives, unto you
We will never stop

Prechorus

I say to you
To carry on
Horizon’s chilling
The land beyond

Together now
We’ll face it all
The endless ocean
The final step

Chorus

Rise up, the rift is open
Push through, the veil’s drawn
Hold fast, the day is broken
They rush, the evil spawn

Onward, they’ll pull us under
Push on, surrounding all
Listen, the raging thunder
Don’t stop, the final call
Dig deep beyond the wall

Verse 2

Darkness surrounds
Beneath unholy lands
Unyielding unfound
We crawl beneath their hands

They rip into the soil
They feel our shaking breath
Protect our mortal coil
From the searching hand of death

Prechorus

I say to you
To carry on
Horizon’s chilling
The land beyond

Together now
We’ll face it all
The endless ocean
The final step

Chorus

Rise up, the rift is open
Push through, the veil’s drawn
Hold fast, the day is broken
They rush, the evil spawn

Onward, they’ll pull us under
Push on, surrounding all
Listen, the raging thunder
Don’t stop, the final call
Dig deep beyond the wall

Whoa whoa whoa whoa….

Let’s give it a listen

You should notice that the riff I showed you at the top is all throughout the entire song. You won’t always want to do this, but it works well for showing how to make a whole song out of a small riff/fragment. The only part of the whole song that doesn’t have either that riff or the rhythm is the solo itself. The bridge leading up to the solo contains the rhythm for the riff as seen in the image below:

The ending of the song takes the riff and puts it into a tremolo picking (rapid repeated notes) sequence to build tension and close off the song. See in the image below where I called it “Blastout” because of the blast beats used in the drums.

The solo section includes a fair amount of string skipping at high speeds in the first half and then slows down for the latter half. After putting together a solo like this, I’ll practice the fast parts at low speeds (50% of the speed with my metronome) and slowly build that up. I also employ a few other practice techniques which you can learn about by booking a lesson or contacting me to book a package of lessons.

Thank you for your time and I hope you have fun with this track. It was a lot of fun to write and record the whole thing and gave me some practice with making a whole song out of a small fragment.

Take care of yourself, be kind to yourself, and take your time when you’re working on new things. Make sure to have fun with it!

All the best,

– Matt