How to Write a Rock Song : How to Write a Guitar Riff for a Rock Song

[MasterMorty]

Teaching someone to write a good guitar riff is like asking a blind child to paint an accurate picture of a dog's face with the right colors. At the most, they'll be able to get the face, but the colors will most definitely be completely off. You don't try to write good guitar riffs, you let them come to you, and when they do, do all you can to keep them in your head until you can play the melody on guitar or piano, and record it, then add it to the song, and THAT is how to write a guitar riff.

[BigSexyKracker]

this dude is totally ripping off iris by goo goo dolls

[Kiwwi24]

What, youve never seen a stuttering kid dumbass.?

[stiko1996]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA EXPERTVILLAGE IS PATHETIC HAHAHAHAHA

[guitarsbunch347]

a tele and an acoustic while talking about rock music??? hmmm... i seem to remember a les paul, a shecter, or maybe an esp being better for rock... but you know, thats just my opinion... i'm no expert like the fucktards from expertvilliage

[FooFighterFix]

@guitarsbunch347 How is a telecaster not a rock instrument?

[qousie]

@guitarsbunch347 telecasters have been used to write and record more rock music than you know. 

[guitarsbunch347]

@qousie ya but its soft rock... i was talking like asking alexandria, a day to remember, parkway drive... stuff like that

[qousie]

@guitarsbunch347 yeah ok i get what your saying. telecaster isnt the heaviest sounding guitar out there but its been used in hard rock alt and sounds awesome with overdrive and fuzz alike. I love em :)

[TASLOCO702]

this guy smokes weed every morning

[MrMoo674]

hey wered you get your guitar......the toilet store

[HeeySquirrelBoyzz]

@DeizelMassacre oops, i totally forgot i wrote that cuz after the video it actually helped me and i commented again :p my bad

[HeeySquirrelBoyzz]

that was helpful!

[HeeySquirrelBoyzz]

ssssssstududder much?

[TheDirtystuff]

yeah mate well done hope your proud of yourself...... wanker



[ventusthewind]

LOL..0:22-0:28 XD XD

this is "expert" village? this really sucks..

[findingnobodyBAND]

of course he likes guns and posers

[MOTRONOC]

is this guy a dumb shit or what! he can't think of his words!!!

[simbrack1195]

He looks terrified.

[trevwagner094]

if your not gonna use the orange or the tele you should give them to me:)

[gnrNnirvana]

you are really bad at talking........

[atc1con]

u are bad a this 

[Waderman117]

wow now that we have this, we have that, we have this... 30 seconds! we get it!

[LeatherCladVegan]

This is how you write riffz for your band:

BbBbBbBbBbBbCCCDDDDDDDDDDBBBBB­BBBD#D#D#BBBBBBBBCCCCCCCCCCCCC­C.

And then you do a cool bit where it's like 'Doo doo duh duh, da da doooo', you know, and then the drums go like Boom TISH, BOOM TISH TISH. And the bass just goes BUM BUM BA BUM BUM.

Yeah, some pretty sweet riffage right there.

[dentpopcan]

ah man the best part of this video is at 2:37

[Theshamham]

FUCK YOU!

[xxinseparable4jbxx]

lol 2:24-2:28

[Ntzfl]

lol notepad and pen

[BDpartnercoJM]

Rock my Ass. What the fuck are you playing?

[guitt02]

Awesome stuff, i've been documenting my riffs on my website, feel free to check it out!

guitarriffsonline [dot] com

[Disco234jockey]

I think all that i saw on this vid was self learnable.. but all u said here was really true,....

[TheChristopherw1993]

sounds like The Goo Goo Iris :) really gd keep up the gd work

[troyrkd]

2:22 - 2:28

best 6 seconds of my life!

[SJ9495]

@troyrkd LOL

[yipyipyipi]

The easiest way to write (4 me ppl) is to put down a good chord progression. Find something that works, and can be repeated without sounding too unnatural. To put a riff to that, use those chords base-notes. If you're using a C chord, then use a C note. If you're going from a C to a G, then try using a C note, an A note, and then a G, for a simple walk-down riff. These are more common on a bass guitar. If you're on the electric, try using a combination of the chords, get crazy. It might work.

[howya45]

Most bands write a riff and then write a song around that riff. I think???

[kylethapk]

dont cry lol jk

[thehoolster1]

omg this guy actually needs to learn how 2 breath!

[gameshow1001]

SEX NO DRUG(NO FUN) and GUNS N ROSES

[fyourcouchnigga]

of of of of of of of of of of of of.....................

This video should be titled

How to Talk Funny: How Stutter like an Idiot on Camera

[Alexsy82]

wow, this is awful. first, riffs are not unique to rock'n'roll. it's a blues and jazz thing. get your history right, "expert" village.

second, the guy's "riff" is a joke. whole lotta love, that's a riff. heartbreaker, riff.

[MetalOmgz]

FAIL

[BFG12043]

this guy has no idea what on earth he's talking about, messin up, repeating.... lol

[xDEMETRI95x]

@BFG12043 i know lol they should have famous musicians doing this stuff not some random guy

[metaljazman]

@ 0.40 he says guitar rift!!!!

[CRCzerwinski]

of a... of your a.. of your of your of your.... a a a of the chords going on underneath it..... wow fail!!! t t t today junior.

[GuitarHopeful12]

That's not even a riff. It's a melody.

[kweerb8]

sodomy village. he called it a fucking rift. just listen to the first two seconds of the entire video and you know where its going.

[BrittleGlass]

PLEASE READ: I'm looking for musicians and hoping to form a band in the near future!! So please check out my channel and get in touch if you're interested!! Thanks!!

[Theshamham]

this is shit

[allmyfaults]

rofl... if any (good) musician really needs to watch shit like these "how to..." videos you'd better stop playing.^^ this sucks so much!

[SlaughterLamb]

Two minute and thirty seven seconds to say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You can tell he thought about what he was going to say before making the video, why didn't he think up any actual content?

[kcinnay1515]

He's so nervous

[Nagraath]

Rift?

[RyanLafford]

it bugs me how theres a video on youtube for how to write a song, and he makes it sound like its so much work, when you play guitar, you do what comes to your head and what you feels and sounds good to you, i don't think most guitarists that write their own stuff go through all of this like a checklist it takes away alot of soul from the music

[KimAvlastenok]

@RyanLafford Sometimes I agree with you. But I find it tons of fun to use music theory to make songs! You should be able to do both - btw. this video sucks

[marcushendriksen]

ARGH! IT'S NOT RIFT!

[BloodXSweatXGuitars]

hes very slow in explain like he doesnt know what to say lol but good theory

[revelation1234]

He probably figured he was horrible at guitar and started cryig lol.

[fshn4jc]

aaa after youuu uhhh

[deadlyXzedly]

omg this is so bad..

[Tranquil787]

this guy looks like a nervous retard. no info at all waste of 2:37 mins i will never get back in my life. may god have mercy on your soul. lol

[bigboots]

i..erm...erm..i..erm..i..i..i.­.i..i...*BOOM*

[migbee]

lol "guitar rift"

dude you are putting way too much thought into writing such a simple song

[41224jason]

is he gonna cry or something?

[41224jason]

it's a lot easier to write a song around a riff, not the other way around.

[gangstersqu1rrel]

@41224jason it depends...for me its easier to write the words first

[OriginalityImpaired]

@41224jason

I find it easier to write stuff over top of things half the time actually

[Hateeternal2009]

@41224jason yeah....most of the lyrics is write are written around a riff

[Hateeternal2009]

@41224jason yeah thats true....

[andrenogueira775]

@41224jason its such a pain in the ass to come up with a riff based on a chord progression, you have to know the guitar like the palm of your hand.

[TheBarnCat51]

@41224jason disagree

[fenderstrt4]

this guy doesn't know what he's talking about lol

[Guitarlegacy14]

I'm pretty sure that would be called a lick cuz riffs are based on the rhythm section of a song

[guitar29682]

just get ur ass up in the guitar and jam, dont think of all this shit

[Diisafatslag]

it is 'riff' not 'rift'

[Naytinfinity]

expert village?

[moosemasher]

this video was ok, but not actual much info in it. If i was expert village i would recut this without all the 'umm' and 'erm's he does

[SamScreamx]

This helped a lot.

Thank you. (:

[skateral1001]

weren't those from "Iris- Goo Goo Dolls"

[Jamalol]

ショブの得るくそやろ

[amindenitneki]

Experts? I don't think so :)

[deadhead42020]

lol everyone who flamed this guy should make a video and try to do better ...id be more than happy to point out the flaws if they can even piece together a video half as informational as this one ...for some reason i have my doubts...

[BrandonSalem]

i feel so sorry for this guy :(

hes just trying to help teach us what to do.

[tommyaw123]

THIS GUY CANT EVEN FUCKING SPEAK

[jlt2185]

EXPERT VILLAGE BLOWS

[TDogCDog]

noob village..

[sham8723]

Teleprompter

[mhthnlel]

what a tool

[intrepidvs]

alot of criticism way too much i think.these guy are trying to help out and people keep judging when they should thank these guys!!

[Treseler7790]

lol. He stuttered and paused through 2:22 - 2:28.

[jared6958]

what a tool

[childof2dykes]

riff sounds somethin from the goo goo dolls

[denim98]

this video should be entitle "How to pretend to write riff"

90% of nonsensical talk 5% strumming chords and 5% "something like that riff"

[TheRandomSandwich]

please stop saying rift, its a RIFF!

[Tallguyalec]

the definition of an awesome simple riff is satisfaction by the rolling stones... thats like the mary had a little lamb of guitar songs.... and stopping dissing iris, its a good song :D but not rock... :(

[justinfordinal]

This musicians strongest quality (in my less than scholarly opinion) is his ability to write music. His band, "eliot fitzgerald", has put together some of the better music I've hear recently. Finally music with integrity, depth, and purpose!

I would itunes, google, or youtube (yes in that order) the song titled "monsters to be named".

[Marshallsg]

Wow.......................

[shredjamie7]

good job with the video man, i thought it sounded real good.

helping people out to start writing songs is a great thing to do and some idiots on here obviously couldnt do a better job of it themselves, keep it up! :)

[yuyog]

awh i feel sorry for him :( keep makin more videos and u'll be fine :)

[FreshBeefDips]

Cman the dude is fucking nervous. Calm the fuck down

[Phil4real]

I guess some people don't edit out the mistakes. lol

[NathanRyanAllen]

I think a better example would of been "Whole Lotta Love"

[belligerentexistence]

Dude wth why did you play IRIS by the goo goo dolls. This is not rock. It is pop.

[Clockwork3600]

2:27 LOL super stutter

[yuyog]

leave him he was nervous

[STKR92]

it sounds like iris from the goo goo dolls...

[HeadBangerHippy]

Honestly, I don't like the dude, but his song wasn't bad at all. The chords and riff were relatively catchy. Not my kind of music, but nothing awful none the less.

[sequeirax]

Sounds like our lady peace... o.O

[28nirvana28]

1:21 LOL~

[11bcarr]

that dude is fuckin stoned

[metallicamustaine]

0:39 ROFL

[OxidaneProductions]

this video should be named : How to Write a Song : How to Write a Guitar Riff for a Fag Song

[sprocket444]

looservillage

[Factzxx]

lmao @ the stuttering at the end...

[Andeezy09]

i'm sorry. if you only have one guitar player, how do you play a riff and chords at the same time. unless you know something i don't, i dont see that happening. and the bass only gives you a chord idea, but not the complete thing. and besides, not all songs need a riff. plenty of songs are good without actuall riffs. Creativity people, come on.

[RedWarrant]

you can just create a riff out of chord i.e. highway to hell.

[11bcarr]

some bands have 2 guitarists, dumbshit.

[musichopper]

He clearly copied the goo goo dolls. And Id give up forever to touch you.. and I hope that no of you mind.. I copied this song and I suck balls... now don't get me wrong...I know you are with expert village and think you are an expert. Its ok. Keep working on it with you menagerie of amps and sm 58

[paiz2chan]

lol 2:25

[maggot7897897]

U guys dont clearly understand music at all ive played my whole life there are many variations of rock music they all branch off one another i swear ive been watchin his videos and u guys just cut him to bits it was a really goood riff and it caught my attention very quickly he did a good job so leave the guy alone and learn what real music sounds like before u cut these ppl down like tht

[myspacceer]

a rock guitar rift should be melodic, catchy, and should stick into the listeners head real good

[joe121995]

riff, fool

[Cowey2511]

anybody else feeling alot of goo goo dolls here?

[naruto82494]

finally someone spotted it (iris - goo goo dolls)

[metaltilim60]

yeah, it's definately iris

[beyondtheark43]

Dude You forgot to list a few things...

You got you Cords, power outlets, amps, strings,volume knobs,tone knobs,microphones,headphones,c­hairs,etc...

[ihatespiders08]

of course....

what u sed..

yea.

[blackwolves101]

hey austinandzekesstuff if you can play so much better then why do you need to watch this vid! >:( his riff was great

[tilorb]

the 1st rule to writing a good song is there are no rules!

[littlegogie]

This is the dumbest thing i have ever seen. expert village? who dubs these people experts?

[Anicone]

I think the riff he was playing is from the song "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls. It is the riff before the solo starts.

[Denverboy01]

wow.

i didnt learn anything from that.

[jedigozinsky]

this is not a rock song

[garmonster911]

shut up you guy's that was a good song. i think that that riff that he played was sick! i would like to see you guys do any better. and "rebbini" wow thats a gay name. any ways rebbini this is a good way to write song's. and obviously you dont know how to write song's better than this guy because you are watching this video. any ways this was a great help for writing songs.

[austinandzekesstuff]

his riff was gay... it was not rock... it was some kind of pop thing. hes jus playin a D and liftin his middle finger off... ive been playin for 6 months and i could do better. much better

[Austin1Arse]

It wasn't a gay riff,

There's various kinds of rock and that wasn't poppy at all,

And he was trying to get the point across to beginers that it doesn't have to be a complicated riff to sound good..

Hence the simple riff..

[DumblyBrilliant]

Thanks man. Ignore the losers putting you down. None of them could do it and none of them would do it for free either. A big mouth is easy to have, a kind heart takes longer and that is what you have.

I appreciate you man. You are doing a great job.

[nigwigjoe]

yeah he looks so nervous

[KOBILICUSRCU]

yea man... i cant believe im watching his videos.

AVVAVAVAVAAAAA part is the best loool. he is bad rocker but super comedian

[CrazyWyteGuy]

I'll just steal his song...much easier

[heffman102]

lol yea gud idea m8

[bleedfortheseeyes]

2:24....AVVAVAVAVAAAAAXDXDXDXD­XD

[rebbini]

horrible video, if you have your song all mapped out then your guitar riff should already be made. Why write your whole song and then your guitar riff, and why must your riff be separate. This is a stupid video with a stupid guy.

[garmonster911]

dude this isnt a play he is teaching you somethuing you dont reherse!

[dtfan428]

This guy needed to practice what he was going to say. He was very nervous.

[heffman102]

i was thinkin that too

[petepoochcan]

such a bunch of idiots commenting every night on youtube

[AOSfilms]

gosh i am not an idiot. they are. all i did was post an opinion of mine and everyone starts freaking out. so i deleted my comments so fags that over react to everything wouldnt reply to me complaining about every little thing i said.

[t1bmxfbm]

metal came from rock you nigger

[musik4life145]

metal is better but...

metal came from rock, rock came from blues,

[petepoochcan]

idiot

[jprox09]

lol metal is a type of rock

[nevets815]

there is no such thing as music that is better or worse. It just depends on ones taste. You like metal, some like jazz, some like pop, ect.

Just because you like metal more then something else, that doesn't mean it's better, it just means you like it more than, oh lets say, country. I like everything but country and hip hop. but I don't think they suck, I'm just not into them. So stop dissing rock, or anything else.

[nevets815]

hahahaha way to delete your comments so people can't see how much of a douche you are.

[jambolino23]

you have amazing comebacks

[AOSfilms]

LMAO i just posted a comment and everyone freaks out which i find funny so i just reply with random stuff just to see how easy it is to piss people off. i dont care bout my "comebacks"

[matprithellodave]

naah it's not it's a completely different thing

[finepoint6]

mabey i could understand what he waz sayin if he didnt studder so much

your of of of umm of your ieee ummm

[Chrishaffeyboy]

haha

[Parasite2008]

THIS was not a rock song

[BestGuitarFreak]

YOU have no room to speak, let me see your world famous rock plaques, and I wanna see where you teach guitar lessons and all your songs and lessons then u can talk.

[Chrishaffeyboy]

yea but it was some pretty damn good music

[jamesj205]

not a rock song? lol...define a rock song.