Bass riffs

International Rock Music Exam Board

Prepare your students for the riff exercises in Bass Grades Debut5 with this free
lesson, including backing track and video demonstration!

iffs are an important part the A string. Notice how the

of lots of styles of music, fretboard pattern is the same;
especially rock and metal. all that changes is the strings
A riff is a short, repeated idea that its played on. This is a
that provides a song with
Riffs can be played without
a hook (see first example,
Riff , below). Riffs can changing throughout a song or
be played all the way moved to a new starting note to
through a song without
create movement in music
changing, but they can
also be moved to a different common move in blues, R&B
starting note to create interest and some rock music too (see
or movement in music (see Riff On Record for examples).
The Debut to Grade 5
moving from I to IV).
Fig. 1 is a riff that is played candidate books contain an
on the E string then moved to exercise where the riff shape

is given to the candidate but

the remaining bars contain
only the new starting notes
of the riff. This means that the
candidate must work out what
the correct notes are by moving
(or transposing) the riff to the
new starting note. Fig. 2 is an
example of this.
Fig. 3 is a similar example
that uses a different chord
progression from Fig. 2.
Students
can
practise
these three figures along to
the backing track available to
download from our website.

On Record

Pressure Drop Toots & The Maytals

Sunshine Of Your Love Cream
I Feel Good James Brown
Im Broken Pantera
The Jack AC/DC

Riff

? # # # # 44 ..
T
A
B

.
.

..

.
.

This is an example of the kind of riff that might be repeated without changing throughout a song. These riffs are usually used as hooks to draw in the listener and give them something
to remember the song by.

Riff moving from I to IV

? # # # # 44
T
A
B

The IIV chord progression is common in most forms of popular music, especially in songs where a riff is played over the I chord then moved for the IV
chord so that the same shape on the fretboard is played from a different starting note.

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International Rock Music Exam Board

Fig. 1 | Riff moving from E string to A string | Backing track 1

q = 70

? # 44

Em

T
A
B

Am

Em

Am

This is a two-chord pattern that moves from the E string to the A string. The pattern that is played over the first chord doesnt change when the second chord is played you simply
move it onto the A string.

Fig. 2 | Riff practice for grade exams | Backing track 1

q = 80

? # 44
T
A
B

Em

Am

Em

Am

Bass Grades Debut5 feature a riff exercise in which you play a notated part and are then required to play the same finger pattern starting on different notes on the fretboard. This is
known as transposing.

Fig. 3 | More riff practice for grade exams | Backing track 1

q = 85

? 44
T
A
B

Am

Dm

Am

Dm

This example is similar to the last one but features different chords to play over. You will once more have to transpose the notated riff using only the starting notes at the beginning of
bars 24 as a guide.

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